On Dec 11, 10:00*pm, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:


> People who screen their calls have a disease; paranoia. *Telephone
> paranoia stems from hiding from bill collectors... there is no other
> logical reason. *I grew up with phones that didn't have caller ID so
> even though my phones have that feature I rarely look at it before
> answering. *If it's some computer call I immediately hang up, if it's
> anyone taking a survey I immediately hang up, if it's someone who
> misdialed I politely tell them they got a wrong number and I
> immediately hang up. *For the few times in a year that I get one of
> those kind of calls I'm not bothered. *And some people screen their
> calls because they don't want certain callers to know that they are
> sitting there with nothing more important to do... my brother never
> answers calls, he lets them go into voice mail so that when he calls
> back a week later he can say he had a meeting with the dali lama or
> some such just to make his ego go all aflutter. *The one thing I
> absolutely hate is when I call and they immediately ask if I can hold
> a second... so before I can answer I'm on hold. *Now I happen to know
> how long a second is so I wait no more than two minutes and hang up.
> If it's a business I'll call again later and usually get someone with
> more maturity... if it's a private person I don't call back, they can
> call me if they feel like it, they had their chance. *I don't care,
> I'm not much of a telephone person, I don't know how people can be
> yakking 24/7, don't they ever do anything productive... my calls last
> maybe five/ten minutes... and I rarely make more than two calls a day.


As you know, not everyone is the same. I have a home answering
machine and I think it makes perfect sense. I do screen calls, but
that's not priority number one. The machine is useful. You could be
in the shower when the message comes in. Or across the street. Or
even in the kitchen running water. Not everyone who doesn't answer
their phone is pretending not to be there. And with me, when it comes
to estimated times of callbacks or anything else, I can honestly say
I'm one of the most reliable people I've ever known.

Everyone has their own tastes. I hate talking on the cellphone,
but with the right person I can talk for an hour on my home phone and
not be bothered in the least. Sometimes I prefer it to face to face
conversation. Same with driving a car, I can talk and concentrate on
the road without having to look someone in the face. There's a
certain job-like feeling to that. I don't mind looking in someone's
face or vice versa, but I don't like when it's expected. Sometimes I
even think the answering machine is more civilized than some
conversations that are dotted with constant interruptions. I don't
think you hate the answering machine if it's used the right way - not
as much as you think you do - because the answering machine is really
sort of an audio version of this newsgroup if you think about it. You
make a post, it's like leaving a message on someone's machine. Their
callback is like a response to a post. Many of these items, some of
which I too rail against - all of them have purpose and can be used in
a good way. Not everyone uses a screener/answering-machine for the
exact same reasons.

Leave a message at the beep
TJ