Monday, August 15, 2005

Must we respond to every ring?

I get kind of tired of people complaining about people talking on cell phones too loud, or at the movies or wherever else they shouldn't be doing it. But that's just mostly because I think rude people are going to be rude anyway, with or without a cell phone. But the main point of the article, despite that I disagree that the cell phone is some major inconvenience, is a good one. And that is that you don't have to answer it every time it rings. I answer my cell phone whenever my wife calls, but otherwise, it just depends on who is calling, and what I am doing at the time, and whether I want to talk to the person and/or it is more important than whatever I'm already doing. I like to decide how I spend my time, not let any random person who may know or just accidentally stumble on my number do it for me. That also goes for the regular phone, as well.

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7 comments:

The Disgruntled Chemist said...

Yeah, I only answer my phone about half the time it rings. Unless it's my girlfriend or a call I'm expecting, I don't feel any real obligation to answer my cell phone just because it happens to be in my pocket.

John Howard said...

Yeah, good point. If I don't answer my phone, I will stip the ringing at least, but mine is usually on vibrate anyway.

Fixer said...

Fortunately, the only people who call my cell are my wife and the Jamaican guy I buy reefer from. Everybody who calls the house calls for my wife. I know it's a commentary on my personality, but my cell phone ain't ringing every 5 minutes.

. . . usually on vibrate anyway.

Stick it in your pants and call yourself from a land line. Heh.

Anonymous said...

I completely agree. I can't stand it when I see people who are in the middle of doing something, suddenly drop everything just to answer their cell phone. It's even worse if you're talking to someone and they do it. You know, you go to lunch with someone and they spend half their time talking on their phone when they're supposed to be talking to you. I understand that sometimes it's important, but usually it's not. On a tangent, I also hate it when I'm at some store, and I've waited my turn and am buying something, or asking a question and when the phone rings, the employee drops me and starts to help the person on the phone just because they called instead of coming in. I say put them on hold and take care of them in order. In the reverse situation, I don't mind waiting (as long as they don't just forget about me).

John Howard said...

Yeah, that bothers me too, when a call gets priority over someone who is actually there.

JimBob said...

I have a friend who is in sales, so she has to answer her cell every time it rings. HOWEVER, when she talks on it, the volume of her voice goes up terribly!

It's like she's shouting into a megaphone. This is very embarassing if you are say, sitting in a quiet restaurant with her...I mentioned it to her and she said she didn't even realize she was doing it.

Personally, my phone is always on vibrate and if I'm with someone, I only pick it up if it's family (could be an emergency). That's why God invented voicemail.

not in use said...

I only tend to use vibrate.

Having a profoundly deaf husband tends to help a little though, because I get mostly nagging texts rather than calls.