My Thoughts On The Telephone

Scenario #1: You're talking with someone on the telephone when your other line rings.

Scenario #2: You're working on homework with your son or daughter. The telephone rings.

Scenario #3: Your neighbor stopped by; you're chatting, not necessarily about anything important. Do you take the call or call back?

Scenario #4: You're in the middle of dinner with your family. Do you answer the ringing telephone?

Your answer to these questions will be as individual as you are. I won't judge you for the way you choose to use your phone. In exchange, I'd love it if you would be open-minded and try to understand the reason I am the way I am with mine.

Are you someone that runs to the phone, regardless of what you're doing? Do you stop to consider what the phone is interrupting before deciding whether to answer? Do you check your caller ID before deciding whether to interrupt what you're doing to answer the phone? When you make a phone call, do you get upset when the other person doesn't answer? Do you take it personally when you get a voice mail message when you initiate a phone call?

The telephone was created for our convenience - so two people who are not in the same place can speak to each other. I think we take the convenience of the telephone too far when we expect other people to answer it regardless of what they're doing or who they are with. Let's trust them to make the judgment call for themselves based on their individual circumstances.

I know some people that will answer the telephone - no matter who is calling and no matter what they're doing. I know other people that rarely answer the phone - regardless of where they are or what they're doing and rely heavily on voice mail to receive information. I strongly believe that the way we use our time should not be determined by when other people happen to call. When deciding whether or not to answer the phone, I consider what I'm doing, who I'm with and how I'm feeling. I take a second to consider whether answering the phone is really worth what I'm trading for it. How often do you get a call that really could not wait for you to call back? (Of course I'm not talking about work phone calls, as you have a responsibility to your employer.) For personal calls during your own personal time, it is up to you when you choose to answer. What message are you sending to the person you're already spending your time with, when you put them on virtual 'hold' to take a call?

Voice mail allows the caller to make his/her needs known without interrupting what the person being called is in the middle of. Leave a message and I'll call back at a more convenient time. Answer the phone or don't - it's your choice. I'll leave you a message if I get your machine. Of course, for voice mail to be effective, it has to be checked regularly, which I need to do better. Note: feel free to call back as many times as you like if I don't answer, just in case I don't get your message as quickly as you would like. This won't bother me as long as you don't assume that whatever else I was doing was less important than your call.

On a related note, I have a cell phone. I've distributed my number to only a few people. I consider my cell phone to be a device I pay for, for my convenience (not so that anyone can reach me regardless of where I am or what I'm doing). I carry it with me sometimes, I leave it in the car or the diaper bag at other times. I choose to have a cell phone in case I have a change of plans en route or break down and need help or something along these lines. I rarely use it to chat with people. Please don't take offense to the way I choose to use my cell phone.

Sometimes life gets busy and I choose not to let my life revolve around my telephone. It's nothing personal; it's just the way I choose to handle one of the many kinds of interruptions in my life.