Posted on 08/17/2010 11:01:47 AM PDT by AccuracyAcademia
I miss the days of 6 party line phones and hearing everybody’s ring. One ringee dingee two ringee dingee
BINGO !!
And I fully intend to STAY Bleeding edge.
My grandfather, the only one still living from that generation, has an iPad we got him. He LOVES it and uses it more than he ever did the PC.
He just couldn’t bring himself to SIT in front of that thing on the desk for any length of time.
But the iPad, he takes it everywhere.
I watch my friends that are 20 years younger than me screen their calls like the school truant officer might be calling, these are the usual tattooed, macho, 30 somethings of modern America but their fear of answering the phone seems incredibly sissified. To me it is like looking out the window to see if you should open your own front door or not, or pretend not to be home.
Sorry
I’m lucky in that I work with a very small group of people, and we don’t have problems like that. We can’t even use our cell phones at work.
I'm 52 and have always felt this way. Texting is much better than the phone.
Quick, clear, effective.
You’re a good guy, but I bet you never crack a smile.
You’re not a slave to Pavlov’s bell, but you’re a slave to Gates’ ringtone? What’s the diff?
If you go by what a lot of freepers think, I’m really a demon-spawned, America and freedom-hating, Muslim-loving, gay-loving, leftist, deceivingly-dishonest, psychic vampire, troll.
In actuality, I’m an ordained robot politician.
“But John, think back to 1985 or so. The very answering machines you think are the answer (no pun intended) were deemed as of the devil by the cranks of that time.”
I remember early voice mail, on the office phone system.
We said: “what are the secretaries going to do all the time?”
(It turned out the good ones were learning to use word processing, which with copy machines were a big improvement over carbons).
I meant that they do it at their homes.
It always gave me the creeps to be at a friends house and watch them pretend to not be at home when other friends would call, it made you wonder about all the times that you call, and they don't answer either.
No, you're just a slave to Pavlov's text. :)
OK. I can’t use my cell at home because of lousy reception, besides, cell phones are too small to use comfortably for me.
exactly!! That's why I prefer answering machines. They let the person leave a message and let me screen the calls. The perfect answer.
Of course the fact that I only give out my home phone number and am seldom inside at home to answer it helps.
That does bring up a valid point. We have gotten so insulated by technology that most younger folks these days cannot carry on an intelligent conversation. They refuse to look you in the eye and seem lost without being able to type LOL every once in a while.
Used to be you could drop in unannounced to the neighbors and have a short visit. An "if they were on the porch they were receiving guests" sort of thing. Now we hide behind out drapes and our phones and our computers. No wonder everyone is lonely.
The only time I dread phone calls is if a telemarketer gets through my defenses OR if a long-winded relative or person calls me and I feel like I CAN’T get away. I was taught that phone calls need to be limited to five minutes, which is plenty of time to say what you need to say. Otherwise, they can be really intrusive.
I can only imagine the comments as the very first telephones were introduced. People probably said, “I will no longer answer letters or telegrams. If people want to reach me, let them phone me.” We’ve come full circle back to pre-telephone days when we want to silently write to each other! :-)
I don’t think I’ve ever felt dread over a phone call.
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