AS A TEENAGER YOU ARE
IN THE LAST STAGE
OF YOUR LIFE
WHEN YOU WILL BE HAPPY
THAT THE PHONE IS FOR YOU.
(Fran Lebowitz)
I am not much of a phone person so it surprised me when, a few years back, a sense of nostalgia swept through me when my husband and I got rid of our home phone, keeping only our cell phones.
I thought about the toy phone my sister and I played with.
I remember giggling with my aunt as we'd pretend we could see each other through the phone.
I can still feel the way the cord curled around my fingers as I tried to stretch it into my teenaged bedroom for some privacy.
I recall coming in from college classes, seeing the flashing light on my answering machine, and feeling connected, wanted, part of a group of friends.
Today, I would rather send smoke signals or put a message in a bottle than use the phone. I will email or text. I'll write a letter. But when it comes to phone conversations, I am more awkward than ever. I'll do it, but it's not pretty.
At first, I worried - was I turning into a hermit? Was I losing the few social skills I had? But now I just go with it, embrace who I am, focus on ways to socialize that suit me and my personality. After all, times change. And so do people.
Hmm, anyone know if Muggles are allowed to use Owl Post...?
We no longer have a land line either and we don't miss it. I don't mind talking on the phone as long as it's a quick conversation.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't miss the landline, although the other day there was a big problem in our area and all cells, emails, texting etc stopped working for awhile. It was a little scary being incommunicado.
DeleteI don't like to be on the phone either and I'm not sure why.
ReplyDeleteEmail is good because it gives me a history of the conversation, but actually talking to someone allows me to add body language to the mix.
I prefer email because it gives me time to react before responding. On the phone or in person, I'm often stunned and/or stuck by a question or a comment, and find myself unable to say what I truly want to, the way I want to.
DeleteI'm not fond of phoning people - I get easily distracted during long conversations, for a start. But, we have such a cool landline phone, I never want to get rid of it. (It's a 20 inch Tardis. You have to open the door to use the phone, and the receiver is in the style of an old-fashioned phone.)
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you for not wanting to get rid of that landline phone - fun! :)
DeleteI'm exactly the same way. I used to love the phone when I was in school but now I can't bear to talk on it. I only want to text, etc.
ReplyDeleteIt seems there are a lot of us out here. :)
DeleteI've always hated phone calls. If I can text or email instead, I will definitely do it. And if I have to make a phone call (like for making an appointment or something) I'll procrastinate just because I don't want to talk on the phone.
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone! I don't like having to call and make appointments either.
DeleteI've never enjoyed phone calls, neither making nor receiving. Texting or emailing or carrier pigeon is vastly preferred. And when I do call someone, I usually end up doing the "go to voicemail" chant while I'm waiting.
ReplyDeleteWe got rid of our landline back home a while ago, and just had cell phones, but after the move we were forced to get a landline again because our cell phones didn't work in the house. :)
I've done that "go to voicemail" chant myself. :)
DeleteHaha! Sending an owl would make things so much easier. I'm definitely a hermit. I don't like being on the phone either. These days it's only people who are trying to sell me something on the other end anyway. You are so right. People do change.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how the tortoises would feel about owls....
DeleteHopefully, we change for the better. :)
I remember playing with a banana like it was a phone when I was a little kid.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind phone calls with people I enjoy.
I think a lot of us had those banana phones. :)
DeleteI no longer have a land line and most of the time I prefer texting these days but when I'm driving alone I love Bluetooth. I always use the opportunity to talk with my mom who doesn't text or one of my grandkids.
ReplyDeleteWhen I want to talk to my little nephew and niece on the phone, I call my sister's cell. No house phone/landline for them to pick up!
DeleteI could live without a landline as well. My old job was as bad as a call center. I was plugged into my phone for eight hours at a shift, dropping everything when a call came in.
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
Ugh! Being plugged into a phone for that long would make me crazy.
DeleteWe got rid of our land line years ago. I still have long phone conversations with my sisters who live out of state and my daughter at college. Funny that my 25 year old son said just last night when he got home from work to some mail that he wished he was still 15 when it was fun to get snail mail. Now it's never anything good. LOL
ReplyDeleteSusan Says
I used to love to get mail, too! Until I started getting all those SASE's containing lots and lots of rejections. The mail sort of stopped being fun right around then.
DeleteLove, love, love this post because I wish I could use Owl post, and I feel so much the same way about phones. I do miss the satisfying roll of the rotary that we had when I was a kid, but other than the sound of that, I don't miss it at all.
ReplyDeleteI know the sound you mean! I wonder if there's a way to make your phone sound like that when you hit the buttons? My ringtone is actually the "old-fashioned" phone ring. Makes me smile.
DeleteI agree! I hate it when the phone rings and usually ignore it unless I know and want to talk to the caller. Otherwise, folks must leave a voicemail to get my attention. Most calls, however, are political, research/survey, sales, charity solicitations, or scams. Why bother?
ReplyDeleteNot having the landline anymore has definitely - thankfully! - cut down on those kinds of calls.
DeleteOh yes, I am terrible at speaking on the phone, unless I'm at work working. But I've been without a home phone for 15 years now, and I don't really miss it. I like the quote. It is true that I'm not thrilled when I get a phone call anymore. At least many of the doctors places are now turning to text to confirm appointments!
ReplyDeleteMy husband always says I'm not nearly as awkward on the phone as I think I am, and I bet that's true for a lot of us.
DeleteI'm not as good at texting as I probably should be but I make do, make it work. :)
The only calls we get on our landline anymore are solicitors and bill collectors. I suppose it's time to get rid of it. I don't talk on the phone a lot, but when I do I don't mind it, especially long, rambling conversations with my girlfriends. They rejuvenate me.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good thing about only having a cell - I rarely get any kind of telemarketing, etc calls.
DeleteI enjoyed this post. We still have our landline, although most calls we get and make are to our cells. I guess old habits die hard.
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day you'll decide to get rid of it. It took us awhile, longer than I thought.
DeleteI am such a chatterbox, I can even chat with someone who has dialed us by mistake ;) But, from the past few months I have deliberately reduced my phone conversations.
ReplyDeleteI love that you chat with people who call by mistake. Too funny!
DeleteI'm also terrible on the phone unless it's for work. I do not like to chit chat on the phone. I'd rather text, email, or even talk in person. In person, I can read their face and their eyes, I can tell when they're about to say something, or whether they're done talking. And my attention is easily diverted if there isn't someone there to meet my eyes.
ReplyDeleteI read recently that back when we were "tethered" to the phone, we paid more attention to the conversation. There were a lot less things to do, to distract us.
DeleteI do think you are right in that the decline of landlines has correlated with the decreased interest in speaking on the phone...at least for me!!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny because I see so many young/younger people WITH phones but not actually ON the phone. :)
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