Thursday, April 21, 2011

To answer...or not to answer

Do you ever see a number come up on your phone and not answer because you just don't have the energy to talk to the person on the other end?
I've seen people get angry because someone doesn't answer their call. Since I am one that does not always answer my calls I try and see it from their side. Perhaps they are in the middle of something, or just not in the mood to talk, or God forbid they don't have their phone with them!
And let's just face it, there are some people that you just don't want to talk to! The person that only calls when they want something from you. Or the dreaded bill collector, or neighbor that is calling to complain about your ____ (fill in the blank).

Facebook adds a new problem with not answering your phone. I have my settings so it doesn't show if I am online or not but if I am leaving comments or changing my status update it will show a time. So those people that are calling me without getting an answer can see that I am online but not answering their calls. This still doesn't mean that I am not multi-tasking and doing work or talking on the phone with someone else when they call.
This week I saw an exchange between two of my friends on facebook. One posted a picture and the other said something about it being rude because she had time to post a picture but not to answer her phone when she had called.  I personally think leaving that message was rude, unless she was joking and I don't think she was.

I love caller I.D. but I also wish that it would have a brief explanation of why the person was calling before I know if I want to answer or not. Who wouldn't love that?! I guess that is a reason I am a big fan of texting and not talking.

Pros of texting and not talking:
  • You can set your phone down between texts
  • You can answer when it's convenient to you
  • You can add cute smiley faces to the conversation
  • You can keep the text to remind you later of details about the conversation (I never do this, I am a huge fan of DELETE on my phone)
  • You can text many people at the same time
  • You can send pictures in your texts.
  • Texting usually takes up less time that a phone call does. Unless you are an all day texter which is good too because you can multi task easier than if you were tied to a phone call all day long.
My first text everyday is to one of my best friends Tracy. Every morning we text "good morning (add food here)... So it's a challenge every day to come up with a food we have not used before. I think by now we are repeating foods because we've done this off and on for years. I recently let two days go by without texting my good morning greeting and got a phone call to make sure my fingers were not broken or something :) 

My friend Kelly is my All My Children expert and it's nice when I'm watching if I have a question I can send a quick text for the answer and not miss any of the show like I would have with a phone call.

Anyway I have rambled on long enough about texting and phone calls. I hope that you all have a great day! I'd love to hear your take on texting vs phone calls...What do you prefer?

7 comments:

Dazee Dreamer said...

I have to agree with you on every point of your post. The only thing that bothers me about texting is if someone texts me and I answer right back and then poof, they are gone. don't answer again for 3 or 4 hours. what the hell is that all about.

Unknown said...

I also like texting over calling but the problem with sending a text is that it can be taken the wrong way much more easily than if you were talking to someone and they could hear the way you say it.

Holly Diane said...

Dazee I'm guilty sometimes of not answering back right away if I'm at work or something. I will check the text and make a mental note to answer and then forget :(.

Special K sometimes it's best if they don't hear my sarcasm on the phone..lol

Thank you both for your comments and taking the time to read my blog :)

Ms. Blasé said...

Great post! Personally, I just don't like gabbing on the phone 'cause it eats up too much of my time. Whatever I have to say can be said in an e-mail which only takes a few minutes to type. Phone calls (even the "brief" ones) always have a way of dragging on forever because one or both parties inevitably repeats themselves either unknowingly or just to reiterate a point. *Ugh* Spare me.

Holly Diane said...

Thanks Ms. Blase! It's harder for me to keep the negitivity away with phone calls too, I'd rather limit negitive people to email or texts vs being drug down by phone calls.

Susanne said...

I don´t think that I answer more than 5 calls a year. I hate answering calls. (If there is an unknown number, I NEVER pick it up) I can´t phone and the person on the other side is always keeping repeating ´what´ because... I don´t know, I might just can´t talk into the phone. and so on. My parents have learnt by hard to better text me because I seriously don´t answer calls if it´s not vital. :)

DeeDee said...

I love texting...you can text in places that you otherwise would have to ignore the person until later. You don't "intrude" on anyone else's meal and so on if you text rather than talk on the phone. On the other hand, there are times that I just want or need to hear the other person's voice :)