Do You Answer Your Telephone?

[powellrj]

add me to the 70%. I got the coolest phone last year. Its a Panasonic and it says who is calling. I love it. Now if it says unavailable or out of area I just let it ring and don't even have to go and get the phone to look at the caller ID. I have a DD who is 12 and we still get lots of phone calls on our landline. Its not unusual to get 10 or 12 in one afternoon. If shes not home I just let it ring when its one of her friends. They don't even bother to leave messages unless they need something.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

I don't answer my phone very often. We have a "ringmate", which double-rings, and I give out that number for most "non emergency" situations, and that's the number the kids give to their friends. So, if the phone double-rings, I listen to who's leaving a message (IF they leave a message, and that's MY pet peeve...people who don't leave messages...if you're going to call my house, let me know why you're calling) and decide if I want to answer. My regular phone number (single ring) is for family, close friends, my kids' schools, doctors, etc, altho I'm not always thrilled with some of those family members calling, and I don't find out until I answer the phone. I've been saying forever I want caller-id...just never got around to it.

 

[Disney Doll]

After I check the caller ID & see if it's someone I want to talk to, I do.

 

[justjudy]

I never answer if it's Out of Area or Unavailable. In fact, sometimes even if I do recognize the name on the caller ID I don't answer if I just don't feel like talking. I think I may be one of the few people in the world who HATES talking on the phone. My mother had that dialing service that assigned everyone a name. Mine was "Never Answers."

 

[PatsGirl]

Unless it's an "unknown caller" I generally pick it up unless I'm watching a movie or something of that sort or after 9 pm. What I find really funny is how many of my friends and family get REALLY irritated when I don't keep my cell phone on 24/7 -- they expect that I answer my cell phone when they call. I only have my cell phone on when I am not in other's company such as driving. I always leave it in the car when I go into restaurants or grocery shopping and check for messages when I get back in my car. I hate that others think I should be reachable 24/7 maybe I should wear a pager On that same note, I find it very rude for my friends/family to answer their phones when we are in the middle of a conversation or out socializing... I know I'm in the minority here as usual

 

[AnnaS]

We do not have caller id. I thought I was one of the only ones left. Need to get it though. I also do not answer all the time. If it's important, they will leave a message and depending on who it is, what I am doing (dinner), or nature of the call, I decide if I should answer right there and then.

When I decide to answer - to always some survey, or someone looking for donation, etc.

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

My home phone? Never. We don't have caller ID but do have an answering machine and anyone who needs to talk to us will leave a message. The people we want to talk to call on our cell phones. We keep talking about getting rid of the landline since it is used so infrequently.

 

[kristilew]

I usually keep the ringer off completely. Our phone blinks when there is voicemail and that's the only way I even know if someone has called. It has just made our lives more peaceful and calm.

dd and dh can always get me on my cell phone, which has special rings for each of them, and for my buddies.

 

[sweetandsassyfl]

I use my caller ID.

 

[Charade]

We have caller ID (it even pops up on the TV) and we usually only answer it if we know the caller. Sometimes we even ignore those!!!

All other calls go to the answering machine.

 

[sunlver]

95% of the time I answer the phone. For instance, if its my husbands friends who call and he isn't home, then I let the voicemail pick it up. Afterall, they do not want to talk to me
In my bedroom the ringer is normally off. My youngest sleeps in our room, well we have a sitting room type deal inside our room(a little room with its own door). I started turning the ringer off on that phone when she was born, as not to wake her up. If I am upstairs with her playing or watching tv and the door is shut, I do not hear the phone ring. Normally once I go back downstairs I see that Ive missed a call or two.

 

[brerrabbit]

We answer. We got rid of caller ID and call waiting. We we paying over twenty dollars a month for the two services or over $240 a year. We get very few calls on the home phone anymore and are seriously considering getting rid of it. They have systems now where you can plug your cell phone in when you get home to charge it and turn it into your home phone as you have cordless phones that work off your cell phone number. Since long distance is free on the cell we use that for all long distance so our home phone is really not necessary at all anymore.

 

[cteddiesgirl]

Depends on what number comes up on the caller ID. If I don't know who it is or If I don't want to talk to them, I don't answer. We have voice mail. So they can leave a message if they really want to talk.

 

[DebD4T]

No, that's what the answering machine is for. I don't have caller ID and am planning on giving up my land-line completely. I can't remember the last time I actually received a call from there that I wanted. everyone, who I want to call me has my cell phone number.

As for the PP who's irritated at people not answering phone, I think of it as more than being "my phone." It's my house and my time and my own private space. A phone call, unless it's prearranged expected, is an interruption at the least, an invasion at the most. Just because people get the number doesn't mean they have a right to interrupt me in the privacy of my own home.

I shouldn't be expected to drop everything to answer the phone for someone else's convenience. In my own home, I'll get back to them when I want to. Of course, they'd better answer when I call back.

Wow...I am guessing that because this is the internet, inflection and tone cannot be understood. This post (to me) sounds kind of harsh.

That being said...I ALWAYS answer the phone. I can't just let it ring. I don't mind if someone calls me out of the blue to chat. As long as I am not in the middle of something important, I will gladly talk with them.

If I call someone to chat and I get their answering machine...I usually don't leave a message...because there is no message to leave. I will just try them again later.

To each his/her own...

 

[Charade]

We answer. We got rid of caller ID and call waiting. We we paying over twenty dollars a month for the two services or over $240 a year. We get very few calls on the home phone anymore and are seriously considering getting rid of it. They have systems now where you can plug your cell phone in when you get home to charge it and turn it into your home phone as you have cordless phones that work off your cell phone number. Since long distance is free on the cell we use that for all long distance so our home phone is really not necessary at all anymore.

For $5 more than that (plus tax) we get a slew of features with our Vonage service.

 

[::Snow_White::]

We don't have caller ID so we always answer the phone incase it's someone we know.

 

[kellyg403]

I always answer my cell phone. The home phone rarely. I have 3 teen dd's and a teen son, I could be answering the phone all day long and get nothing else done. It seems like our land line number has been distributed to every hs kid in town. We have cable phone so I can see on the tv if its someone I know, like one of the older kids not living at home. I answer if it is but for the most part everyone who knows me, wants to talk to me calls my cell. Even my mil doesn't call the landline anymore, she calls the cells.

The flipside is that even though we have call waiting, the girls seem to have a mental block about clicking over to an incoming call. Especially if its not for them. Their conversations are way more important than someone else's! Its a wonder they don't walk around with one ear bigger than the other from the phone waves.

Kelly

 

[ckay87]

No way. I have teenagers. When the phone rings, DH and I just watch those 2 battle it out over who will pick it up. But I hardly even hear it ring anymore.

 

[mickeyboat]

We don't have caller ID, and we answer most of the time.

I never answer DH's business phone, though.

Denae

 

[ckay87]

No, that's what the answering machine is for. I don't have caller ID and am planning on giving up my land-line completely. I can't remember the last time I actually received a call from there that I wanted. everyone, who I want to call me has my cell phone number.

As for the PP who's irritated at people not answering phone, I think of it as more than being "my phone." It's my house and my time and my own private space. A phone call, unless it's prearranged expected, is an interruption at the least, an invasion at the most. Just because people get the number doesn't mean they have a right to interrupt me in the privacy of my own home.

I shouldn't be expected to drop everything to answer the phone for someone else's convenience. In my own home, I'll get back to them when I want to. Of course, they'd better answer when I call back.

WHAT on EARTH???? I have NEVER heard a phone call described in quite this way. I am truly perplexed. When I call someone, it is an invasion? What God-awful people are calling you and what earth-shattering events take place in your home that you view simple phone calls this way?