Why do people think they MUST answer the phone?

[DarkJedi]

1. Hi, this is your neighbour, just ringing to say your house is burning down, get back here quick.

2. Hi, a family member of yours is being rushed to hospital and you need to come quick.


But if it's important they will ring back. Nice logic dude.

What are the chances of that?



In either case, I wouldn't be able to help much anyway. Firemen/Doctors would do a better job than me. They could text/leave a message too.

[iSpyCams]

But if it's important they will ring back.

What if they ARE ringing back from another call you didn't answer?

[u-Bob]

My phone's always on 'silent' and I never pick it up when it's not convenient for me to do so.

Watching a movie -> I'm not picking up my phone.
In bed (for whatever reason) -> I'm not picking up my phone.
Preparing a steak -> not picking up my phone.
Eating lunch/dinner/... -> not picking up my phone.
Talking to someone -> not picking up my phone.
...

Friends and family know that if they need a quick answer they should simply send me a text message.

Every once in a while someone will 'ask' me in a very annoying and patronizing way "Why the hell do you have a cellphone if you never answer it?".
Simple: I have a cellphone so I can make phone calls when I want to make phone calls.

A cellphone is a tool. A tool I use the way I want to use it.

It's pretty funny and sad at the same time how most people have become conditioned like Pavlov's dog to slavishly drop everything when their phone rings.

[geirlur]

the only reason I rush to answer the phone is so they will have to pay for the conversation, as opposed to if I had to call them back.
yeah I'm a greedy bastard 8-)

[Viper2K1]

I assign a different ringtone to people who are important to me
only when I hear that ringtone I will answer it while I'm busy doing stuff where I'd normally just let it go to voicemail

[bpluva]

I have the ringer on my home phone and cell disabled . No sound, vibrate, nothing.

me too and my family always says "well what if it's an emergency" so then I ask them "what the fuck am I'm going to do the'll be dead by the time i get there. call 911 dumb asses! not me.

[L-Pink]

Half the time I don't even take my phone with me when I leave the house.

.

[alextokyo]

I fucking hate phones. I refuse to have a landline and my cellphone is usually switched off. People only call when they want something anyway, I'd rather be left the fuck alone. Not to mention dealing with people who can hardly string together a decent sentence and/or have horrible thick accents. Africans and Indians are the worst.

Email or texting is the way.

[Tom_PM]

When I have to pee, I dont answer it. *squish*

Yeah, well I answer the phone 99% of the time. However the 1% is when I head to the laundry room or bathroom and suddenly the phone rings. I'm not going to reach it in time to get it, so I let the machine get it. If it's spammy then it's easy enough to hang up.

[bronco67]

My wife is like that. She'd knock her grandmother down to get to the phone. I always unplug it when we're watching a movie, because some of her friends have the worst fucking timing.

[loreen]

I rarely pick up the phone. Phones should be like visits, announced :D
You can't drop on / call somebody and expect them to be available for you right then and there.

[MattPIVO]

I know some people that don't like to answer the phone, they are mostly irresponsible losers who are in some stage of failing at something.

My brother will sit there and stare at his phone ringing, and say "I can't deal with (whoever) right now" and just let it ring. I called him a few times and he didn't answer so now when he calls I don't answer.

My home phone rings and I don't usually answer it because only my wife uses that number, I don't even know the number and anytime there's a call it's for her. I am not her damn receptionist.

But I always answer my mobile.

+1, I agree with everything stated^

[CDSmith]

I don't get why the phone has to be a big problematic deal for so many these days. Like someone already said,
"call display (caller ID) + voicemail (or answering machine) = :D

When my phone rings I have a look at the call display. If it's a number I don't recognize I let the machine pick it up (set to do so on the 4th ring). If they leave me a message I'll either call them back or I'll pick up and talk to them right then and there. If they don't then to hell with them, they're probably a telemarketer or something anyway.

The phone is one of the least stressful things in my life since I've been doing it that way. The OP is right, jumping up and sprinting to the phone should be a thing of the past.

[Scott McD]

My wife is like that. She'd knock her grandmother down to get to the phone. I always unplug it when we're watching a movie, because some of her friends have the worst fucking timing.

My girlfriends friends usually ring around dinner time. Pisses me off big time!

She is one of those people though that has to answer it, even if she is eating dinner. Her usual reply to me is "But what if it's really important ??"

Yeah because you friends always have some really important stuff to say...

[bronco67]

My girlfriends friends usually ring around dinner time. Pisses me off big time!

She is one of those people though that has to answer it, even if she is eating dinner. Her usual reply to me is "But what if it's really important ??"

Yeah because you friends always have some really important stuff to say...

My wife gets calls over some trivial shit, like something that just happened on a stupid reality show.