You can call all you want, but there's no one home

[apple_pathways]

First things first: have you voted in my Princess Poll yet? If you haven't, you should: it's about princesses.

And now, in lieu of any actual content, I have another poll: about phone behavior.



I, personally, hate talking on the phone, and consider it a necessary evil for keeping in touch with long distance friends, making plans, and maintaining relationships. I wouldn't tell any of my RL friends this (though they've probably suspected it...) but often, when I'm talking on the phone with people, I am mentally calculating how long the conversation has to last before I can make my excuses and end it.

It's not that I don't like people, or having conversations: I'm just as much of a chatterbox in person as I am online. I just...I don't know. When you're on the phone, you have to sit still and pay attention and not do anything else. It's hard.

My bestie LOVES to talk on the phone. We'll have been talking for a good 45 minutes and have reached that point where the conversation has dried up and we're both just making random observations about things in the rooms we're in. I'll say, "Well, I'm gonna go now..." and she'll say, "Awww, really?" YES I CANNOT HAVE THIS BORING STILTED CONVERSATION ANY LONGER!

Really, when you consider how hermit-like and curmudgeonly I am, I'm lucky to have any friends at all. (I really am! When I sit down and think about it, there really are a lot of annoying personality quirks my friends deal with rather well...)

So, in order to prove whether I am or am not a freak, I have created a poll. I suspect the results will be slightly skewed, since we're Internet People, but nevertheless...
[Poll #1676398]


So, did everyone survive the latest Snowpocalypse? I stayed home from work, which is good and bad: good because YEAH SNOW DAY, and bad because no work = no pay.

Comments

[ladybracknell.livejournal.com]

I hate talking on the phone. I actally don't even answer it - I just let it go to Voicemail, see what the person wanted, and then text or email them with the answer. I've actually considered getting it disconnected, because when my phone bills arrive they tell me the only person I ever actually call is the take away curry place, lol.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Yes! Right out of the box, someone who agrees with me! I need to get a better texting plan, so I can go with your solution. (Also, I need a new phone. The way I can tell is that people have started making fun of mine again. :P)

[ladybracknell.livejournal.com]

I have an iPhone with unlimited texts and internet, which is perfect for me. I've had it almost a year and I can only recall using it as an actual phone maybe 5 times, lol.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I think having an iPhone would be pretty sweet, but then I don't fully utilize the technology I already have. I had my new iPod for two months before a friend pointed out to me that it had a radio function...

I'll bet they were five very memorable calls. ;)

[inkdancer.livejournal.com]

I don't like talking on the phone much, but I love to talk in person and online. It took me a long time to figure out why, but I've puzzled it out. In person, I have lots of nonverbal cues that I use to figure out how someone is feeling or what they are thinking. Online, I have none of those, but it's okay to ask someone "how did you mean that?" or "how are you feeling?" On the phone, you can hear tone of voice, so people think you should be able to tell how they are feeling, but none of the cues of physical stance or eye contact are available, so it makes it much harder for me to understand how to handle a situation. Therefore, I do not like to talk on the phone.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I love that this poll has been up for ten minutes, and already four people have responded to say "NO, I DO NOT LIKE TALKING ON THE PHONE!"

I love internet people! ♥

I can see your point about not knowing what people thinking/how they mean things. It can be harder, but I'm usually fine at deducing what's going on.

I think my problem is I'm just too damn ADD! I don't have a problem paying attention to people when they're right there in front of me, but my mind wanders on the phone. I'm used to doing three or four things at once (like now: listening to music, responding to you, browsing who_anon, and making Valentines), so I get antsy when I have to pay attention to the phone for long.

[inkdancer.livejournal.com]

Oh god me too. My boyfriend is always going "what's that noise?" when we're on the phone and it's my solitaire game or the food I'm cooking or something. I can't help it. So when I'm online, nobody knows that I'm playing mahjongg and doing LJ RP and reading fanfic. On the phone, you can't exactly pretend that they have your undivided attention.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY! (Though my game of choice is Spider Solitaire. :P)

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

I find myself compelled to qualify nearly every answer I gave. Number two especially, since you didn't specify personal calls. There's at least one person I have to call pretty much daily at work. And since I've been calling her near-daily for a couple of years now, she's actually the only person I do the quick catch-up chat with. I keep up with pretty much everyone else either in person or online. But, for the purposes of this survey I also wasn't counting my parents, who I call at least a couple of times a week, and sometimes when I'm bored running errands. They break all of my rules of hating phone calls, but I think that's because I don't really communicate with them much otherwise... Other than the random emails my mom sends me about things like the White Stripes breaking up and what she made for dinner. (Omg I am such a hopeless dork...)

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I find myself compelled to qualify nearly every answer I gave. Number two especially, since you didn't specify personal calls.

You know what, this is actually why I love you. After I specified 'personal/social calls only' on the one question, I nearly went back to add a note at the beginning of the poll, but I thought, "Amy, really, no one else is as picky about these things as you are." In short: YOU WIN EVERYTHING!

My parents are the people I enjoy calling the least (well, besides my brother...); that's one of the major upsides of living with them.

My mother just sends me those alarmist email forwards about how you shouldn't take calls from area code 777 or whatever or they'll charge you a million dollars and steal your kidneys. Or something. It's sweet that you like talking to your parents so much! :D

[ladylovelace.livejournal.com]

This is another one of those polls in which I shouldn't have voted, because I hate talking on the phone to the point of not doing it. There are certainly exceptions, but I generally dislike phone conversations.

To put this in perspective, the last social phone call I received was over a year ago. But then I tend not to have friends that I can reasonably physically see on a regular basis, either, and that kind of distance makes written communication much cheaper.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Hey, you're in good company! Absolutely no one who's voted has admitted to enjoying phone conversations. I like typing my thoughts out so much better. :D

[katyscarlett76.livejournal.com]

I don't particularly like talking on the phone, I have a slight hearing problem that means I prefer to be face to face so that I can pick up visual clues as well. Or generally I just prefer email so that I don't have to worry about that at all and also can take the time to arrange what I want to say, I'm a total babbler on the phone and in person. I also may be completely weird in that I don't mind it so much if someone calls me but I absolutely hate being the one to call. If I have to call someone I get all sick and nervous and really I'd rather send an email.

The only people I actually talk to on the phone are my parents and my best friend (and with her it tends to be I send her email and she phones me back), eveyone else I email. I'm totally more likely to send someone a quick email to catch up than give them a call. I even avoid doing it in work unless I really have to, mainly because of the babbling issue, lol.

It's the reason I've never had a contract phone, I'd never use the minutes, so I have a pay as go go one instead although I do pay a monthly fee for internet access so I can get my emails on my Blackberry :)

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

My friends tend to call me at least three times as much as I call them. I have no idea how they decide they want to call me, as it never occurs to me to pick up the phone for a 'quick chat'. If I'm going to call my friend in California, it takes me days to psych myself up/scold myself into it.

I like email, too! Everyone gets to say what they want to say, uninterrupted. It should be more socially acceptable to communicate that way. ;)

[copper-season.livejournal.com]

I have to talk on the phone due to my job and so I hate talking on the phone at home. LOL.

I pretty much text or instant message all of my friends so I can avoid actual talking.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I have to answer the phone at work, which normally I wouldn't mind, but it always rings when I've got a big group of students who all want my attention at the same time. So I have to try to pitch our program and tell prospective customers about what we do while little voices are yelling, "Miss Amy!" "Can I have markers?" "What's 17 minus 8?" at me.

Blah.

Text is much better. :D