Do you answer your phone?

[mayerling]

Inspired by Kenny's "Do you answer your door?" poll, I thought I'd ask a question about whether you answer your phone.

I'm notorious for not answering phones, especially the landline. We live in a city where nobody knows us, and the only people who call us on the landline are my parents - and they can reach us on the mobile if they have to. Others who call the landline are basically soliciting, so we consider them to be technically spam. So I just don't answer. How about you?

 

[iheartscience]

So why do you have a landline then? I only answer my phone if I know the number. And we don't have a landline, just our cells.

 

[OUpearlgirl]

I only have a cell phone as well.. I only answer if it's a number I know or recognize. I figure if it's a number that I don't answer, if it's important they will leave me a voicemail.

Now it's really annoying when the telemarketers leave me a voicemail, but that's another story.

 

[mayerling]

So why do you have a landline then? I only answer my phone if I know the number. And we don't have a landline, just our cells.

It came as a package deal with our broadband and cable, plus FH insisted

 

[mrscushion]

So why do you have a landline then? I only answer my phone if I know the number. And we don't have a landline, just our cells.

This.

 

[soocool]

I usually check caller id first, but if I am busy doing something I let the answering machine take it and will only pick up if it is an emergency. Otherwise I will get back to the caller when it is convenient to me (this is both for landline and cell).

 

[zoebartlett]

We only use our cell phones, and we answer them most of the time. Occasionally I'll screen calls if I'm too busy or don't feel like chatting, but not often.

 

[maplefemme]

I just have my cell, I only answer it if I recognize the #... I hardly get any marketing calls, the land line was out of control with unsolicited calls.

 

[kenny]

We have caller ID and do not answer it if we do not recognize the caller.

It is kind of sad the 1950s are over when everyone answered their door and phone and wore a lovely freshly-ironed cotton dress and pearls when vacuuming the house or cleaning the oven.

Time marches on.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

If I know the number or if I am expecting a call from someone that isn't in my phone book (ex. doctor's office, expecting a delivery, etc).

 

[somethingshiny]

I have caller id on the cell and the landline. I only answer the phone if I want to talk to the person who's calling me. I don't listen to messages so my friends and family know not to leave one. If someone does leave a msg it just gets deleted.

 

[JewelFreak]

DH writes books on vintage-car racing & old racing drivers call him constantly to chat or give advice on whatever he's writing. If I answer I end up in a 20-minute conversation w/these 80-yr-old guys, who are very nice, but I really don't want to hear about their avocado trees when I'm in the middle of something. So I never answer unless I hear my sister, etc., leaving me a message.

 

[kenny]

I have caller id on the cell and the landline. I only answer the phone if I want to talk to the person who's calling me. I don't listen to messages so my friends and family know not to leave one. If someone does leave a msg it just gets deleted.

Good for you!
I like it when I come across a person who thinks for her/himself and does not let society shove them around.
You paid for the telephone can can establish your own way of using the tool!

I'm sincere and not being sarcastic.

I have a friend who sent me an email that I responded to about 24 hours later, which wasn't fast enough for her.
She knows I post here and saw that I posted during that 24 hour period and sent me another email saying, "So, you have time to post on PS but not to answer me? WELL! "

I did not answer that email at all.

 

[dragonfly411]

I voted other. I only answer numbers I know. If it's someone I don't know but they ARE trying to reach me, they can leave a voice mail if it's important. Then I'll know who it is. I also only have a cell phone, no land line.

 

[CJ2008]

No.

To me, the phone, especially a call to "chat" is an interruption. Just because whoever's calling wants to chat at that moment, doesn't mean I do.

I see chatting on the phone as a waste of time, mostly, unless I'm also doing something else at the same time (i.e., on a long drive somewhere - and even then, I have to be in the mood to chat, which isn't often).

For all those reasons, sometimes it will take me weeks to respond to a message/phone call.

 

[TooPatient]

I have caller id on the cell and the landline. I only answer the phone if I want to talk to the person who's calling me. I don't listen to messages so my friends and family know not to leave one. If someone does leave a msg it just gets deleted.

Pretty much this.

Cell phone has no voicemail -- I'll call back (if I care to talk to the person) when I'm ready to.

Landline -- I don't bother with voicemail and everyone knows it (except sales people). Have this for our security system to hook into and a backup in case cell phones don't work (like dead batteries or smashed on cement )


The people I deal with on anything important know to use e-mail. Family know to use e-mail if they HAVE to reach me.

 

[movie zombie]

we have a landline for emergency situations. where we live one cannot rely on cell phones alone. that phone is hooked up to an answering machine. i let the machine take the call and pick up if it is someone i want to talk to.

cell phone isn't a problem.

 

[stephbolt]

I wish I had the self control of you other posters! When my phone is ringing I can't help but answer it most of the time, even if I don't recognize the number. The exception is if I am spending face-to-face time with someone else, then I will send the call to VM. I also keep my cell shut off all day at work since I don't get any reception there anyway.

 

[Natylad]

So why do you have a landline then? I only answer my phone if I know the number. And we don't have a landline, just our cells.

It came as a package deal with our broadband and cable, plus FH insisted

Plus, when you have a landline, you don't only receive calls but you MAKE calls too. And i don't know what is happening in other countries, but in Greece and Canada where i have lived, calling from the landline is significantly cheaper than calling from the cellphone, so from that point of view it really makes sense to have a landline, even if you don't answer it.
And now, in order to answer to your question Mayerling: I never answer any phone, landline or cellphone, if i don't recognize the number...I'm sick and tired of all those idiots who are trying to sell me stuff over the phone

 

[centralsquare]

I answer my cell b/c only friends and family have that but never, ever answer the landline. I figure if it's someone important, they know to call my cell!

 

[mayerling]

So why do you have a landline then? I only answer my phone if I know the number. And we don't have a landline, just our cells.

It came as a package deal with our broadband and cable, plus FH insisted

Plus, when you have a landline, you don't only receive calls but you MAKE calls too. And i don't know what is happening in other countries, but in Greece and Canada where i have lived, calling from the landline is significantly cheaper than calling from the cellphone, so from that point of view it really makes sense to have a landline, even if you don't answer it.
And now, in order to answer to your question Mayerling: I never answer any phone, landline or cellphone, if i don't recognize the number...I'm sick and tired of all those idiots who are trying to sell me stuff over the phone

Good point, Naty! I do tend to make calls from the landlines - to book doctor's appointments, check things with my insurance provider, etc. Plus, since our landline is a package deal, if we have any problems with our cable or broadband, calling the tech department from our landline means we don't have to pay for the phone call. And we do tend to have lots of problems with our broadband...

 

[jewelerman]

i am with Kenny on this in that just because someone phones me does not make me obligated to pick the phone up. I have a cell that many people know to call or text me on...the land line has caller I.D. and i will check it to see who it is because of the high amount to un-welcome political calls,advertising and charity organization calls...i hate when these people call really early in the morning or late at night.I have received calls from charity organizations as much as a half dozen times in a single day and it drives me crazy!

 

[GamerGirl]

I voted other. I only have a cell and if you aren't texting me then it can't be that important and the chances are that I will not answer. If I feel like talking to you and you have left a VM I will call you back (without listening to the voicemail). I sometimes try to listen to my voicemails but people tend to leave all these long winded basically meaningless messages that I usually delete them all halfway through...

 

[texaskj]

I took the land line down to the bones, the plan you have to ask for because it's so cheap they don't want anyone to know about it. There's an answering machine on it, so I NEVER answer it. I know some people at work who do the same thing. We look at it as an old fashioned answering service. You don't have to worry about giving the number out. I don't answer the cell if I don't recognize the number. I also have a certain person who has a different ring than everyone else because I don't always have an hour to blab and they always manage to call at the worst times.
When I started dating my first husband in 1980 his mom was so cheap they still had a party line! Can you imagine?
I look at it this way...I OWN the phones, they don't own me.

 

[jstarfireb]

I don't have a landline. With my cell phone, I only answer if I recognize the number or am expecting a call from someone whose number I don't have.

 

[basil]

I always answer my phone (I only have a cell). Especially if it's a number I don't know, I worry that it will be an emergency that needs my attention. A year straight of being on call will do that to you. I get burned every once in a while by solicitors or people I don't really want to talk to, but I'm pretty good at saying "not a good time, gotta go, bye"

 

[Dancing Fire]

we have a landline for emergency situations. where we live one cannot rely on cell phones alone. that phone is hooked up to an answering machine. i let the machine take the call and pick up if it is someone i want to talk to.

cell phone isn't a problem.

yep,one of reason we still have our landline,pluse they are much clearer than a cell to cell.i don't have caller ID on my landline ,so when i answer my home ph i'll go...Hello "who the F is this?" ...if it was a telemarketer they'll just hang up...

 

[lbbaber]

texaskj, What's a party line?

I never answer my land or cell line unless i'm expecting a call: mom/dad, DH, DR, sister, child's school... We never use the land line but keep it in case of an emergency (if for some odd reason we couldn't find one of our 3 cell phones). I didnt have a land line until I had children.

I never listen to my voice mails either. If someone wants my attention they know to text me.

 

[AprilBaby]

We only have a land line for hubbys business calls made out. It take WAY too many minutes for him to use the cell line. I never answer the land line because its never anyone but telemarketers calling in. Anyone who wants to really reach me calls my cell.

 

[texaskj]

texaskj, What's a party line?

Back in the stone ages, that's how almost everyone got their phone service. You actually shared a line with who knows how many people. Later on, it was just a way to save money.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_line_%28telephony%29