Phones

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Does anybody else detest talking on the phone? I hate it so much I put it off when I know I have to.
I have to see my doctor at least once a month and as I'm currently discussing things of a personal nature, only see one doctor, which is unusual in the practice I use as it has alot of patients so appointments go quickly. Even though I'm well aware of this and also of the fact the doctor I see only works three days a week, I still cannot bring myself to make the call when I should. It's over so quickly and isn't normally terrible but I just hate it. This is just the worst current example but there are many more for me, anyone else feel similar?

Yes, I avoid talking on the phone. In part it stems from my teenage years when strangers often misread my gender over the phone, but since that hasn't happened in decades and I still hate phone calls, it can't be the whole story. I know when I have to make an appointment over the phone I first wait several days, then on the day I finally force myself to call, I wait for just the right time to get the person, so by the time they answer I'm unreasonably ticked off at them for having already taken up so much of my life.

i prefer to talk over the phone.... that way i don't have to conform to social rules like looking in the eye, read and signal correct body language, conform to dress-codes, etc etc.

it also gives me the opportunity to write things down i want to remember or want to ask...

also.... i can ask them to repeat what they just said if there is some noise in the background (but not the cause why i want them to repeat it), because that is an acceptable excuse even NT's use over the phone and are familiar with can happen...

i can write down their names and look at that paper when i want to use it (i can't remember names, and NT's find it extreme important that you remember there names!!)

since nobody - including NT's - can see body language over a phone... everybody has to be more precise in their wordings... saying what they try to say... no guessing and interpretations!

also... conversations over the phone are easier to finish. you can just say: thank you and goodbye! and then hang up.

no awkward handshaking or whatever...


in other words:

it is much, much easier for me!

I detest phones. They interrupt me. I don't like talking to disembodied voices. Even worse is having to navigate those damnable menus. Press 1 for blah, 2 for blah blah. By the time the choices are enumerated I forget the first ones and have to start all over.

I hate texting even more than phones. At least with phone conversations I can guess at someone's intentions by putting things in a broader context and paying very close attention to how fast they talk, etc. With texts, everything is so brief and lacking in specific detail, so that you have to fill in the gaps. I have ended up in more fights and misunderstandings via text than with any other form of communication, but yes... I prefer in person over talking on the phone. I have been known to take a train all the way across town to ask a question in person rather than to call.

I can handle some phone conversations but often get anxious if there are questions i want to ask or things i'm not understanding. I have a hard time trying to figure out how to word things and interject them i often forget what i was calling about only to remember later and not want to call back. I admit i still have my mother make medical phone calls for me and sometimes if I want bits of information i write it all down for her and leave the room while she calls. I hate doing this too because I never feel like she's explaining any thing to me right sometimes i really wish i were normal

I think aspi-rant makes some good points.

I don't particularly like talking on the phone. I rarely talk on my cell phone because cell phones are hard for me to hear.

I think I prefer texting and IMing more than I do real face to face conversations. I've talked more this than otherwise.

I can make appoiments and that sort of thing easily enough, I guess, but I avoid it because I still don't like it. Sometimes, it's hard for me to get my thoughts out.

I and my wife [which seems false because shde is on the phone at this very moment, but I speak sooth] avoid the phone so far as possible.

We trade off - I will answer or make calls she cannot and vice versa.

The answering machine is the ONLY thing that makes the phone as bearable as it is.

I prefer time lag with chance to process before responding.

I hate any but written communication. I've made it perfectly clear in my company that I never talk with customers (on the phone or otherwise).

I hate talking on the phone, with a passion. I will do any form of communication, except for talking on the phone.

Like aspi-rant, I prefer talking on the phone in some ways. I am pretty sure I get much a greater proportion of what is going on with another persons thoughts in a phone conversation compared to face-to-face. I still have problems - particularly picking up cues from the other person that I should end a call.

But when you are making an appointment, there is likely to be more-or-less a script where the receptionist asks some basic questions e.g. your name, what time/day you want and you might insert a statement saying that you need to see your specific doctor (Usually Doctor's receptionists don't want to spend that much time on the phone as they tend to be busy people). It might help you to think in terms of such a script as you work your way through a call (or this might already be something you have figured out already).

Phones are the enemy.