Does anyone else HATE talking to other people on the phone?

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Phones suck, I honestly wont answer them unless I know I absolutely must talk with said person. I will just listen to my voicemail and email back. Phone conversations are always awkward and people feel the need to small talk.


Thats why texting rocks

I have really bad phone anxiety. I start breathing really hard and have to rotate the phone up so the microphone is far away from my mouth when I am listening.

And it's really hard to understand what the garbled disembodied voice is saying. I need people to repeat themselves all the time. :/

I hate the phone. I will do almost anything to avoid making a phone call, and rarely answer my phone (in fact, I have about a month of messages I am trying to ignore).

I once spent about 3 months sneaking out at night to put my rubbish in shop dump bins because I didn't want to call the council to ask about bin collection. Whenever I come across a situation where I have to make a phone call, I almost completely rule it out as a possibility - I am sure my car only gets serviced because I can book online.

The thing that is really weird about this is that I work in a call center, taking emergency calls. This environment works really well for me - everything is scripted, I am in control, and because it is an emergency situation you don't need to worry about small talk! But ask me at home to ring someone to make an appointment or just to chat, it s not going to happen.

To the people who have fears of talking on the phone, is this supposed to be another Aspie trait? Are you guys afraid that someone will make fun of your voice, or hang up on you just because they think your voice is weird? I'm just curious.

yesssss I hate it too. I only answer my cell phone to my parents haha. I don't answer the house phone unless it's a doctor or someone like that.

This is a really interesting thread. I am going to spoil the 100% "hate it" opinion.

I, like many here, am useless at picking up non verbal communication. When speaking on the phone, without visual cues. I feel I am on a fairer footing. OK, there may be tonal cues that I may not pick up but I do not have to deal with visual cues. In face to face conversation, I have to work very hard to try to notice visual cues. I still miss more than i pick up. On the phone I do not have to worry about visual cues and I am better able to concentrate on what is being said.

Absolutely hated it ever since I was a kid. I dont mind it when im in the mood for it...which is very rarely and I have to mentally prepare myself first. I think i have more of an issue with being interrupted from an activity to have conversations with people. I also have to mentally prepare myself for social interaction too.

I hate listening/talking on the phone. Part of the reason i dislike phone conversations is because i seem to have a hard time understanding what people are saying. I can hear someone clearly but i just have a hard time processing what the noises they just made mean if that makes any sense. Now run their speech through a phone and it just makes things more difficult. I think part of it may be related to having a hard time removing background noise from our environments.

Another reason i hate talking on the phone is i tent to stutter a little or i just can't say anything at all. For some reason i rarely do this in person but it can be pretty bad over the phone.

I kind of have this theory that everyone has a natural rhythm that has its own pace. Most people im around will have a slightly different rhythm and occasionally they will overlap at certain times and at other times are far apart. I know when this happens and i try to keep my distance or else i tend to get really annoyed/angry with these people. There are a select few people that are almost like a magnet that can cause both of our rhythms to lock together and some people it repels. My point is that when im on the phone with most people i just don't feel connected and things are aquard but a few people i can just lock on to and i feel super comfortable talking to them about anyhting in any situation. Then there are people like my manager at a part time job that i have who is 12 hours away in Japan and our phone conversations every other day are just painful and aquard.

Sorry for the rant..

How about those people in public who can look at you while talking hands free with someone else .................

Yes, there is only 1 person I like talking to, mainly about a shared interest. However now she is questioning me about something personal that I want to ignore every time we talk so I'm worried this shall fizzle out.

Also I never liked phones but I like cell phones even less because it seems like the reception is always spotty. Then when I tell them that I can't hear them they tell me it's my fault, but I'm usually on a landline, so it's obviously their service provider.

I hate it as well its really hard coming up with things to say

I dislike the phone. I hate it if I have to call someone or something I don't know. If we're called by someone else (I live with my parents) then it's difficult to be sure when the other person wants to have a longer talk or was just looking for someone else. If I'm calling someone I know, or if I'm being called by someone I know and whose intentions I know, I rather like the phone.

I'd rather text or email.
With speaking the words never come out right.

I thought I was alone in this. I hate it too. I'm ok with some people, especially if I have called them to talk. If they call me, it's like I'm not prepared and often will not answer the phone. I like to call and arrange to meet and then get off the phone. I am ok with official stuff like banks and businesses. A dread builds up in me and I don't want to call anyone.