Does anyone else hate talking on the phone?

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I just realized something weird.

I don't like it when I'm making the call and the other person picks it up too soon. Picking it up on the second ring is good. The first ring throws me off.
No ring at all just blows me away.

So, when I'm on the other side, I never pick it up until at least the second ring.
I never thought about it before, but it feels as though it would be rude somehow.

Last edited by Tahitiii on 09 Aug 2008, 8:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

I hate the phone too. For me it's not so much worrying about what to say, it's just that I find it boring. Especially when you're getting to know someone, or on the flipside, when you're talking to someone you see all the time. I hate just sitting there. I like to have conversations with people while we're DOING something, like shopping or eating or driving somewhere. Just sitting and talking kind of seems like a waste of time to me, especially when you can't even see that person.

I do have a lot of problems with understanding people over the phone though. It's always like, "mumble mumble mumble BERMUDA mumble mumble WHALES" and I'm like, "Oh....whales are cool, huh?" I don't know if it's bad hearing of if I zone out or what.

As for the "item one, item two" thing, as a NT, I think it's really cute. It would only bother me if someone called me all the time like, "Item one: I saw some roadkill. Item two: Did you buy the bread? Item three: Let's watch TV tonight." etc. But actually...that sounds like something I might do, in my head if not out loud.

HATE IT! My last boyfriend would call me--and on a night when I was supposed to have time to myself!--and talk on and on. I have some friends who live a distance, so I feel that I should call them once in a while. I put it on my list of things to do and stare at it for a long time--weeks. I like being called by a long-distance friend though, I'll get the obligation over with lickety split. But I don't want to stay on long. Wasted time! I like emailing or socializing in person. Phone drives me crazy.

I hate it. I tend to, at home, only answer if I know the number on the LED display, or if the caller leaves a message, and sometimes not even then. When I dial out, I hope to get the machine and not a real person. I usually have to steel myself up in order to use it at all in a non-work environment. At work I have to use the cursed thing, but in general those conversations are very rote after awhile - eg I am looking for a fax number, or a piece of information, etc. I had to learn not to saythingsinonebigjumblewhenIaminahurrytohangup because it prolongs the agony when people say "what?! !? What did you say?! !? I don't understand you!! !". Its embarrassing when the person at the other end starts giving advice on how I should talk too, sigh. So I talk extra slowly.

I love e-mail, although I have had moments where I have thought people need to be taught etiquette - announcing a death in the family in the subject line, for instance. That is tacky. Or, perhaps a dear e-jane letter like I received from the ex-husband. That was pushing good taste as well. Actually, I handled almost my whole divorce on line, it was very strange, but oddly very me.

I haven't thought of that in years.
I managed a do-it-yourself-divorce back in the mid 1980's.
(No kids, no property, I just packed up the car and drove away.)
I'm sure the on-line version is easier.

I'm good with a handful of people, but otherwise, I hate talking on the phone. It took me a while to even feel remotely comfortable ordering take-out, and I still sometimes have problems with that.

Depends and who I am talking to, for how long, and my mood.

Same here. It's annoying.

Phone talking... I'd rather not if given the choice.
It's just hard for me to be responsive since I usually have to think of what to day.

At work I have to call customers about orders. It's not so bad because I have a rehearsed line I give every time. I prefer to just give it to machines but it works on people sufficiently enough. It's when my rehearsed line gets interrupted that I'll start to have problems like stuttering and taking too long to respond.
Customers calling me... I hate that. Usually it's about the status of an order or somebody asking if we have something. Easy enough questions for me to handle. Anything beyond and problems start up.

Personally I have another issue too...
I just can't make phone calls if I don't know what to expect. Like making an appointment or placing an order with some place I've never been to before, or just calling for information. Somehow I need to know what the procedure is and how things go about with whoever before I'm comfortable enough to call.

yes, its torture..>.<

to even feel remotely comfortable ordering take-out, and I still sometimes have problems with that.

Oh yeah, exactly...I also find it difficult when a pizza is delivered, what should I do? A tip, OK...but how much is suitable? Is it suitable? etc....the never ending story of getting it right.

For the tip, there's an easy system I use. Many will consider you a good tipper, and you'll stay in the 10-20% range. Basically, every $5 of total, add $1 in tip. (Minimum tip is $1/person if at a restaurant, otherwise, simple minimum $1) So, a pizza delivery for a decent size group with a total of $36.12 (number pulled out of my ***) would get a $7 tip.

people don't understand why i hate phone conversations soooooo much. i need to plan out just what i'm going to say before i call a person and think of what to say if they take the conversation to another level. i'd rather just talk to the person face to face. it's waay easier.

If I don't know the person I follow this checklist.
1) greeting
2) who you are
3) what it's about

Works MOST of the time, but I do hate it when I send a text message to my brother and he usually calls me soon after, I don't mind, it's usually that I'm trying to watch TV that will probably never be repeated for a while, and I don't know which to prioritise so I try both.

Short messages are better, say what you want - wait for a response - simple

I've always been horrible at talking to people on the phone. It's not that I don't like people calling me, it's just awkward, because I never know what to say on the phone, so usually I'll just fill up the conversation with dumb mindless chatter.

Is that why people do that?

The half-wit and I are both Board members at a tiny charter school. I'm talking about something earthshaking, a decision must be made, and this idiot is giving me dead air and nonsense answers. At one point, after a pause so long that I wondered whether the connection was broken, she said, "I'm sorry, this is a really emotional part in the story..." With the implication that she had no intention of stopping. I said, "Sorry, I have to go..." and hung up quickly, hoping that she would catch a clue that I was annoyed. She didn't.

No. Keith's explanation only makes sense when I'm the one who made the call. This woman does it even when she is the one who called me.