Phones

Okay, let me admit to something I hate.  There are not a lot of things I hate, there are more that I dislike, find annoying or simply prefer to avoid, but I hate talking to people on the phone.  This came home earlier this afternoon, a long lost third cousin reached out through Facebook and asked for my phone number so she could call.  I was stumped, I thought about it for 30 minutes and replied with small talk and said that email is the best way to reach me - giving her my email address. I didn't want to tell her in the message that I don't like talking on the phone, but I really don't.  

There are causes of this.  For nine-years I answered the phone in a legal aid office and said, "hi, my name is David" - tell me all of your troubles.  And they did - endlessly.  Maybe I have PTSD, but I wince at the sound of a ringing phone. 

Now I talk on the phone, at times it is the most efficient way to communicate, it is easier to sort out the details and come to agreement.  For work calls, I frequently have a plan and an agenda, and I know what the call is about, those calls don't bother me as much. I can make small talk for a few minutes, then I want to move onto the agenda.  

I make other calls, my father, my sister, seldom or never other family.  Those are obligations, I really wish they would email.  

So here I am with a home phone with unlimited nationwide calling, a cell with unlimited minutes, and I don't talk on them much.