Years ago when I was a poor college student in an apartment so small that it wasn’t so much an “apartment” as much as a “compartment,” the local phone company enjoyed calling me to offer wonderful services that I was not currently using. I did so look forward to their calls. I told one agent that I didn’t need caller ID because I was psychic.
She was skeptical.
“You’re psychic?”
“Yes I am.”
“So you knew it was me calling and you answered the phone anyway?”
“Yes I did.”
Another agent got a very sad story, complete with the phone version of puppy dog eyes, about how I didn’t need caller ID because no one loves me and no one ever calls me and I’m so lonesome.
I’m not poor anymore, but I’m still cheap. Until recently I had a no-frills landline with no bells and whistles. Then the cable company pissed me off, so I got a cable/internet/phone package that includes caller ID.
I am in love! How did I ever live without this?!
Husband’s idiot friend calls for the third time in a day - I don’t answer it! Mother-in-law calls when I’m too grumpy to make small talk? I pass the phone to Husband! No more stupid survey calls! The woman begging money for the “chief of police association” who keeps calling and won’t leave a message? click On click Off. It only took her two hung up calls to get the picture. Prior to this she’d been bugging us monthly. (the “Do Not Call” list is leaving something to be desired) If only I had this service back in October/November in time for the elections!
I fully realize that no one is forcing me to answer the phone and I could just as easily screen my calls with the answering machine. I am one of those poor saps who can’t stand hearing the phone ring without answering it just in case it’s an old friend or something important.
When I got my house I had caller ID set up, even though I barely use the landline. I love it!
My dad fights with my mom over who’s going to answer (“it’s probably for you!”) and during the day when he’s home alone he screens his calls…sometimes. Other times he bitches about who’s calling him.
He’s got loads more money than me but wont’ pay the extra $3/mo to get it. He so needs it!
I always thought it was a waste. Then I met Linda. We dated for maybe a couple of weeks, then I decided that it was not meant to be, and told her as much. That’s when the crazy started. She would call several times a day to plead her case. That went on, without relent, for about three months. I got caller ID for the sole purpose of screening her out.
My first thought as well! It was the main thing I loved when I was dragged into the 20th century and got a cell phone. Are there even any cell phone services that DON’T offer caller ID?
Presumably Solfy is talking about not having it previously on a landline.
We just recently got caller ID when I noticed that the phone company was offering a “choice” plan that included that and call waiting for only $1.05/mth more than the basic service. The previous $8-9/mth just didn’t seem worth it as poor grad students and we didn’t get THAT many calls.
Pssssst! I’ll tell you a secret! Lean in real close, 'cause I don’t want anyone to hear. If word of this got out. . . well, I shudder to think what people would say about me. You have to swear you won’t tell anyone. Promise? Okay, then.
I don’t carry a cell phone.
Traa laa laa! I love technology! I’m just like everyone else with a cell phone permanently implanted in my ear! I’m not a land line user, no sir! Those old phones are for fuddy duddies who never go anywhere! I have a life. I have to be reached at all hours everywhere I go! I think land lines should be banned!
I like Caller ID for the opposite reason as most of you. I get to look at the phone and see it’s Kim the Rhymer calling, and that still makes me happy.
The party you’re affiliated with ahs your phone number, and it does not fall under the “do not call” registry, just as charities and non-profits do not.
Of course my cell phone (only phone I have) does have caller ID, but unfortunatly it is possible - for others - to set you cell on ‘secret’ (translation from dutch), so you still don’t know who is calling. The same goes for companies/organisations who set will produce 'anonymous’on your screen when tey call.
Of course you can always refuse to answer these unknown calls, but since my dad - for some unholy reason - has had his cell set on secret for the last couple of years I do tend to answer.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - this is horseshit. Especially politicians, because they’re slimyh bastards who are even less worthy of my time than telemarketers. I have some sympathy for the charities, but as long as my telephone line is a service that I’m paying for, it’s really only fair that I be able to block unwanted calls from every organization, whether they make a profit or not.
I got a cell phone a little over a year ago, and I’ve been misplacing it ever since. I regularly lose it in the depths of my purse, or in my pocketseses, or under the car seat. I am simply NOT USED to having one around me.
When I actually do have it with me, and properly charged, I have it on mute. This drives my husband crazy, as he can’t call me up and ask me where the hell I am, and when I’m coming home. He doesn’t seem to understand that these calls are the reason why I have the cell on mute all the time.
I just got it as well. I didn’t like the $9.99 a month charge but so far it has been worth it. Now when my family of friends call they don’t have to yell out on the answer machine for me to pick up.
I also just got a cell. I won’t be using it much. It is just a cheap TracPhone that I pay $10 a month for 50 minutes but that is all I wanted. Just something for emergencies.
My daughter called me on it yesterday. First call received since I got it. I was sitting in the livingroom wondering what that weird noise was and were it was coming from. :o
We just got caller ID for our landline for the first time, as part of a package deal. (Talk about old-timey. Until it broke recently we had a clanking old cassette answering machine.) I like that I can mentally prepare for who’s calling before I pick up. Otherwise I always feel blank and flustered.
You can tell the pesky charities/non-profits/political groups to remove your number from their call list when they call. A fair number will comply.
When we moved here, we sort of seriously considered not getting a land line, since we mostly get calls on our respective cell phones. However, we did go with a cheap service which came with our internet service. We get so few calls on the land line that we didn’t sign up for caller ID.
Couldn’t live without caller ID on the cell, though.
Investigation into the options may show you that you can set your phone to “buzz & vibrate” rather than ringing loudly, or to ring softly instead of loudly, or, better yet, to have a different ring for different callers. Then when your loving hubby calls, you’ll know it’s not a salesman (unless your husband is already a salesman).
Once you get used to the convenience of a pocket phone, you realize there are many more uses than you thought. I use mine to call while driving, since that “telescopes” my day and I don’t have to make some of those calls at the office and tie up my work.
People who turn off their phones in the car just don’t get it. “I only keep it for emergencies.” Wasn’t that the original reason for connecting up a landline to your home? Did you turn it off until you wanted to make a call? You’re paying for the ability to receive calls, now learn to use the feature, stuck-in-the-20th-Century-dumbass.
There’s a reasonable solution to most of the complaints I hear. “I forget to charge it.” So get an extra battery and a car adapter.
ETA: I assumed you were just kidding about not wanting to take hubby’s calls, but if you’re serious, my solution won’t be much help. Sorry.
My cell phone stays off a lot because I don’t feel the need to be reachable 24/7. It’s also a pain to have the wires running around the car to charge the phone, or having to remember to take it inside and plug it into the wall. YMMV.
