No, you’re not wrong, outliern, you’re just an …
Never mind. 
What you are missing is that it’s a joke. It’s funny because it doesn’t quite make any sense.
MY guess is that after about ten rings or so most peope assume it’s important.
If I recall correctly, the telephone answering machine was invented by an Orthodox Jew in order to not miss any calls on Shabbos. And Walter runs his own business. I assume he’s got an answering machine.
Ahe cowboy character, or at least a very similar guy, shows up again in one of Ethan Coen’s short stories.
His short story collection, Gates of Eden is well worth a read.
Absolutely.
The Narrator is a great character in this movie.
First of all, he sort of just balances, grounds, and slows down what is actually a complicated – but ultimately sensical – plot. The opening speech of his is classic. (“now, ‘dude’ isn’t a name one self-applies where I come from”) Then, he appears again in the middle (“is that like an eastern thing?” “Not exactly”), and again right at the end. (“The dude abides”. “Well, I don’t know about you, but that makes me feel a whole lot better, just knowing there’s a guy out there like the Dude.”)
But also, I completely agree with uglybeech that the Coen brothers were trying to make the statement that the modern day version of our cowboy is a guy like the dude. Since we no longer can physically remove ourselves from society, you have to do it like the Dude. That is the essential nature of this character. It is what Lebowski wants him for. It’s what Maude wants him for. It’s defines his relationship to other characters, only really connecting with anyone after the coffee-can funeral.
I think the money part has been cleared up by others. Essentially, Bunny took a random road trip. The Nihilists knew it (they knew her. One of them was floating in the pool), so they dreamed up the kidnap plot. When they made the demand to Lebowski, Lebowski stole the money from the foundation and gave the Dude a ringer, not caring if Bunny ever returned, while keeping the million for himself.
Dude stumbles ass-backwards into actually solving it.
Larry Sellers is a red herring.
Like Communism!
There never was any money! You threw out a ringer for a ringer!!!
I understand that, dude, but how does that make this an emergency?
He listened to the dude ranting on his answering machine. The dude was saying pick up the phone, pick up the phone, it wasnt until he threatened to quit the bowling team that walter actually picked up the phone.
It was supposed to be funny. Over explaining things like this… kinda takes some of the humour out of it.
See, I knew it’d been too long since I saw the movie. That’s the joke right there.