# Does Anybody Else Hate Answering Phones That Are Not Your Own? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 29, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420 "2002-12-29T00:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/22 "2011-04-25T15:43:24Z")
reported ---
**Author:** ![Soliloquy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Soliloquy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soliloquy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/23 "2011-04-25T16:29:17Z")
I hate answering the phone BECAUSE I’ve spent most of my working years answering phones, specifically as a 9-1-1 dispatcher/call-taker. Answer enough emergency calls, you start to dread it every time the phone rings, even if you know that isn’t reasonable. When I accidentally answered my home phone “9-1-1, What is your emergency?” a couple of times, in a sleep deprived haze, I stopped answering the phone unless I knew who was on the other end. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/24 "2011-04-25T16:31:33Z")
I hate answering not-my phones, even when I’m in my bosses office waiting for a call that is for both her and I. I stumble and say something like “Anna’s office, Mona Lisa speaking” and still feel like a twit. Of course, anything that throws me off the normal “Mona Lisa speaking” is likely to make me answer my default for the previous 6 years “Dementia Care unit, Mona Lisa RN speaking” which is definitely NOT what I should be answering in my present job. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/25 "2011-04-25T22:16:01Z")
I wonder if zombies like answering the phone? Because I do not. ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/26 "2011-04-25T22:24:29Z")
> [@Monstera\_deliciosa](#): > > reported By the way, what I reported was the spam post that resurrected this zombie, which was since removed, not the zombie itself. And I hate answering other people’s phones. I’m not so fond of answering my own phone, either. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/27 "2011-04-25T23:54:05Z")
I don’t mind answering phones for a living, but I hate answering other people’s personal phones. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/28 "2011-04-26T01:37:32Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > Answering someone else’s phone is a dynamite opportunity to use the old classic, “[The phone’s owner] would love to talk to you right now, but I’ve got my dick in [his/her] mouth! HAHAHAHA!” I usually like to go with some variant of “Giant Penises Incorporated, neuroman speaking.” ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/29 "2011-04-26T01:42:27Z")
I don’t mind answering the phone. It’s the calling other people part I can barely stand. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/30 "2011-04-26T01:59:38Z")
I have been given to understand that temp agencies have the hardest time finding people who are willing to do phone work. I know I hated it during the brief time that I temped. How the hell am I supposed to know what to tell these people when I know nothing about the business? I’m self-employed, so except for wrong numbers, it’s pretty much always for me (or Mr. S, but rarely; he’s not a phone guy). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/31 "2011-04-26T11:28:08Z")
I’m not the biggest fan of answering even my own phone. I only answer it when it’s people I know. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/32 "2011-04-26T13:21:19Z")
I hate answering any phone, even and especially my own. I also hate making calls. (Basically, the phone sucks, okay? :)) I only answer my cell if I know the person calling; everyone else can go hang. The worst temp job I ever had was working as a receptionist at a busy company. The phone literally rang all day – as soon as I’d hang up, it would ring again with 30 seconds, for eight hours straight. My personal hell includes that day as a level. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/33 "2011-04-26T13:29:08Z")
(missed edit window) I think I hate it so much because a) I feel like I can’t communicate fully with someone whom I can’t see and can’t see me ; and b) for the most part, when strangers approach me in any context, my first thought is, who is this person and what do they want from me? On the phone, esp one without caller ID, you could be anybody asking me for anything. This makes me uncomfortable. Also, the phone ringing is always an intrusion, no matter where I am and what I’m doing. If I’m at work, I’m engrossed in my work and the phone is interrupting me. If I’m at home, I’m eating/doing chores/enjoying my downtime…if you’re not family or a friend, I don’t want to have to stop what I’m doing just because you want to talk to me. And even if you are family/friend, I may let you go to voicemail and call you back when it’s more convenient for me. But then, I’m really introverted. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/34 "2011-04-26T13:31:33Z")
I don’t mind answering someone else’s phone. No skin off my nose. I’ll take a message and be done with it. What’s the big deal about that??? I’ll even make phone calls for someone, do their dirty work for them. It’s my own phone I HATEHATEHATE answering (no cell phone, just a landline with answering machinge just like grandma has). I HATE hearing my own phone ring and 9 out of 10 times will listen to the answering machine pick up. (I can always pick up the phone and explain I was out in the yard or something.) I never get any good calls, either someone calls to yak away endlessly or something bad happened, or somebody wants something from me. I hate my phone. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/35 "2011-04-26T13:39:50Z")
I answer my own cell phone. Very few people have the number, and I’ve worked very hard to keep it that way. My gf (we cohabit) has a land-line. I do not contribute toward that phone bill, and would never consider giving the number out as a contact option. When it rings, it is for her. I have never answered it (been cohabiting 5 years). I _will_ never answer it. At work, someone is paid to answer the phone. If she is late for some reason, the call goes to an answering service. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/36 "2011-04-26T13:41:40Z")
> [@Burnt\_Sugar](#): > > I don’t like answering phones and there are very few people I feel comfortable ringing. Like a phobia I guess. When I have to ring someone I get really really nervous, unless I have to do it quickly and don’t have time to get nervous. > > Not surprisingly, I also hate talking on phones. > > _sigh_ I’m a freak. ME TOO! I have to make a dental appointment. I’ve been putting it off and putting it off and putting it off. I know I’m going to need a root canal for $900, I have an appointment I can’t reschedule this Friday and they’re going to tell me I can see the dentist on Friday or else will have to wait for 2 months, and I just don’t want to deal with any of it. I hate phones. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420/37 "2011-04-26T14:04:04Z")
> [@handy](#): > > Im deaf & can’t hear who is there, so I just pick it up & say ‘this is xxx’s answering service they should be with you in a minute.’ > > Fun. How do you know when it’s ringing? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-else-hate-answering-phones-that-are-not-your-own/145420.md?page=1)