# Don't call me with a blocked ID or a number I don't know, asshat. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 23, 2007, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177 "2007-09-23T06:00:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/21 "2007-09-23T17:22:27Z")
[QUOTE=glee] Can I add criticism of people who phone you, get the answerphone, **don’t leave a message** , then complain you didn’t call them back! :smack: 😕 [/QUOTE] Since the dawn of Answering Machines, I have had one, and I have allowed it to answer my phone. Conveniently, I can hear the machine and I can hear who is calling. Hence, every call is “screened” through the machine. If I desire to speak to the person, I will pick up the phone. If I am busy at the moment, I will call them back later, if I so desire. For some reason, this really pisses some people off. I don’t care. I have a very simple philosophy about it; **The Telephone is a Tool that exists for my Convenience. When it stops being convenient, I stop using it.** I once (1996) had a company call me for two months. Never once left a message. Finally, I responded to a Kelly Temp ad about a programming job. Turns out that it was with this company. The manager was PISSED at me that I’d responded through Kelly (because that meant they had to pay those guys for my services for several months), but had never answered the phone when he’d called. All I could say, with complete incredulity, was _“You called me for **two fucking months** and couldn’t bother to leave a message???”_ I got the job, but I never had a decent relationship with the asshole manager, because he could never get over the idea that I didn’t answer my phone, and felt that I had cost him money because of it. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/22 "2007-09-23T17:51:58Z")
[QUOTE=Chimera] **The Telephone is a Tool that exists for my Convenience. When it stops being convenient, I stop using it.** [/QUOTE] Amen to that. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/23 "2007-09-23T17:55:06Z")
I find this all a bit strange. The only blocked numbers I ever receive are cell phones, since (in Saskatchewan, at least) you pay extra for your number to appear on land-line displays. Until about a month ago, my mom’s cell would always bee “Unknown” or “Blocked Number.” ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/24 "2007-09-23T18:07:47Z")
Thanks, **yams!!** “Donkeythong” will now be my new insult to mutter under my breath as annoying people wander away. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/25 "2007-09-23T18:27:18Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] I’m with the folks here who say they never answer the phone unless they know who it is. But the OP is Pitting something even worse than that-- someone who purposely blocks the phone number so you won’t know who it is. That’s beyond stupid, and getting into stalker/scary territory. And yeah, if I do know you, and you don’t block your number, don’t expect a returned phone call if you don’t leave a message. How hard is it say “please call me back when you can”. [/QUOTE] Sorry, but did you read the title **“…or a number I don’t know.”** So, if the police calling you to get to the hospital because your so is there you don’t answer? Your kid stranded at friend’s with a dead cell? Is it really that much bother to say hello? ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/26 "2007-09-23T18:29:27Z")
I am a residential contractor. I have minimally 20 multiple jobs going on at any given moment. I have to call and receive calls from homeowners, subs, suppliers. Coordinating, handholding, bitching, praising, placating, reviewing, interrogating, and be the all around problem solver. All of these people have given me their number. I am calling on my cell phone, which is identified. Most of my complaint with business calls are the long extended 3-4 minute messages. Fuck cutesy, fuck your daily plans (unless on vacation,) fuck screening your calls. All you need is name, number, leave a message… Most of the time I have encountered this assholish “service” is when calling my kids friends houses, to coordinate sleepovers, etc. I am either calling form my landline, which says our name in big letters, or my cell which is identified. I absolutely hate it. If you are too weaselly and hate people that much, unplug it. Are there times that I ignore my phone? Sure, if I am with a homeowner, or in the middle of a meeting, etc. Other than that, I have found that getting things done at the get go, and answering your phone is way more time efficient. My job may suck at certain times, Jim, but it ain’t because of the phone. Actually I like my job. A lot. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/27 "2007-09-23T18:31:08Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] I hope for her sake that she doesn’t say telemarketer. I can think of easier ways to commit suicide. [/QUOTE] Contractor comes in at a close 2nd… ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/28 "2007-09-23T18:34:23Z")
Better yet, when you have your settings to where your phone doesn’t accept incoming calls from unknown numbers, don’t bitch at me (the receptionist) because your vet didn’t call you back. He/She tried, several times. Its your own fucking fault for having shitty phone settings. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/29 "2007-09-23T18:48:05Z")
[QUOTE=fisha] I am a residential contractor. I have minimally 20 multiple jobs going on at any given moment. I have to call and receive calls from homeowners, subs, suppliers. Coordinating, handholding, bitching, praising, placating, reviewing, interrogating, and be the all around problem solver. All of these people have given me their number. I am calling on my cell phone, which is identified. Most of my complaint with business calls are the long extended 3-4 minute messages. Fuck cutesy, fuck your daily plans (unless on vacation,) fuck screening your calls. All you need is name, number, leave a message… Most of the time I have encountered this assholish “service” is when calling my kids friends houses, to coordinate sleepovers, etc. I am either calling form my landline, which says our name in big letters, or my cell which is identified. I absolutely hate it. If you are too weaselly and hate people that much, unplug it. Are there times that I ignore my phone? Sure, if I am with a homeowner, or in the middle of a meeting, etc. Other than that, I have found that getting things done at the get go, and answering your phone is way more time efficient. My job may suck at certain times, Jim, but it ain’t because of the phone. Actually I like my job. A lot. [/QUOTE] You did not describe what I consider unsolicited calls. If your name came up, I would answer the phone. From your first post, it sounds like you were calling with a number that would not register, this means I have no need to answer as 90% of the time it is a telemarketer masquerading as a survey taker. From your second post, I see this is not the case. I am glad you like your job, it sounds fine, I would not want it, but cool. Of course if you were a telemarketer, well lets just say, “Special place in Hell is reserved …” 😉 **brownie55** : My wife is happy I do not answer these survey calls anymore. I was particularly nasty after I said I don’t accept unsolicited calls and please have a nice day and they kept trying to talk. Believe me, I was all aggressive, disgustingly so. Jim ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/30 "2007-09-23T19:04:07Z")
[QUOTE=yams!!] hey **Turek** , did you know that the letters of your user-name can be re-arranged to form a phonetic anagram of the word “cretin”? [/QUOTE] Not quite phonetic, really. Do you remember the times when your phone used to ring, and you didn’t have a clue who it was, because there was no digital display, and you answered it and said “ahoy!” and then found out who it was afterwards? That was fun. Sigh. I’m old. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/31 "2007-09-23T19:18:24Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] You did not describe what I consider unsolicited calls. If your name came up, I would answer the phone. From your first post, it sounds like you were calling with a number that would not register, this means I have no need to answer as 90% of the time it is a telemarketer masquerading as a survey taker. From your second post, I see this is not the case. Jim [/QUOTE] Exactly my point. I am on a identified landline, calling someone’s house, and they have this idiotic system that makes you jump through all these hoops, just to talk to them. And I highly doubt that the system takes my recorded voice saying “This is fisha.” and plays it before you answer the phone. Maybe it does, I dunno, because I an not a flaming fucking moron who is too scared to answer their fucking phone. I think this is another symptom of “I’m so fucking important, the world must cater to me.” Yeah, well, hope you die alone in a ditch, you unsocialized, egotistical waste.\* _click_ \*Not you, **Jim**. And one of these phones is for my kids best friend, so I have to call it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/32 "2007-09-23T19:21:06Z")
[QUOTE=Turek] I suggest “Fuckhead\_who\_refuses\_to\_capitalize\_words\_because\_they\_think\_it’s\_cool.” [/QUOTE] Did you ever think that they are just lazy and an inefficient typist? I know that is why I do it. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/33 "2007-09-23T19:22:01Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > I’m probably spitting in the wind here, but can we please get rid of the term “asshat”. Well, the thing is, you could say she actually used to wear an ass for a hat. In a way. > [@DudleyGarrett](#): > > “Hi, I can’t take your call right now because I’m avoiding someone. If I don’t call you back, then it’s probably you.” Awesome! I think I’ll do that. The best part is, this girl is so dumb that she set her cellphone’s “identity” message (the one that’s supposed to just say her name, that plays back to you when you listen to a message that _she_ has left _you_), to what her “answering” message should be. So when you listen to a message she’s left you, it says: “New message from: Hey, this is X, I can’t get to the phone right now, so leave a message.” > [@Triskadecamus](#): > > Of course, I don’t get a dozen calls a month, so what the heck. I think that’s the difference. The problem is that if I encourage her by even answering, she’ll call back continually until I answer again. So I stopped picking up blocked numbers–then she called me from a number that wasn’t in my phone. Her: “Hey…what are you doing?” Me: “…” Her: “Are you mad at me?” Me: “Yeah, well, the thing is…” and I hung up while I was saying “thing”, then turned my phone off for a few hours. Of course, she called back and left a message, which I deleted without listening to. Now I guess I can’t answer unknown numbers either. She’s ruined it for everyone. > [@yams!!](#): > > hey Turek, did you know that the letters of your user-name can be re-arranged to form a phonetic anagram of the word “cretin”? I guess the “n” in “cretin” is silent now. Must be French. > [@brownie55](#): > > So, if the police calling you to get to the hospital because your so is there you don’t answer? I know the police’s phone number. Every citizen should. > [@brownie55](#): > > Your kid stranded at friend’s with a dead cell? I don’t have a kid. > [@brownie55](#): > > Is it really that much bother to say hello? Is it really that much bother to leave a message? “Hey, this is Y, my phone’s dead/I’m a cop/I’m your guardian angel/I’m coming to kill you/I have some other important thing to tell you, and you can reach me at ZZZ-ZZZZ.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/34 "2007-09-23T19:22:23Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Not quite phonetic, really. Do you remember the times when your phone used to ring, and you didn’t have a clue who it was, because there was no digital display, and you answered it and said “ahoy!” and then found out who it was afterwards? That was fun. Sigh. I’m old. [/QUOTE] I’m old, too - I remember those days, and I remember when after I said, “Hello?” there would be a human being that I possibly wanted to talk to on the other end of the line, instead of a telemarketer trying to steal my time or the dead silence of an auto-dialer that apparently doesn’t know what to do with a real live human answering. For the record, I’m never (well, rarely) rude to telemarketers when I do talk to them; I tell them very politely to stop calling my number, then I hang up. Mid-sentence, usually. ET delete question that’s already answered. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/35 "2007-09-23T19:30:25Z")
[QUOTE=yams!!] hey **Turek** , did you know that the letters of your user-name can be re-arranged to form a phonetic anagram of the word “cretin”? What is a phonetic anagram? How do you arrange the name? ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/36 "2007-09-23T19:32:10Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] Well, the thing is, you could say she actually used to wear an ass for a hat. In a way. … The problem is that if I encourage her by even answering, she’ll call back continually until I answer again. So I stopped picking up blocked numbers–then she called me from a number that wasn’t in my phone. Her: “Hey…what are you doing?” Me: “…” Her: “Are you mad at me?” Me: “Yeah, well, the thing is…” and I hung up while I was saying “thing”, then turned my phone off for a few hours. Of course, she called back and left a message, which I deleted without listening to. Now I guess I can’t answer unknown numbers either. She’s ruined it for everyone. [/QUOTE] That sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/37 "2007-09-23T20:06:54Z")
[QUOTE=A Monkey With a Gun] I’m probably spitting in the wind here, but can we please get rid of the term “asshat”. It wasn’t all that clever to begin with. [/QUOTE] Meh, I still like it. That being said, what do you think about “cunt maggot”? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/38 "2007-09-23T20:09:53Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Meh, I still like it. That being said, what do you think about “cunt maggot”? [/QUOTE] Careful, TPTB are extra sensitive to the C word. Ask \*\*Ellis Dee \*\* about it. 😉 Jim ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/39 "2007-09-23T20:48:54Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] I know the police’s phone number. Every citizen should. I don’t have a kid. Is it really that much bother to leave a message? “Hey, this is Y, my phone’s dead/I’m a cop/I’m your guardian angel/I’m coming to kill you/I have some other important thing to tell you, and you can reach me at ZZZ-ZZZZ.” [/QUOTE] That was mosty adressed to John Mace, but thanks for your input. What is the police number for call backs? I have no idea, so I must be a poor citizen. And, **What Exit/Jim** , OK that’s the kind of real agression I was looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177/40 "2007-09-23T21:28:48Z")
[QUOTE=denquixote] What is a phonetic anagram? How do you arrange the name? [/QUOTE] The only solution I came up with was to turn the “u” upside down to make an “n”, giving you “Kretn”. Otherwise the closest I got was “Kretu” which I imagine would be “Kret-you” or “Kree-two”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-call-me-with-a-blocked-id-or-a-number-i-dont-know-asshat/420177.md?page=3)