# If you can't talk, don't pick up! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 2, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-talk-dont-pick-up/501736 "2009-07-02T20:42:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-talk-dont-pick-up/501736/21 "2009-07-03T12:31:47Z")
Most of the calls I receive are quick and can be handled whenever. People generally don’t call me unless it’s something important. Often, missing the call will inconvenience both the caller and me. If it’s for a long conversation it’s usually pre-planned or on Sunday. So yes, I’m going to answer the phone. If you need more than a minute, don’t waste my time with a call. Email me. I can read 10x faster than you can talk. If it absolutely must be handled over the phone, be prepared to wait. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-talk-dont-pick-up/501736/22 "2009-07-03T12:39:27Z")
I’ve got a couple people who I’ll click over for…my dad and my mother in law. If a particular friend of mine calls, I know it’s probably to tell me about the doobie party she had the night before, so I just let her go to voicemail. But with the elders, it might really be something important so I’ll interrupt what I’m doing for them. I also click over from personal calls if a work person calls me. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-talk-dont-pick-up/501736/23 "2009-07-03T15:49:37Z")
I hope you guys aren’t the same people who get offended at the idea of text messaging (applies to cell phones only, naturally). Being able to text instead of call is perfect in these sorts of situations. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-talk-dont-pick-up/501736/24 "2009-07-03T18:20:44Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > Hey, some of us have family with really fragile health. Yes, _some_ people are in that situation, but the overwhelming minority are _not_ and are just slaves to their ringtones and answering when they shouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-talk-dont-pick-up/501736/25 "2009-07-04T00:23:39Z")
**Mesquite-oh** , I think most posters are talking about those who pick up the phone and don’t even assess the importance of the call – they just answer, say they can’t talk and hang up. Geez, if you’d just not answered and it went to voicemail, I’d have figured out YOU CAN’T TALK RIGHT NOW. **Dusty Rose** , I think you’re right about Sicko. ---
**Author:** ![EpicNonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@EpicNonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EpicNonsense)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-talk-dont-pick-up/501736/26 "2009-07-04T00:29:56Z")
I can’t respond right now, so uh, I’ll respond later. ---
**Author:** ![coffinjumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@coffinjumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffinjumper)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-talk-dont-pick-up/501736/27 "2009-07-04T00:57:54Z")
I’ll make you a deal. I’ll work on getting people to stop picking up when I’m busy if you get them to _let_ me ignore a phone call. If I don’t answer the first time they’ll call me back 10 times in a half an hour. And it’s for absolutely nothing when i do get to them. it’s like I’m not allowed to not have the phone on me. Or, god forbid, maybe not want to talk on it. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-talk-dont-pick-up/501736/28 "2009-07-04T02:35:45Z")
Some phones, you can just hit the end button to silence it if it’s ringing, and it’ll pass the caller to voice mail. I’ve noticed that at least with my flip phone though, the only way to do that is to open the phone, which answers the call anyways. So yeah, sometimes I have to do the “Can’t talk now_click_” routine, or if one of my superiors is talking to me, it’s more like _answerclick_ if the phone should ring) All this means, of course, is that I should invest in a phone where I can hit the end button without answering the phone first. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-talk-dont-pick-up/501736/29 "2009-07-04T09:38:33Z")
You’re not calling from one of those numbers that comes up as ‘private number’ (or whatever the US equivalent is), are you? Quite a lot of companies have them here, and most hospitals do too. I’ve answered a couple of calls from such numbers, because it could be an emergency, and the salesman on the other end has been really annoyed when I didn’t have the time to carry on talking. Same if it’s a landline I’m not familiar with. I might answer in case it’s an important call, but I won’t decide to be late for work just because some salesman wants my money. That’s a very good way for them to ensure they never get a sale from me. > [@drpepper](#): > > Don’t even fucking get me started. > > One day I had to call a public school teacher. A teacher who had a phone in her classroom. Yeah, real _progressive_ education idea, right? I mean, isn’t it fucking _important_ that a teacher have a _phone in their classroom_??? omfg!!! What’s the downside? (for those of you who don’t like the sarcasm, my dear spouse was a career public school teacher. Never fucking needed/wanted/ occurred to any of them that it would benefit them to have a phone in the classroom. Yeah, yeah, emergencies, extenuating circumstances, blah blah blah – I _get_ it. Nevertheless, teachers got along for _centuries_ without them… I’m digressing) > > So I call this teacher for a professional purpose. I call the office, asking for the teacher, expecting to either leave a message or be transferred to voicemail. They transfer me to the phone in the classroom. > > Teacher: “Hello” > Me: "Hi, X, my name is drpepper and I’m calling in reference to a student of yours, blah, blah… [I leave polite pause for her to respond]. > Teacher: “Yeah, I’m right in the middle of changing classes right now, and can’t really talk…” > > I just don’t understand this at all. I mean, there are at least three different protocols that can EASILY avoid this situation: > > 1. have a policy with the office NOT to transfer calls unless it’s an emergency directly related to the student. > 2. Have a policy with the office not to transfer calls to room at all if it’s during school hours. > 3. Have a policy to let all classroom calls during school hours go directly to voicemail > 4. Etc. > These are degreed professionals. Learn how to use the fucking phone properly, for God’s sake, it’s not that hard. > > (Can you tell this sort of incompetence grates on me?) One school I taught in had a phone nin every classroom. It could be used for outside calls - I had to make a call to a parent pretty much every day - but its main purpose was for internal calls. Say, the office might call up to say ‘so-and-so and whatsisname had a fight - keep them seperated today.’ Or a colleague might call to ask if I have the copies of Stone Cold. There was no way of knowing whether the call coming through was a quick message of that type, or whether it was a parent who needed to talk for longer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-talk-dont-pick-up/501736.md?page=1)