# Thoughts on mildly off-putting phone call? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 16, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042 "2011-05-16T00:10:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/21 "2011-05-17T23:06:14Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I actually use your logic to justify never answering my phone if I don’t know who is calling. I do this as well. But someone who answers a call from a strange number at 6am is unlikely to take as hard of a line as me. Baby steps! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/22 "2011-05-18T00:41:34Z")
My husband’s workplace is a federal agency, and the caller ID is blocked. And sometimes they need him to go and fix the damn system, because if the radar goes down at DFW airport, that’s gonna screw EVERYONE’S flights up. So yeah, we answer at 6 AM. And if it’s a wrong number, then they get bitched at, unless they have a damn good excuse for calling at that hour. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/23 "2011-05-18T00:50:29Z")
Repeat after me; _The Telephone is a **tool** That exists for my **convenience** When it stops being convenient I stop using it._ ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/24 "2011-05-18T00:58:56Z")
Oh, I don’t answer my cell phone unless I’m expecting a call. I answered it when I was in another city, but otherwise, the ringer is turned off. Everyone knows to get hold of me by email or landline. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/25 "2011-05-18T01:37:01Z")
Maybe now you know why the ‘woman’ you met at the club in Soho was named Lola. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/26 "2011-05-18T13:34:09Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > My husband’s workplace is a federal agency, and the caller ID is blocked. And sometimes they need him to go and fix the damn system, because if the radar goes down at DFW airport, that’s gonna screw EVERYONE’S flights up. So yeah, we answer at 6 AM. And if it’s a wrong number, then they get bitched at, unless they have a damn good excuse for calling at that hour. Your husband doesn’t have a dedicated work phone for such things? If it’s really that necessary to get ahold of him, they should issue him a company iphone. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/27 "2011-05-18T15:27:58Z")
No, he doesn’t have a dedicated work phone. This is a federal agency we’re talking about. If it makes sense, they won’t do it. Seriously. Unless there’s a good political reason for doing something, they won’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/28 "2011-05-18T16:03:25Z")
Is there a good political reason to answer your phone at 6am? I’m not seeing it. (I’m not trying to be snarky at you, but at them) ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/29 "2011-05-19T01:11:34Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I’ll take a second here to advocate a hard-line policy against answering the phone at 6am, unless it’s coming from a contact that you recognize. Everybody has a cell phone these days. There is absolutely no need to answer a call from an unknown caller at a rude hour of the day. If it’s important, they’ll leave a message which you can check. More than likely, it’s usually a wrong number or a stray telemarketer. This is a crappy policy. There could be all sorts of very legitimate reasons to call someone at 6 am. Ranging from a friend in hospital (thus calling from an unfamiliar number) to time zone mix up to almost anything else. At the end of the day - if somebody considers it important enough to call and wake me at 6am I will be giving them the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/30 "2011-05-19T12:20:58Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > This is a crappy policy. There could be all sorts of very legitimate reasons to call someone at 6 am. In which case they can leave a message which I can check and call them back. Validating rudeness ensures that rudeness will continue. I choose not to. You can if you like. I’ll continue enjoying full nights of sleep. ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/31 "2011-05-19T15:21:41Z")
Yes, how dare a friend or parent fall suddenly ill in the middle of the night, or a fire department or hospital or police station call you to let you know of a friend or family member in danger or worse. Good for you for taking the hard line against such thoughtlessness. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/32 "2011-05-19T15:40:25Z")
I always answer my phone - my work sometimes gets my cell and home phone confused and I am technically on call all the time. Love government communications work 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/33 "2011-05-19T16:48:35Z")
To echo what others alluded to… …Past a certain age, when the phone rings in the middle of the night it’s because somebody is in the hospital or somebody has died. I have had enough of those phone calls (one is enough) so that whenever an odd random drunk fat-fingers their friend’s cell phone number and gets my house at 4am, it is disturbing. And since we have family in distant lands, it is not sufficient to ignore calls from unknown or weird numbers. Calls from Brazil might say “Brazil” if we are lucky, but usually don’t even say that much. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/34 "2011-05-19T21:37:11Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > Who calls a tree trimmer at 6 in the morning? Who’s open for business at that hour? Plenty of tradespeople. I’ve dealt with a roofer, a plumber, and my contractor in phone calls that took place before 7:00am. When we had to get a stump removed, the guy was supposed to be at our house by 7:00, so if he got lost or something, a 6:30 call wouldn’t have been weird. You’re usually not calling the business’s office (which probably won’t answer the phone until 9 or 10), you’re calling the guy in the truck who is going to be pulling into your driveway “first thing in the morning”. It’s not that uncommon. My buddy was laying pipe at an airport that was being built and he left his house before 5am to get to the site. Noise laws says they aren’t supposed to start making noise until 7am, but those guys were on site way before that. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/35 "2011-05-19T23:04:31Z")
> [@SecondJudith](#): > > Yes, how dare a friend or parent fall suddenly ill in the middle of the night _leave a message at the tone_ > [@SecondJudith](#): > > or a fire department or hospital or police station call you to let you know of a friend or family member in danger or worse _leave a message at the tone_ Reading comprehension isn’t difficult. I can’t think of any possible situation where someone needs to speak to me but doesn’t have a callback number. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/36 "2011-05-20T00:45:38Z")
Both of my parents are at the end of their lives. I’d hate to hear their last words on the answering machine rather than in person. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/37 "2011-05-20T00:54:50Z")
I figure that if it is an emergency, they’ll just call over and over until I answer. Or until I turn it off if I don’t recognize the number. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/38 "2011-05-20T01:01:28Z")
As the OP, I personally answered because (a) I was too groggy to think, “let it ring,” and (b) I was awake anyway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/39 "2011-05-20T01:47:45Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > _Dooby-dooby-dooooo…_ “Strangers in the Night”? That doesn’t seem to fit… ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042/40 "2011-05-20T04:31:51Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > “Strangers in the Night”? That doesn’t seem to fit… My thoughts, exactly, **BrotherCadfael**. \ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-mildly-off-putting-phone-call/582042.md?page=3)