communication breakdown
Modern communication is interesting to me.
100 years ago, if you wanted to send a message, it was generally a handwritten letter, and an emergency might constitute a telegraph message, which still was ultimately hand-delivered.
Then, most communication was carried out by phone, and probably the majority of it still is.
But now there is email, instant messaging, text messaging, and even things like this very web page.
When I was a kid, always annoyed me because you cannot tell you is actually calling you. Every time the phone rings, you don't know if it's for you, or someone else in the house, or if it's really important or not.
This lack of knowing the importance of the call I've found artificially inflated the importance of any given call. Essentially, the lack of that knowledge forces you to assume the worst.
Even with today's most important phone feature (in my opinion) of caller ID, (which of course, has limited usefulness), you still do not know the importance of the call.
Maybe some people feel the need to answer the phone every time it rings for fear of the worst, or maybe other reasons I haven't considered.
But I don't. I treat the phone like email, which to quote my professor, is great because it allows you to respond when it's convenient for you, much unlike the phone. But in my mind, that's what voice mail or the answering machine is for. Basically, if I feel the potential importance of the phone call outweighs the inconvenience for me to actually answer the phone, I will. Otherwise, I will let the machine or voice mail get it, listen to the message and judge accordingly how quickly to respond.
So I feel bad for others who treat every phone call like a potential emergency, and answer at inopportune times. I see it happen all the time, and I don't get it. I feel even worse when I don't notice or consider the time I'm calling someone, and they answer and abruptly cut me off, saying to call them back or can they call me back later.
I just think "why did you even answer? If it had been me, I wouldn't even have bothered."
So follow my lead, America, you won't hurt my feelings if you don't answer right away.
100 years ago, if you wanted to send a message, it was generally a handwritten letter, and an emergency might constitute a telegraph message, which still was ultimately hand-delivered.
Then, most communication was carried out by phone, and probably the majority of it still is.
But now there is email, instant messaging, text messaging, and even things like this very web page.
When I was a kid, always annoyed me because you cannot tell you is actually calling you. Every time the phone rings, you don't know if it's for you, or someone else in the house, or if it's really important or not.
This lack of knowing the importance of the call I've found artificially inflated the importance of any given call. Essentially, the lack of that knowledge forces you to assume the worst.
Even with today's most important phone feature (in my opinion) of caller ID, (which of course, has limited usefulness), you still do not know the importance of the call.
Maybe some people feel the need to answer the phone every time it rings for fear of the worst, or maybe other reasons I haven't considered.
But I don't. I treat the phone like email, which to quote my professor, is great because it allows you to respond when it's convenient for you, much unlike the phone. But in my mind, that's what voice mail or the answering machine is for. Basically, if I feel the potential importance of the phone call outweighs the inconvenience for me to actually answer the phone, I will. Otherwise, I will let the machine or voice mail get it, listen to the message and judge accordingly how quickly to respond.
So I feel bad for others who treat every phone call like a potential emergency, and answer at inopportune times. I see it happen all the time, and I don't get it. I feel even worse when I don't notice or consider the time I'm calling someone, and they answer and abruptly cut me off, saying to call them back or can they call me back later.
I just think "why did you even answer? If it had been me, I wouldn't even have bothered."
So follow my lead, America, you won't hurt my feelings if you don't answer right away.
Comments
Hear, hear! Couldn't agree more!
Posted by: Anonymous | September 23, 2006 10:07 PM