Phone fear

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KILL the phone!! !

I hate the phone.

When I have to make calls to people I don't know, or when I'm asking questions but not getting the info I was looking for, I get wound up. It's worse when people on the other end are being rude or impatient, because I feel even more stupid.

As for receiving calls, I have a couple of friends who like to call just to chat. I resent having my after-work decompression sessions interrupted by someone who wants to make small talk. Putting my phone on silent has become my new hobby.

There are very few people I enjoy talking with on the phone, and even then I find myself trying to limit the time I spend on the phone.

I used to be shy on the phone but I'm not anymore.

BUT...I am shy when I call people for the first time (or if they call me),but as we get further into the conversation the uneasiness melts away.

-SpaceCase

I do not being on a phone talking is hard on the phone for me. I try to hold a conversation but can not.

I don't know if this weird or not, but here's how it is for me. I don't have much of a problem with landlines, but I hate cell phones like nothing else. I wish they were never invented.

The main reason is that the public switched telephone network (PSTN) is very reliable: the chance of a phone call breaking off is minimal. On a cell phone, there's always a chance of a bad connection. Bad connections always freak me out; how are you supposed to react to it? I always panic, speaking very loudly and over-enunciating the words. This can be very embarassing if it happens in public. Then again, how do you make sure the person on the other side can still hear you? I also hate the way a cell phone feels in my hand. It's very small, so you can't hold the microphone close enough to let the other person hear you when you talk quietly.

Landlines, however, are a whole different story. Like I said earlier, the PSTN never breaks off in mid-conversation. The voice quality is very crisp and clear, and not muffled as if speaking from deep inside a cave. Also, the handset is large enough to fit comfortably against the side of my head. Also, when a signal travels through a copper wire, and not throught the air, you know there is a dedicated channel in the PSTN for you and the other person to communicate through. That makes me feel very comfortable using a landline phone. My thanks to AT&T for building the landline network we have today.

I haaate the phone. Despise it. Its easier for me if the call has some distinct, cut and dried purpose, like I'm ordering food or taking a message at work or something, but there's always that small bit of hesitation before I pick up the reciever, where I have to clear my throat and get mentally ready. Have an open-ended conversation on the phone is probably the single social situation I'm worst at. My ex girlfriend used to always drop hints at me to call her and "just talk," which she really enjoyed, but I really hated doing it. Later I heard she resented how I wasn't "man enough" to call her everyday.