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Last night Shana called me while in Target, and I answered right there in the middle of the deodorant aisle.
"You answered! You never answer!"
I only half-heartedly disagreed, since it's mostly true. I'd like to blame it on my lack of cell phone experience -- I forget to turn it on, I forget to charge it, I leave it in my bag, etc. , but I'm actually rather anal about always having it fully charged and turned on and off at appropriate time (ON while on the way to meeting a friend, OFF during movies, therapy or dinner). Though I am known for taking it out of my pocket as soon as I get home and tossing it on the table or couch, then leaving the room. I've missed dozens upon dozens of calls simply because I was in the next room not paying attention.
I'm sometimes very picky about when I answer ANY phone. I don't like to pick up just so I can say "can I call you back?" I prefer to just let them leave a voicemail then I'll call them. Two more people called while I was at Target last night -- one while in the public restroom (um, no, I'd never answer that) and one while I was being rung up. I never talk while being helped by a store clerk. It seems rude, plus I'm anal about watching my purchases be scanned and paying with the correct card to prevent bounce-age.
But even with all these factors and caveats, there are occasions when I just don't answer the phone. And where did I learn this from? My accuser. Shana. (Who loves ya, baby? It's me.)
I don't think she ever picked up the phone when it rang our entire junior year. This was grossly frustrating when I was the one doing the calling, especially since she didn't have a machine to say "it's me! pick up!" I had to leave a voicemail then wait 5 minutes to see if she was home to return the call. I started to think of her home number as a paging service.
Prior to this point, I was a vigorous phone answerer. It seemed rude to screen calls, and I was always just plain excited to be getting a phone call. I felt so popular. And unlike living at home, I know that the chances of the call being for me were much higher.
Around the time I was exposed to Shana's screening process was also the time I started getting more calls I should be answering, but didn't want to. At least not right that moment. So I started never answering my phone either. I even got a pager, and generally gave the number out to people I wanted to call me, so they always had a way to reach me. But the pager fell into the toilet at GirlBar one too many times and died.
I've only had caller ID for the past two years, so now I can screen without the person knowing. But half the time I don't even bother -- I mean, the caller ID is on the other side of the room by the phone and I'm busy being seated comfortably on the couch. Plus, if I don't know who it is, I don't have guilt about not answering. I'm just uniformly ignoring the phone. I wonder if I get screened out when I call people, but frankly I don't even mind. I like leaving messages.
I can't really ignore the caller ID on my cell phone, so I pretty much always answer it. If I didn't want to talk, I just turn it off completely. So if I'm not picking up, I'm probably on the other side of the apartment. Or driving my girlfriend's car. Or, apparently, I'm in the toilet at Target.
"You answered! You never answer!"
I only half-heartedly disagreed, since it's mostly true. I'd like to blame it on my lack of cell phone experience -- I forget to turn it on, I forget to charge it, I leave it in my bag, etc. , but I'm actually rather anal about always having it fully charged and turned on and off at appropriate time (ON while on the way to meeting a friend, OFF during movies, therapy or dinner). Though I am known for taking it out of my pocket as soon as I get home and tossing it on the table or couch, then leaving the room. I've missed dozens upon dozens of calls simply because I was in the next room not paying attention.
I'm sometimes very picky about when I answer ANY phone. I don't like to pick up just so I can say "can I call you back?" I prefer to just let them leave a voicemail then I'll call them. Two more people called while I was at Target last night -- one while in the public restroom (um, no, I'd never answer that) and one while I was being rung up. I never talk while being helped by a store clerk. It seems rude, plus I'm anal about watching my purchases be scanned and paying with the correct card to prevent bounce-age.
But even with all these factors and caveats, there are occasions when I just don't answer the phone. And where did I learn this from? My accuser. Shana. (Who loves ya, baby? It's me.)
I don't think she ever picked up the phone when it rang our entire junior year. This was grossly frustrating when I was the one doing the calling, especially since she didn't have a machine to say "it's me! pick up!" I had to leave a voicemail then wait 5 minutes to see if she was home to return the call. I started to think of her home number as a paging service.
Prior to this point, I was a vigorous phone answerer. It seemed rude to screen calls, and I was always just plain excited to be getting a phone call. I felt so popular. And unlike living at home, I know that the chances of the call being for me were much higher.
Around the time I was exposed to Shana's screening process was also the time I started getting more calls I should be answering, but didn't want to. At least not right that moment. So I started never answering my phone either. I even got a pager, and generally gave the number out to people I wanted to call me, so they always had a way to reach me. But the pager fell into the toilet at GirlBar one too many times and died.
I've only had caller ID for the past two years, so now I can screen without the person knowing. But half the time I don't even bother -- I mean, the caller ID is on the other side of the room by the phone and I'm busy being seated comfortably on the couch. Plus, if I don't know who it is, I don't have guilt about not answering. I'm just uniformly ignoring the phone. I wonder if I get screened out when I call people, but frankly I don't even mind. I like leaving messages.
I can't really ignore the caller ID on my cell phone, so I pretty much always answer it. If I didn't want to talk, I just turn it off completely. So if I'm not picking up, I'm probably on the other side of the apartment. Or driving my girlfriend's car. Or, apparently, I'm in the toilet at Target.
