Instant Access

My mom called me yesterday three times on my cell phone while I was taking a shower. When I finally got back to her, she was upset that I had not picked up the phone immediately. She is not the only one who gets testy when I do not immediately answer my phone.

For some reason, people have gotten it into their heads that when someone doesn’t answer their phone right away they are either mad at you or don’t want to talk to you. Somehow, we’ve become a society demanding instant access to people 24/7.

I remember a time when you’d go out and come back and never know how many phone calls you may or may not have missed. We never had caller ID and we didn’t pick up an answering machine for quite some time. Yet somehow, life managed to continue. lol.

Now, even if we’re in the middle of something, we’re expected to at least reply back with a txt or excuse ourselves and answer the phone. I even remember sitting across the table from a friend eating dinner while he was on the phone the ENTIRE meal.

So yeah, if I don’t answer my phone right away, it’s probably because I was busy or maybe I just don’t want to chit chat at the moment. There used to be a time when that was okay. lol.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I read about our friend being on the phone the whole meal, the image instatly flahed in my head of me askign the wiater to put pack my food to take-away and just leaving my friend there.

Thats just downright disrespectful to be on the phone when at the dinner table.

Ian E. said...

Eventually people get over it. If someone calls, emails, texts, or IMs me they know I'm not getting back to them until I find it convenient. Except my Dad. He'll call repeatedly until I answer. He feels that, as I'm apart of his "wolf pack" I should be jumping to hear what he has to say. If I don't it's a sign of disrespect. Or something. *shrug*

ObiWanAdobe said...

As a friend told me once, my mobile phone (and this could laid to the other devices that have made communication "easier") for my convenience, not theirs.

I would argue that this is learned behavior, as technology provided the tools for instant access we fell into the trap. We monitored our calls and picked up immediately when a certain number flashed on our fancy new caller ID or heard the message on our answering machine. Mobile phones opened a pandora's box.

If I'm talking to someone, my phone rings, I'll ask them to excuse me and if it's not my boss I'll shut off my ringer and go back to the person that's in front of me. My office phone is old, if someone is talking to me at my desk and the phone rings, I don't know who it is so they can leave me a message and I'll get back to them on my time.

I would say we have to break those that require instant access from this bad habit of expecting instant gratification but I know all too well that it won't happen as there are too many of us that require the same.

Thank you, Alachia, for this post, made me laugh a little to myself.