Don't Call Me Maybe

I have an aversion to phone conversations and I know I'm not alone in this.  There are many contributing factors to this, but one situation sticks out in my mind.  I'm a teacher, right, and last year, I was a first year teacher, eager to prove myself and eager to let my kids' parents know that their child was in good hands.  I thought I was going the extra mile by giving a parent my personal cell number.  Bad call.

I know you can figure out where I'm going with this.  This lady was calling me at night, in the morning, on the weekends, on holidays, and during school hours (when I'm supposed to be, y'know, teaching her kid).  Basically, all the times that I didn't want to be thinking about whatever she had to say.  It ended up driving me crazy and I'd simply stop answering my phone when I saw her number flash on my screen.  Nowadays, I simply communicate with my parents through their kid's agenda book or through the school's phone system.  If your phone call was not planned ahead of time, you're probably interrupting something.

Somehow, phone calls have become the harbingers of bad news and usually happen at very inconvenient times.  I don't know why, but businesses insist on calling during my work day and when I forget to turn off my phone... Well, let me just say that there is nothing more frustrating than trying to get 15 Kindergartners back on task after a distraction like a phone ringing.

Worse are the phone calls I get from businesses at home, in Indiana.  They might think they're calling me at a reasonable 9:00 in the morning, but it's 4:00 in the morning for me in Hawaii, so no... I won't be taking that call, leave your number after the beep (or don't).  Honestly, even during the day, I usually just let my phone go to voicemail if it's a number I don't know (and even if it's a number I do know, sometimes).

Plus, there's the fact that most people just text these days.  If I get a phone call from a family member, besides my mother, I automatically assume something's wrong.  I'm thinking someone's in the hospital or worse.  In essence, if it's not an emergency...

Basically, what I'm saying is, I've had bad experiences with phone calls and they make me nervous.  I feel much safer texting, or instagramming, or tweeting, thank you very much.  Of course, I'll make the obligatory call to my mother once a week or so, but other than that... I'd rather not dial that 10 digit number or see one flashing on my screen.

How do you feel about talking on the phone these days?