This is topic My rant of the year in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
 
Ok, I just want to know what is sooooo wrong with leaving a voice message on a phone? I get this missed call for the past two days on my cell phone. However, that is it. No name no nothing. They aren't on my contacts list, so* obviously their is no name. I specifically made a new voice mail message just for this person. Because I am not calling back until I know who they are.

Is their some sort of taboo against leaving a message?

Just to add: my message is a probably way to sarcastic/(word I won't use now) now. I just spent an hour trying to get into my driveway. Several inces of snow and ice, and I got the tires that have almost no traction. To get out of the way of a snow plow I went down this narrow street alongside the lake. That was a mistake. Trying to find a spot to turn around without ending up in the lake was like trying to find a teenage girl who doesn't own 10 pairs of shoes or more.


 

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Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
 
That is annoying, but don't stress out about it.

For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three.
Alice Kahn


This was the quote of the day today, seemed apropos.
 

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Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
 
Well the sad part is that I am working 2nd shift (why I am awake right now is beyond me). However, I work another 4 to 8 hours every day after my shift. So* I'm never able to answer my phone when it does ring. Maybe, if they were to leave a message, I could call them on my day off next week. That would be nice vice them trying to call me after that day off in which I will start working 3rd shift. I hate getting woken up by phones these days. My roommate's girlfriend calls and textmessages him almost all day. She's over in CA, while the two of us are here in NY. It's getting to be a drag.
 

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Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
 
I don't understand your rant. If they needed to leave you a message, they would have. And why would you call them if they aren't leaving messages or asking you to call?
 

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Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
 
If it's important enough to call me twice in two days....
 

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Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
 
And how important IS that, exactly?
 

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Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
 
Just to add to it. It's someone from Los Angeles. I know it's not anyone I know off of here.
 

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Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
 
Cute, Theaca, I'm not fuming over it so much right now, but with the long day and all. I would just appreciate some kind of closing of the loop so to speak on this.
 

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Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
 
Oh, all right, I'm sorry. Are you that much younger than me? When I was growing up, and in college and in my first jobs, we didn't have an answering machine. I've only been using a cell phone for personal use the past three years. I certainly don't leave messages that often even now. It seems very odd to me to hear griping about someone who doesn't leave a message for two whole days. Is that the rule of phone politeness nowadays, to always leave a message? If so, I was unaware of it. I'm apparently a pretty rude person.

Please carry on with your rant.
 

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Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
 
I don't get too many phone calls (almost never). Most of what I do get are...well...bill collectors a few times. and nah, I don't call it a rule of thumb, except if I don't know them. If I have their number listed then it is a whole different story.
 

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Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
I'd just call 'em back.

I call back most numbers that call me and don't leave messages.

I love it when people call me.

-pH
 

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Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
 
I rarely ever leave messages. That is because I don't want them calling back at a time when it might be inconvenient for me (like if I'm going to be somewhere where I know I can't take a call, then I won't leave a message because we will just miss each other again because I'll have my phone off).

Yeah. It's all about me.

FG
 

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Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
A lot of people don't check their messages often, either. I know I don't.

This is mostly because they just changed my voicemail so that I can't delete a message without listening to the whole thing.

-pH
 

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Posted by Sharpie (Member # 482) on :
 
I've been known to get grumpy when people don't leave messages -- particularly family. This is because there is an unwritten rule that says "if you see someone has called you, you should call them back to find out what they want." So in my family, NOT leaving a message means "call me." And when I call them and they ask something that they could have asked in a message, like "what size does baby Jill wear?" and I could have found out and then called them with the info, I get a little grumpy. I think I feel subtly manipulated by it.
 

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Posted by Ophelia (Member # 653) on :
 
reversephonedirectory.com

If it's a cell phone or residential number, it probably won't be listed. If it's a business, it has a decent chance of being listed.

There's also just plain-old googling.
 

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Posted by ifmyheartcouldbeat (Member # 8692) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Stan the man:
was like trying to find a teenage girl who doesn't own 10 pairs of shoes or more.

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::slowly raises hand in a enormous group of girls::

You found one
 

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Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
 

quote:

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A lot of people don't check their messages often, either. I know I don't.

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quote:

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I love it when people call me.

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quote:

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reversephonedirectory.com

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Thank you so much for that. Here's the results:


Investors Bus DLY
12655 Beatrice St
Los Angeles, CA 90066-7303

quote:

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You found one

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Seeing as I can't verify that, I'll just have to take your word for it.
 

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Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
Stan, get my number from Rico, seriously.

And call me during my twenty-hour drive tomorrow.

-pH
 

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Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
 
Pearce, I just got out of work about an hour ago. This is the earliest I've gotten out this week. I have to be up again at noon. My next day off is next Tuesday, and even then I will be sleeping most of the day preparing for 3rd shift. That, and, who's Rico?
 

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Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
Rico is a Hatracker. He posted in my "Goodbye, Chicago" thread. Depending on when I leave, I could be on the road until after midnight.

-pH
 

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Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
 
Heh, due to DOE security restrictions I can't even bring my cell phone onto the site. So even though I would like to call and help keep you awake on that long drive, I can't.
 

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Posted by Nell Gwyn (Member # 8291) on :
 
That address name sounds like Investors Business Daily - I get random junk mail from them every once in a while. Unless you have a subscription with them or something, the calls might well be telemarketers. In which case I certainly wouldn't call them back unless it was to say "Stop calling me!"
 

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Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
 
I wouldn't even make that much of a call. they could theoretically use that as the "customer-initiated contact" which gives them the right to keep calling you for 12 or 18 months under the No-Call Act.

However, if there's any way to actually catch them when they call, you can then tell them to take you out of their databases. Make sure to get a name and document it in case they call you back. If they persist after you specifically request removal, I believe you have grounds to sue for harassment.

And have you registered this phone on the Do Not Call list? Yes, you can list your cell phone!
 

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Posted by theamazeeaz (Member # 6970) on :
 
I dislike leaving machine messages: I sound like a dork on other people's machines. With my college phone, only the dial tone tells me I have a message, and I use my cell phone for most outgoing calls. My cell phone voicemail is awful as well: it won't tell me I have a messsage until a day later, but missed calls come up right away. So that's why I never leave messages- I'd rather see the missed call and phone back.
 

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Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
 
I think we easily forget the not so long ago days when ringing someone didn't necessarily entail leaving a written record of your call

Just 5 or six years ago you could ring someone and home, and not leave a message, and the call would just pass without note, now even if you don't think a message is important, or you just needed to talk to that person about something going on that second, you still leave a record, and the person may call you back and harass you about it after the fact, which is tiresome and annoying.

People now also expect you to call them immediately if you get a "missed call" showing on your cell phone, whereas before they had to do the work and call you again. I am getting REALLY sick of ringing back my friends after I get a missed call, and having to endure their "yes what is its" as I remind them that they called me for some reason....
 

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Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :
 

quote:

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Trying to find a spot to turn around without ending up in the lake was like trying to find a teenage girl who doesn't own 10 pairs of shoes or more.

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