Who else has a phone phobia? Represent!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

I DESPISE the phone. I get jittery just thinking about using it, and I always have. Now, answering the phone is one thing--we've got caller ID (damn damn damn handy invention), so unless it's someone I want or really have to talk to, that puppy is NOT being answered, by me anyways. But when you're on the receiving end, you have a sort of power over the whole situation--after all, YOU aren't putting yourself on the line, so to speak, and you can easily opt out of the situation and think nothing of it.

Calling someone is quite a deal for me, unless it's my father, my mother, my very close friend, or either of my sets of grandparents. Oh, and calling someone's cell phone is far less traumatic for me than calling someone at home or work, since the likelihood that the person you want to answer it will actually answer the phone is greatly increased. I guess my phobia stems from having someone answer and having to go, "Hi, is SoandSo there?" Even worse is when the person on the other end, giving no indication of whether or not SoandSo is actually there, asks you to identify yourself. I feel so put on the spot and awkward then, because the situation really isn't in my control.

Relatively "anonymous" or "impersonal" calling bugs me, as well. I hate calling in an order for take-out, say, and in all normal situations I flat-out refuse. Or calling to get info on an upcoming event. Or what have you. Despite the fact that I will likely never again speak to that particular person, I still get sweaty palms, and my heart decides to take refuge in my mouth, so that when I do speak, I end up sounding like a half-strangled goose. I just make a fool of myself on the phone.

Don't get me started on calling in more formal situations. Calling my private music teachers really used to frighten me half to death, and that's one thing my parents refuse to do for me. I should be braver, I know. The person on the other end isn't going to eat me. But talking to someone to whom I owe a certain extra amount of respect really puts me on the spot.

Suffice it to say that I am officially a phone phobic. :scared:

ETA: I found a site that claims to treat phone phobia. All you have to do is call the 1-800 number to get started! D'oh!

[BlueIris]

1. But...you're not a "fuck-up."

Therefore, you cannot possibly have phone phobia. Only a fuck-up would get that.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

3. Oh, true.

Maybe this is the first step on the way to fuck-up-itude?

:scared:

[jobycom]

2. Actually, yeah, I'm like that.

My girlfriend in high school used to get mad that I wouldn't call her, so she'd call me, tell me to call her back, then hang up. I could do it, then. But I hate to call people. I've never understood why.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

5. Yeah, calling people when they've told you to call is all right.

We're just weird that way, I guess. :shrug: :D

[jobycom]

9. It's the writing.

Or maybe it makes us love to write. Or maybe our love of writing and our fear of calling people on phones are related. :shrug:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

12. I'm always about 50 thousand times more comfortable in writing than in person or on the phone.

My soul seems made to communicate this way. In person I'm rather quiet, actually, especially when I don't have anybody I know around me, far less open and amusing. Only around friends/people whose actions I can predict do I really open up and just let it fly however it will go.

[fizzgig]

4. i was like that when i was your age

(shit, i feel old saying that), but now i've got a damn phone glued to my face as often as not (i spend a lot of time on the phone at work)

[WritingIsMyReligion]

7. My mom probably spends more time on the phone than off it.

And my father has probably never once in his life even THOUGHT about being the least bit shy or having any sort of social phobia, in any situation imaginable. That man was born to schmooze.

[jobycom]

11. I'm 42, I'm still like that.

An old friend just emailed me, after years of not seeing her. First thing in her email--call me! I broke out in a sweat reading that. I'm not particularly shy, I'm reasonably communicative and even at times eloquent. But that's how I react.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

13. I'd do the same thing.

Phone? NOOOOOOOOOO.....

I really do literally sweat on the phone, and I swear my heart ends up in my mouth, maing talking even harder. Great!

[RevolutionaryActs]

6. I *hate* talking on the phone

and I have a job where I *have* to talk on the phone all day. Jeebus, it bites! But it's kind of different, since I have a purpose for calling, so that makes it a little easier, I still hate it though.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

8. Yes, having a direct, mandated purpose is all right, I suppose.

Especially if I can sort of give myself a little mini-script to go by. When I'm on the phone waiting for it to be picked up my brain pretty much freezes, so I need the written prompting to tell me what the hell to say, or else I'd just stammer like a moron.

[jeff30997]

10. "I DESPISE the phone"

I know exactly how you feel WritingIsMyReligion ! Believe me I do.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

14. It's sort of a combination of fear and loathing and embarrassment for me.

I'm afraid of the phone, so I loathe it, so the whole experience becomes embarrassing, which in turn adds to the fear. A nice little cycle, for sure.

:hi:

[stuntcat]

15. the ring..

The sound of the ring is what bugs me out. I can talk to my best friend, he lives on the opposite coast so the phone is how we have to keep in touch, but talking with anyone else for more than a minute just makes me nervous. I have worked as a receptionist at a few places and I was fine at that because all I had to do on the phone was act sweet and transfer people. But now being on the phone with almost anyone makes me uncomfortable.
So I think it's not exactly the same issue for me, it isn't so much using the phone as dealing with who's on the other end, but still it's a phone issue because the ring has made me scream before :scared:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

16. Wow.

:scared::scared:

[Jade Fox]

17. Mine has gotten better over the years....

in terms of making calls. I still hate answering the phone, and ALWAYS screen my calls.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

19. I have a friend who never ever ever picks up the phone

but that's just because she's lazy. So calling her isn't such a big deal for me, because when the answering machine gets it I can just say "Hi (friend), this is (WIMR)..." and she almost immediately picks it up.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

18. Maybe I do - maybe I'm not really getting just like my brother

He always excuses his failure to call as "hating to talk on the phone." I really hate calling people - sad to say, there are friends I never hear from anymore, probably because I never call them. I don't know why - I'd much rather email or write a letter than phone. Maybe I fear rejection and think they don't really want to talk to me anyway.

[grace0418]

20. I also hate talking on the phone. Even when it's someone I really like.

I also hate trying to conduct business on the phone. Like when I have to call a service professional and make an appointment. I hate having to explain what I need and try to work out a good time for an appointment. I feel like I don't explain myself well, I forget important details and I get all flustered.

I also hate when people call to invite me to stuff over the phone. It's compounded by the fact that it's really hard to get my husband to commit to anything socially and he feels really put on the spot if I just put the phone down and ask if he wants to go do X with the So-and-Sos next Friday. I have to get the information, hang up, talk to him about it (usually two or three times), then call the people back. I much prefer email.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

21. Oh god, calls to set up appointments are terrible.

Absolutely agonizing. :scared:

[Zookeeper]

22. Not phobic, really, but I don't like talking on the phone....

I'm kind of physically restless, so I don't like the feeling of being attached to the phone, even a cell phone. AND, if it's a rare social call, they seem to last for hours, probably because I don't talk to my friends and family often enough. :P

E-mailing is different because I can get up and walk away for a while if I feel like it. (Obviously, I have a little ADD-thing going on...)

[bridgit]

23. Friends call, but our phones are for business, and h gets edgy when i don't answer...

cause it could mean 'contacts', but sometimes I just don't care especially if the # is unknown, or I've already broke something down to someone Barney Style and I know they're just not getting it...it's boring to me, least if we're talking cell phones :shrug:

[Connonym]

24. Yup that's me

my fear of voice mail is perhaps even more pathologic

[Fox Mulder]

25. I also hate talking on the phone.

I don't even like making something simple like doctors appointments.

[Oeditpus Rex]

26. Not so much a phobia

I just don't like talking on the phone with people I don't know. I had a mild to moderate stutter when I was a kid, and once in awhile it still comes out when talking to a stranger. I guess I'm afraid someone who doesn't know me will judge me on it.

The phone was a big part of my job when I was a reporter and editor, though.