Something has happened in these last half a dozen years since cell phones became ubiquitous. People have become freaked out, paranoid. Actually, this all started with *69 on good old land line phones. Remember that nifty technological advancement? The Jerky Boys sure do. It ruined their career. But *69 is not needed on cell phones because virtually all cell phones have displays showing you who is calling. Now I’m not saying that I’m not paranoid myself. I certainly am. I’m paranoid, cautious, safe, and mostly boring. I didn’t used to be this way, but it’s where I ended up.
Yesterday, a young lady called me on my office phone(!) and said, “Yeah, I have a missed call from this number.” My first instinct was to go into full-on sarcastic mode and rude this chick right off my line, but I had to remember that I am representing an entire multinational conglomerate here. I asked her if she had a name for a person that she would like to speak to, as this is a business. No, of course she didn’t. She repeated the (frightening) missed call scenario and when I told her that I couldn’t help, she relinquished with, “I guess if it was important, they’ll leave a voicemail.” To feed my soul, I gave her the sarcastic, “riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight,” and followed it up with a click, dial tone.
Remember the days not too long ago before people had cell phones, PDAs, Blackberries, and all that nonsense? Don’t you think our home phones missed calls or received wrong number calls all the time? Sure they did. But we didn’t freak out about it because we didn’t know. Now, however, people panic if they don’t recognize a phone number. People seem to think they are being watched, followed. Like if they pick up, they will give away the final clue and their stalker will capture them.
I have always used my cell phone for my own convenience. I don’t run to answer it. In fact, those of you who know me know that I barely even use it anymore (sorry). If I don’t recognize a number, then I rarely answer it. Swedish Girl thinks I’m being paranoid, but it’s not that. It’s just that I am not keeping myself technologically connected to be at anyone else’s beck and call. And I’m certainly not going to let a little hunk of metal and plastic keep me on edge…when a stranger calls.
I follow a similar school of thought — if I don’t recognize the number.. let it go to Voicemail. If they’re that interested in speaking with me, they can leave me a message.. otherwise, they’ll never get ahold of me.