I’ve noticed over the past few years in China I’ve developed an intense dislike for phone calls. I thought I was just weird, until I learned that Hank feels the same way (perhaps more intensely than I do). This condition manifests itself in the following ways:

• I intensely hate the sound of our home phone’s ringer (and any land line ringer)
• I’m annoyed when anyone calls me (SS the least, of course), unless the phone call is immediately necessary (like trying to meet up with someone)
• I rarely answer any calls I don’t recognize
• I often keep my phone in silent mode, preferring to miss a few calls and call people back over having to have my phone ringing, intermittently, throughout the day
• I wish people would just text me for anything that can easily be sent by text, and I ask them to do that instead of calling
• For information that’s not immediately important (like an address I’m going to need soon), I always prefer email to text message

It’s not hate I hate the audio medium, it’s that I hate being interrupted to have a conversation I didn’t ask for on someone else’s terms rather than my own. And I resent it if it’s not necessary.

I remember when a ringing phone was a source of excitement. Now it’s a nuisance which must be tolerated.

I wonder how many other people feel this way about the phone? I know SS doesn’t; she prefers to make quick calls rather than text. I prefer the text.

How about you?