We All Have Our Quirks
Mine is the telephone, or lack there of. I hate hate hate the phone. I hate answering it, and I hate making outgoing calls even worse. I will, under extreme circumstances, but I find it very stressful and upsetting and will make my husband or anyone else I can get my hands on do my calling for me whenever possible.
He, of course, finds this very annoying. I find his whiskers in the sink very annoying. I feel like we're even. He says I should get therapy for my phone issues. There's no therapy for messy shaving, is there?
I'm not sure exactly when my phone issues started. As far back as I can remember, I've never really had much of a love affair with the phone. Maybe it goes back to the time when I was about 3 and playing with the phone and inadvertantly called the overseas operator to Japan. I don't remember getting in trouble, but maybe I was beaten and don't remember. Maybe not.
So, through most of my teen years and into young adulthood, I avoided the phone. I'd call my friend, she had her own line and was the only one who would answer. I wouldn't call my boyfriend, because the idea of having to ask for him totally freaked me out. But, I managed to make it through. I even had a job in customer service, taking 100 phone calls a day, and making about 30 outgoing. I think only because I was "the company" and not really ME. Nothing that happened on any of those calls was about ME. I don't know, I'm no shrink.
Through my long and lovely marriage to the ex-h (that lovely part was a joke, for those of you who are new here), everytime the phone rang, it was a bill collector to yell at me for not paying this or that bill.
It started getting way worse after my mother died. I got that call at 6 in the morning. We were never that close, but that's still a pretty traumatic thing to wake up to. (She was only 40, and not sick. Well, death sick, anyway, her other issues are for another post entirely.) From that point on, anytime the phone rang while I was asleep, it scared the crap out of me. Didn't matter if I was sleeping at 1 in the afternoon, if the phone rang, it scared the crap out of me. In the meantime, my grandmother, with whom I WAS very close was getting older and older and sicker and sicker. So, then, everytime the phone rang, I became convinced it was someone calling to tell me SHE was dead. That call finally did come, and it came at 5am, however, we knew she was going. In fact, I'd just left the hospital 3 hours before that, after they assured me they'd call in plenty of time for me to get there when the end was near. She ended up hanging on til after 10, so I was with her, and never got "that" phone call, but still.
Everytime that phone rings, my first thought is "oh my god, it's bad news. someone is dead." Doesn't matter what time of day. Doesn't matter that we have caller ID. I don't even look at that until after my mini-stroke. At that point, I'll answer it if it's someone I know. (And assuming I want to talk to them, which a whole other matter entirely.). If it says unknown or private, I don't answer. It's not really ever a telemarketer, as we've been on the do not call list for 2 years, so we only get one through about once every 3-4 months. It's never a bill collector, since we pay those now. So, what's my problem? Who the hell knows. I hate the phone.
This morning, I was lamenting about the fact that I have to call Advantus and find out why the Heidi Swapp stuff I ordered 2 months ago hasn't shown up yet. Apparently, GWH found this very annoying, as I assume he started trying to seek an internet cure for me. (The internet has everything, you know!)
He stumbled up this. For those of you who don't want to click the link, the page is called "TELEPHONE FEAR: Treatment and Hope".
It says the following: To add insult to an already distressing condition, most telephone fear therapies take months or years and sometimes even require the patient to be exposed repeatedly to their fear. We believe that not only is this totally unnecessary, it will often make the condition worse. And it is particularly cruel as telephone fear can be eliminated with the right methods and just 24 hours of commitment by the phobic individual.
Even he found the following excerpt from above site to be amusing: The process usually requires no more than ten hours. In exceptional cases we can achieve a favorable result in two to three. But because we guarantee the outcome, we will work with you for as long as it takes - five minutes, five hours, five weeks. We work highly effectively by telephone. This allows our clients far more flexibility in scheduling appointments, and the results are every bit as good as meeting in person.
Right... Let me send that $1500 check.
He, of course, finds this very annoying. I find his whiskers in the sink very annoying. I feel like we're even. He says I should get therapy for my phone issues. There's no therapy for messy shaving, is there?
I'm not sure exactly when my phone issues started. As far back as I can remember, I've never really had much of a love affair with the phone. Maybe it goes back to the time when I was about 3 and playing with the phone and inadvertantly called the overseas operator to Japan. I don't remember getting in trouble, but maybe I was beaten and don't remember. Maybe not.
So, through most of my teen years and into young adulthood, I avoided the phone. I'd call my friend, she had her own line and was the only one who would answer. I wouldn't call my boyfriend, because the idea of having to ask for him totally freaked me out. But, I managed to make it through. I even had a job in customer service, taking 100 phone calls a day, and making about 30 outgoing. I think only because I was "the company" and not really ME. Nothing that happened on any of those calls was about ME. I don't know, I'm no shrink.
Through my long and lovely marriage to the ex-h (that lovely part was a joke, for those of you who are new here), everytime the phone rang, it was a bill collector to yell at me for not paying this or that bill.
It started getting way worse after my mother died. I got that call at 6 in the morning. We were never that close, but that's still a pretty traumatic thing to wake up to. (She was only 40, and not sick. Well, death sick, anyway, her other issues are for another post entirely.) From that point on, anytime the phone rang while I was asleep, it scared the crap out of me. Didn't matter if I was sleeping at 1 in the afternoon, if the phone rang, it scared the crap out of me. In the meantime, my grandmother, with whom I WAS very close was getting older and older and sicker and sicker. So, then, everytime the phone rang, I became convinced it was someone calling to tell me SHE was dead. That call finally did come, and it came at 5am, however, we knew she was going. In fact, I'd just left the hospital 3 hours before that, after they assured me they'd call in plenty of time for me to get there when the end was near. She ended up hanging on til after 10, so I was with her, and never got "that" phone call, but still.
Everytime that phone rings, my first thought is "oh my god, it's bad news. someone is dead." Doesn't matter what time of day. Doesn't matter that we have caller ID. I don't even look at that until after my mini-stroke. At that point, I'll answer it if it's someone I know. (And assuming I want to talk to them, which a whole other matter entirely.). If it says unknown or private, I don't answer. It's not really ever a telemarketer, as we've been on the do not call list for 2 years, so we only get one through about once every 3-4 months. It's never a bill collector, since we pay those now. So, what's my problem? Who the hell knows. I hate the phone.
This morning, I was lamenting about the fact that I have to call Advantus and find out why the Heidi Swapp stuff I ordered 2 months ago hasn't shown up yet. Apparently, GWH found this very annoying, as I assume he started trying to seek an internet cure for me. (The internet has everything, you know!)
He stumbled up this. For those of you who don't want to click the link, the page is called "TELEPHONE FEAR: Treatment and Hope".
It says the following: To add insult to an already distressing condition, most telephone fear therapies take months or years and sometimes even require the patient to be exposed repeatedly to their fear. We believe that not only is this totally unnecessary, it will often make the condition worse. And it is particularly cruel as telephone fear can be eliminated with the right methods and just 24 hours of commitment by the phobic individual.
Even he found the following excerpt from above site to be amusing: The process usually requires no more than ten hours. In exceptional cases we can achieve a favorable result in two to three. But because we guarantee the outcome, we will work with you for as long as it takes - five minutes, five hours, five weeks. We work highly effectively by telephone. This allows our clients far more flexibility in scheduling appointments, and the results are every bit as good as meeting in person.
Right... Let me send that $1500 check.
posted by Angie at 8:44 AM
3 Comments:
That's funny! They want to cure fear of the phone over the phone, huh? I have a friend who suffered with telephone fear also. She made a goal of forcing herself to make one phone call a day. Eventually it became easier for her. But she still doesn't like the phone. I'm afraid of deep water! Good luck!
LOL!!! Is that kind of like a college that advertises a marketing degree, only to tell you they no longer do that?!? What kind of marketing strategy is THAT?!
Angie...I often have the same fear about making calls. Owning a business that requires an occaisional call - in or out - only adds to it.
H-
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