When Telecommunications became the enemy

When you're in the line of work that I am, you'll find that you have a damn good reason to hate the phone. I spend 85% (well, on a good I-feel-like-really-working day) of my day on the phone, calling people who apparently believe I'm the business of GIVING away money.

After hearing voicemail greeting after voicemail greeting, and sometimes those obnoxiously monotone 'Please-Leave-Message-After-Tone' prompts, not only does your right ear develop small callouses, but you start to realize that you can call some people 3 times a day, and leave messages ranging from emergency mode 'Call me back ASAP' to unimpressed 'Call me back before 8 tonight, please' and they're likely just sitting at home glancing at their caller ID going, 'Yeah, like I'll ever call YOU back'.

Then I can't help but think back to when I was 16 years old, and the phone was the only thing making my angst-ridden existence bearable. Well, ok, so maybe I still have a melodrama hangover from those 7 years, but all the same, it's funny how extreme my views have become on the sound of a ringing phone from then to now.

Once considered one of the hugest pick-me-ups in my life, I now groan in agony unless it's someone I might actually enjoy conversing with at length.

And I've become one of 'THOSE'.. the dreaded SCREENER. The phone rings and I stare at it blankly for a second.

423-8690... do I know that number? I don't think I know that number. Why is there no name attached? How am I supposed to know if I want to talk to 423-8690 if they don't even let me know who's calling.

So I let it ring the perfunctory 4 times before voicemail kicks in and promptly check my messages a minute later and realize I'm so happy I didn't pick up when it's another prospective employer calling to setup an interview that will likely interfere with my time spent at home, umm -- cleaning?

Nope.

Doing yardwork?

Negative.

Chatting online?

Much more likely.

And I put the name and number in an agenda that exists only in my mind, and that I may one day wish wasn't so imaginary, and think, maybe.

Now I think, how did I survive my entire life without the wonderful technology of voicemail and caller ID?


Also.. when did my body start hating me and caffeine so much?

I needed a pick-me-up when I started this morning, and 2 more of those later, and I feel like my insides are twisted in agony and even more tired than I was before.

Thank God I get to go do nothing at home in an hour.

PS. I think I may be coming slightly blog addicted, but just to let a certain someone know that it is slightly intentional. I know car trouble is an issue right now, but please give me some work-time reading so I can stop boring the poor people who stumble on my page with the incessant ramblings and such of my dreadfully dull existence. Thanks dear!