[NA]How to make a telephone call[NA]

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Display name:
Dave Taylor
Am I out of date on this (too)?

This is for home phone use.

When I call someone, I usually identify myself pretty much right away.
I get all these calls now (typically young people if that means anything) and they say right off, (when they call me): "Who is this?" or "Who is speaking?".

I was taught this is rude. Maybe things are different and I missed it.
I was told to say, "This is Dave Taylor, may I please speak with ______?"

When I say "Hello" to a ringing phone I guess I am not used to the new way, I don't expect to be forced to reveal....anything, to an unidentified person!

So I have started saying to such people, 'My rule is when that people who call me must identify themselves first, then I will decide if I will respond to your queries!"

Tell me I am 'out of it pops', I can take it.
 
I received a wrong number call once that went something like this:

Her: Hello, who is this?!
Me: You called me.
Her: You don't have to be rude about it.
 
You are so out of it, pops.

But you're right.
 
tlglenn said:
I received a wrong number call once that went something like this:

Her: Hello, who is this?!
Me: You called me.
Her: You don't have to be rude about it.
Click to expand...
My last one went:

Her: Who dis?
Me: Who is this?
Her: Who dis?
Me: I won't tell you until you tell me who you are.
Her: Huh?
Me: Well you started it.

She hung up.

Then there are the telemarketers.:hairraise:
 
Back in the late `70s, just about all my friends were known through ham radio. Consequently, I went up to the city from down south of St. Louis and ran around with those guys. We range from sixteen (me) to nineteen. One of them worked nights for a TV newsroom just doing random junk; monitoring UPI and AP wires, AP photos, etc. No one else was around but a few engineers and the announcer. This was the time before cable was big, before Teddy started CNN and when the network went away after the late shows. Local stations ran movies until two or three AM. The transmitters actually got shut down for a few hours.

So, I'd go up and hang out with my friend until early morning hours. Sometimes, I'd show up with food and White Castle was often the waypoint enroute.

The station had this nifty new PBX system. That phone system did everything but nuke the food. Well, short one feature... you couldn't mute the phone you were on. We would pick two random phone numbers from the phone book. Remember the paper kind? Sometimes, same last name but not always.

We'd dial one number and then the other and conference them together. Pretty soon, you'd have two people answering and asking each other why they called. "I didn't call you. You called me." And, it would go back and forth. It was always very funny. Some would end up laughing, some would yell. Even those yelling were sounded like they were fighting the temptation to laugh. Only once did it ever get heated and we cut that call off. Some figured they were being put on and hung up on a funny note. Most just hung up scratching while their heads wondering who they were still sharing a party line with. We'd be holding our hands over the mouth piece while we laughed up a storm. That's where a mute feature would be quite handy!

That was the most trouble I ever caused as a teenager. Well, I had some influence to keep it together. There was my dad always looking out. Then, there was a friend of the family who was also a ham operator I saw pretty often and talked with... usually while he was on patrol as a state trooper. :)
 
I have never had that happen at home thankfully. My daughters friends all say hi this is so and so Very polite. Now she is going into middle school so we see how long that keeps up.

Now at work sometimes we have folks ( Usually my partners clients) who do that.

Me: Hello Mudrick & Zucker
Them: Who is this?
Me: Who are you calling for?
The: Dan
Your name please.

When I grew Up I was always taught to do the polite thing ie, hi this is Adam how are you Mrs. Hoffman? Is Dan in?
But I was also taught when I answer the phone to say "Hello Zuckers" That has fallen by the wayside and Now I just answer Hello.
 
I have never had that happen at home thankfully. My daughters friends all say hi this is so and so Very polite. Now she is going into middle school so we see how long that keeps up.

Now at work sometimes we have folks ( Usually my partners clients) who do that.

Me: Hello Mudrick & Zucker
Them: Who is this?
Me: Who are you calling for?
The: Dan
Your name please.

When I grew Up I was always taught to do the polite thing ie, hi this is Adam how are you Mrs. Hoffman? Is Dan in?
But I was also taught when I answer the phone to say "Hello Zuckers" That has fallen by the wayside and Now I just answer Hello.
 
AdamZ said:
When I grew Up ... I was also taught when I answer the phone to say "Hello Zuckers" That has fallen by the wayside and Now I just answer Hello.
Click to expand...

You know, now that I think of it, my folks always told me to say "Hello Zuckers" when I answered the phone, too.

I really never understood that.
 
when im home i still answer "Condons" otherwise on my cell its either Hello or "how the hell are you doin?"
 
Some times, I hear a guy answer his cell phone with, "Hey Dog!" I'm never sure if their his buddy or ex-girlfriend.
 
"Hello" gets so mundane for me.

Those of you that have called me know I vary my greetings.
 
Good manners never go out of style. Even with answer machines and caller id, answer as if you don't know who's there. That way, when you actually ignore their call, they won't immediately presume that is what you're doing.
When making calls, don't ever assume you've dialed correctly. Never in my life has a wrong number gone unanswered.
 
silver-eagle said:
Good manners never go out of style. ...When making calls, don't ever assume you've dialed correctly. Never in my life has a wrong number gone unanswered.
Click to expand...


Besides the "whose this!?" subject of this post, my other other big peeve is people who realize they dialed a wrong number and just hang up. How rude!

When I mis-dial I apologize and thank the reciever for their patience.
 
I usually answer the phone with a zany greeting of sorts. "You've got Nick!" or "Talk to me" or "Ok.....go" but that's just a joke.

When I am calling someone else, unless I consider them a peer of mine, I usually begin the call with "Hello, this is Nick, may I please speak with xxx?"

I got a call the other day, it went like this:

Me: "You've got Nick"
Them: Que?
Me: Hello, how can I help you?
Them: Se habla espanol?
Me: *begins a long rant that ends with a few disparaging remarks"
Them: Que?

Ugh....drove me nutty. How do you call me, and ask me to speak Spanish?
 
KennyFlys said:
We would pick two random phone numbers from the phone book. Remember the paper kind? Sometimes, same last name but not always.

We'd dial one number and then the other and conference them together. Pretty soon, you'd have two people answering and asking each other why they called. "I didn't call you. You called me." And, it would go back and forth. It was always very funny. Some would end up laughing, some would yell. Even those yelling were sounded like they were fighting the temptation to laugh. Only once did it ever get heated and we cut that call off. Some figured they were being put on and hung up on a funny note. Most just hung up scratching while their heads wondering who they were still sharing a party line with. We'd be holding our hands over the mouth piece while we laughed up a storm. That's where a mute feature would be quite handy!
Click to expand...

We used to do the same thing in college excspt we usuallu connected people who already knew each other instead of using random numbers. You wouldn't believe how many would get through 10 minutes of conversation before they realized neither on placed the call. One time we patched two women a "friend" was dating (they didn't know about each other) and the guy who was dating them, that one resulted in a pretty heated exchange.

That was the most trouble I ever caused as a teenager.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I can't make the same claim:D
 
Last edited:
SkyHog said:
How do you call me, and ask me to speak Spanish?
Click to expand...
Nick, you do have to globalize your perspective. Although this is not yet a frequent occurrence, I find the need more and more to call internationally and then I have to ask (beg, grovel, etc.) the person on the other end to speak English. Makes me feel like an uneducated jerk.

[looks at wife sitting next to me; she speaks six languages and has a PhD in Linguistics from Yale...]

Since she somehow neglected to learn Spanish, I had the brainstorm that we should learn the language together. :no: :no: What a bad idea! She'd pick it up in a heartbeat and I would be struggling :confused: for every word...

-Skip
 
Skip Miller said:
Nick, you do have to globalize your perspective. Although this is not yet a frequent occurrence, I find the need more and more to call internationally and then I have to ask (beg, grovel, etc.) the person on the other end to speak English. Makes me feel like an uneducated jerk.

[looks at wife sitting next to me; she speaks six languages and has a PhD in Linguistics from Yale...]

Since she somehow neglected to learn Spanish, I had the brainstorm that we should learn the language together. :no: :no: What a bad idea! She'd pick it up in a heartbeat and I would be struggling :confused: for every word...

-Skip
Click to expand...

http://www.rosettastone.com/en/individuals/languages/spanish-latin-america

Youse guys better get with the program. Spanish speakers are going to be the majority in our lifetimes. I keep reminding my Mexican-American friend to keep my name off of the list they'll use when they take over.
 
I went through a very brief phase where I answered "Bloodhound Detective Agency, whenever there's trouble we're there on the double, Mr. Bloodhound isn't here" but after a couple times I found that apparently NO ONE else was a geeky little kid who watched geeky kids TV in the 80's... *sigh*

--Kath
 
There used to be these things called Modems. It would dial other computers via voice lines. I would program the modem on my computer to call a number and then hang up after a certain amount of time. I would cycle this sequence to match the time between rings on a phone and then call someone I would like to annoy. They would hear a ring but by the time they picked it up to talk, my modem had disconnected and they would hear dial tone. They would put the phone back down and almost right away it would ring again. Repeat over and over and over.

Oh man.
 
lancefisher said:
We used to do the same thing in college excspt we usuallu connected people who already knew each other instead of using random numbers. You wouldn't believe how many would get through 10 minutes of conversation before they realized neither on placed the call. One time we patched two women a "friend" was dating (they didn't know about each other) and the guy who was dating them, that one resulted in a pretty heated exchange.
Click to expand...

How about connecting the campus police department with the campus fire department? :D :D :D Or the president ob the Black Student Union with the President of the university (when there were some tensions on campus)? We would hardwire two phones together and remove the microphone elements. Great fun.
 
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