Showing posts with label Phone Call. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phone Call. Show all posts
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Did I Stutter?
R.a.n.t. for week of 03/30/14
In my younger days, I used to talk on the phone all the time. Depending on the friend, I could be talking for an hour or more. But recently I've begun to dread talking on the phone. For some reason, the older I get, the harder it is to talk on the phone. Typically it only flairs up when I first pick up. So there are times when a person calls me and all they hear is silence on my end as I try to begin speaking. If I don't hesitate, I start stuttering my words. The problem with hesitating is it can take more than five seconds. I literally lock up and can't say a word. It doesn't happen all the time, and some times I can say 'hello' fairly quickly. Or if I'm 'locked' and then the other person begins to speak, suddenly I unfreeze and can talk freely. Or I'll be fine answering, then suddenly start stuttering during the conversation. So I have a hard time using the telephone and get so frustrated I want to smash the phone. Even with my closest friends I dread calling and would rather opt to send a text message. Then there are the times I don't hesitate and just start talking, thinking I'll be okay. Then suddenly I'm saying, "H.h.h. hell, hello." This has given quite a number of people a good chuckle and when it happens at work I usually get the response, "Forget where you are?" They are joking around of course because they don't know better, and I get irritated. Don't believe me? Feel free to call and find out any time you want. Though I may just let the answering machine get it. Mostly because the answering machine won't st.st.stutter when it picks up.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Fast Talkers
R.a.n.t. of week 09/15/13
Auctioneers - One of my "guilty pleasure" type shows is called 'Storage Wars'. It's about a group of people who visit storage lockers that are being auctioned off because the owner of locker has defaulted in payments or abandoned. Let's just gloss over that many claim the show is rigged and some of the 'hidden treasures' are planted by the producers. To be honest, I could care less, the show is entertaining. Barry is hysterical, Brandi is gorgeous, Darrell kind of reminds me of one of my obnoxious yet best friends, and Dave is..... well no longer with the show. Am I okay with that? Yuuuuuuup!!!!!!!!!! Finally we have Dan and Laura Dotson - (Dotson, Dotson, we have Dotson here!); the auctioneers. One thing I've never fully understood was auctioneer speech. What's with the high speed talk? Is it really necessary? Okay, so you want to move things along, but does the high speed linguistics truly help? For the most part, no one understands a word being said until the auctioneer calls out a raise in price or the end of the auction. "bla bla bla bla bla 45 dollars bla bla bla do I hear 50? 50, 50 bla bla bla 50. Going once, going twice, SOLD for 45 dollars!
Jimmy John's - Anyone with one of these restaurants in their area has likely heard one of the commercials on the radio. Usually it involves a couple of the employees discussing how fast they truly are. As implied in the commercials, they are freaky fast! I recall one of the first times I went into a Jimmy John's, employees were throwing bread and wrapped sandwiches around in a frenzy, seemingly moving at freaky fast speeds. I almost wonder how many breads fell to the floor and were simply dusted off and reused. So does speaking fast, mean you can make a fast sandwich? Certainly a question I'll have to ask Dan Dotson if I ever meet him. But I think I know the answer to that, especially after my last drive-thru experience. Having ordered a sub, I waited twelve minutes for my sandwich. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE their sandwiches, but that was freaky slow. Unless of course they just ordered my sub from another location and it only took 12 minutes to bring that sub to this location. Now that would be freaky! Come to think of it, it WAS a Friday.
Commercials - Not much to say about this besides how much I hate when commercials do this. Usually it's a radio commercial because TV just shows the unreadable fine print. A radio commercial doesn't have that luxury so it spends 20 seconds of a 30 second spot claiming how wonderful their new and fantastic offer is, then ten seconds quickly letting everyone know what is exempt from this wonderfully, fantastic offer. By the time the commercial is done, you've forgotten what the offer is and you now have a headache trying to either listen to and/or understand what that buzzing display of wording was.
Phone Messages - Probably my least liked fast talker is the yahoo's who leave phone messages. Particularrly the ones who gab on for two long minutes, then as they leave a contact number it's "Fo-one-fo-fi-fi-five-si-oh-thr-two. Call me back". Then comes a dial tone and me saying "Okay, I got 414." Then I realize I have to listen to the entire two minute slow, painful oral drivel once or twice more. Depending on how quickly I can decipher the jumble of numbers thrown at me. Don't throw things at me, seriously. There's a reason I don't play sports very often.
Sunday, July 18, 2004
Okay, tell him I said...
R.a.n.t. of week 07/18/04
If there is anything I hate more than no replies to a blog article, it's having to be a go-between. I'll be on the phone and one person asks me to tell the other person something. A prime example of this happened almost every week when I was married. I would be on the phone with someone and my wife would ask me to tell the other person something. To which the other person, obviously, would reply something back. I'd have to relay this to my wife who then had another thing to add. Suddenly, they are having a conversation and playing verbal tennis.
I find this mode of communication difficult to grasp. If a person has something important to say, why not say it who they need to themselves? I understand there may be times this is not possible, like when someone has to translate for another, but to constantly use someone else as a go-between does not make a lot of sense. And my wife did this ALL the time. And what's the biggest reason I hate this? I’m the worst person to translate a message. At times this same thing happens at work. I'm talking to a customer and my boss tells me to tell them something, as he then walks away. As you may have guessed, the customer relays something back. I forget immediately who is calling if I don't write it down, so now I'm forced to talk on the phone and take notes at the same time. Plus I can pat my head and rub my tubby at the same time. So this week, try if you can, not to use a third party to relate your messages (but feel free to have as many parties as you want, just invite me). Instead, relay your messages to the other person yourself. And while you are at it, tell them I say hi.
Reprinted 10/25/12
*PLEASE NOTE - I recently found R.a.n.t. articles posted to an older website I once owned. I've decided to reprint them in my current run, but have decided to edit the articles. For comparisons sake, I've decided to run the unedited versions as well. In a way, it's kind of fun to see how my writing has changed in eight years.
Original R.a.n.t.
One of the things I really hate, is to be the go-between. You know what I’m talking about, one person will tell you to tell the other person what they want to tell them. I find it hard to understand this mode of communication. If you have something vital to tell someone else, doesn’t it make sense to tell him or her yourself? I understand there may be times this is not possible, like when someone has to translate for you, or the third party is not available, but to constantly use someone else as a go-between does not make a lot of sense to me. What is the biggest reason I hate this? I’m the worst person to translate a message, so why would anyone else want to rely on me? Half the time I forget who is calling at work, even if I just asked them who was calling. Something happens from the time I ask who’s calling and the time I ask what they want that I forget who it is calling. So for this week, strive not to use a third person to relate your messages, tell them yourself, and you can tell them I said you should.
I find this mode of communication difficult to grasp. If a person has something important to say, why not say it who they need to themselves? I understand there may be times this is not possible, like when someone has to translate for another, but to constantly use someone else as a go-between does not make a lot of sense. And my wife did this ALL the time. And what's the biggest reason I hate this? I’m the worst person to translate a message. At times this same thing happens at work. I'm talking to a customer and my boss tells me to tell them something, as he then walks away. As you may have guessed, the customer relays something back. I forget immediately who is calling if I don't write it down, so now I'm forced to talk on the phone and take notes at the same time. Plus I can pat my head and rub my tubby at the same time. So this week, try if you can, not to use a third party to relate your messages (but feel free to have as many parties as you want, just invite me). Instead, relay your messages to the other person yourself. And while you are at it, tell them I say hi.
Reprinted 10/25/12
*PLEASE NOTE - I recently found R.a.n.t. articles posted to an older website I once owned. I've decided to reprint them in my current run, but have decided to edit the articles. For comparisons sake, I've decided to run the unedited versions as well. In a way, it's kind of fun to see how my writing has changed in eight years.
Original R.a.n.t.
One of the things I really hate, is to be the go-between. You know what I’m talking about, one person will tell you to tell the other person what they want to tell them. I find it hard to understand this mode of communication. If you have something vital to tell someone else, doesn’t it make sense to tell him or her yourself? I understand there may be times this is not possible, like when someone has to translate for you, or the third party is not available, but to constantly use someone else as a go-between does not make a lot of sense to me. What is the biggest reason I hate this? I’m the worst person to translate a message, so why would anyone else want to rely on me? Half the time I forget who is calling at work, even if I just asked them who was calling. Something happens from the time I ask who’s calling and the time I ask what they want that I forget who it is calling. So for this week, strive not to use a third person to relate your messages, tell them yourself, and you can tell them I said you should.
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Get Back To Me
R.a.n.t. of week 06/27/04
Are friends really friends if they never call you back? No, that's not really a 'deal breaker' for me, but the point is valid. One of my biggest irritants is calling or emailing a friend and never receiving a response. I understand life is hectic, but I always try to make room for is my friends. When I receive a call or email, true I don't run down everyone in my path to get to a computer or phone, but I do try to respond as soon as I can. Maybe that's why I'm so irritated when my friends don’t. Sometimes it feels like I'm not important enough to get back to. Oh sure, one or two usually get back to me, but some never do. True, we get along great once we are together, but an offline internet message or voice-mail would really hit the spot, and let me know you still care. Particular when I’m feeling down. I know some people aren't as comfortable as I am on the computer, and who really likes leaving phone messages? But a response is something everyone enjoys. I just wish my friends realized this as much as I have.
Reprinted 10/15/12
*Note: I recently revamped this topic, using just an example for the entire rant. You can find the updated r.a.n.t. article HERE
*PLEASE NOTE - I recently found R.a.n.t. articles posted to an older website I once owned. I've decided to reprint them in my current run, but have decided to edit the articles. For comparisons sake, I've decided to run the unedited versions as well. In a way, it's kind of fun to see how my writing has changed in eight years.
Original R.a.n.t.
Are friends, friends, if they don’t call you back? One of the biggest things that irritates me is calling or emailing a friend and never receiving a response. Now I can understand life is hectic and we all have many things to do, but the one thing I always try to make room for is my friends. Once I receive a call or email I try to respond to it as soon as I possibly can. Maybe that is the reason I find it so irritating when my friends don’t. There have been some weeks where I’ll try to at least call or email everyone I know. One or two people will get back to me, but the rest never do. Oh sure, we get along great once we meet each other in person, but sometimes an offline internet message or a message left on my answering machine would really hit the spot. This would in particular be the case when I’m feeling down. Yea, I know some people do not like to type on the computer as much as I do, and some people do not like to leave phone messages, but I for one love it and sometimes wish that those who are my friends loved it as much as I.
Reprinted 10/15/12
*Note: I recently revamped this topic, using just an example for the entire rant. You can find the updated r.a.n.t. article HERE
*PLEASE NOTE - I recently found R.a.n.t. articles posted to an older website I once owned. I've decided to reprint them in my current run, but have decided to edit the articles. For comparisons sake, I've decided to run the unedited versions as well. In a way, it's kind of fun to see how my writing has changed in eight years.
Original R.a.n.t.
Are friends, friends, if they don’t call you back? One of the biggest things that irritates me is calling or emailing a friend and never receiving a response. Now I can understand life is hectic and we all have many things to do, but the one thing I always try to make room for is my friends. Once I receive a call or email I try to respond to it as soon as I possibly can. Maybe that is the reason I find it so irritating when my friends don’t. There have been some weeks where I’ll try to at least call or email everyone I know. One or two people will get back to me, but the rest never do. Oh sure, we get along great once we meet each other in person, but sometimes an offline internet message or a message left on my answering machine would really hit the spot. This would in particular be the case when I’m feeling down. Yea, I know some people do not like to type on the computer as much as I do, and some people do not like to leave phone messages, but I for one love it and sometimes wish that those who are my friends loved it as much as I.
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