Is it just me?
I don’t like being used as a time-passer. Some of my peeps are guilty of doing just that, on a regular basis. “Hi, I’ve got a 45-minute drive home, so I thought I’d give you a call.” Well excuse me, but I just got home from work myself, and I’d like to sit on the couch with my husband and a cold drink, and talk about our respective work days, and watch some TV.
You know, we get up at 4 or 5 in the morning, and Bret hefts 200-lb. sheets of hardwood all day. He goes straight to bed right after dinner, and I sometimes do, too. So this is our “evening,” this time slot while you’re driving home. This is our “together time.” I look forward to it all day. I’m sorry that you have a long, boring commute but that’s what radios are for.
Plus, do you not realize how annoying it is to attempt a conversation with someone while their A/C or open window is blowing over their cellphone microphone? It’s like trying to tune in a radio station when you’re 100 miles from Cowpie Holler, Texas. Schkztch, schkztch, schkztch. Do you not ever have this same problem when someone calls you while they’re driving? Because it makes me want to scream.
Yes, I could simply not answer ? but what if it was an emergency? Yes, I could say “I don’t want to talk right now” ? but I’m always afraid your feelings would be hurt. Then again, you know the situation yet you call anyway. So who’s really being inconsiderate?
If you want to talk to me, that’s great! Call me between 7 and 8 *A.M.*, when I’m sitting at my desk killing time. Call me on your lunch hour (but not from the car!). Or if you must, call me after 8 p.m. and take a chance I’ll still be up (sometimes I am). I know that’s your prime TV-watching time, but that’s why God made DVRs. Or call me during a commercial!
But please, don’t call me anymore simply to pass the time while you’re driving. Because it’s just not fair.
P.S. I love love LOVE you, and this has NOTHING to do with that. I simply want you to understand and respect my life.
[tags]Cell phones, driving[/tags]
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:17 am
Nope, it’s not just you! I hate it when people talk and drive. It just doesn’t work, not only because of the extraneous noises, but they’re distracted! What’s the point of calling if they’re not really going to be listening to what you’re saying? They’re also dangerous as hell to everyone around them.
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:19 am
Steven does this ALL THE TIME. If he can’t get a hold of me, he wil call someone else. It drives me nuts! I don’t care if you are bored in the car! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:30 am
Yeah seriously…..if someone calls me JUST to kill time then I don’t dig it at all. I do have some friends that call me on their drive home because that is the only time they have available but that happens like once every few weeks so that I am okay with.
I don’t like talking to people on cell phones in general. In fact, I don’t like talking on the phone in general. I’m much more of an in-person type of gal OR love love love the text messages and email. There are exceptions, of course…people I love to talk to because there is so much better inflection on a phone!
But this was my long way of saying that yes, I dig you.
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:45 am
Geeky Tai-Tai: One of the perpetrators does use a hands-free headset, so at least both hands are on the wheel. And I don’t think having a *hands-free* cellphone conversation while driving is any less distracting than conversing with a passenger in the car (except that there are only two eyes on the road instead of four!). Still, I’m pretty anti-cellphone anyway, because they have destroyed our personal privacy.
Kim: EXACTLY.
Hilly: If any of the perps could ONLY call at that time, I’d understand. But they call then because it’s convenient for *them.* They can have a nice, long conversation without having to give up any of their time when they’d rather be doing something else, and they just assume I have nothing I’d rather be doing.
I too dislike talking on the phone, except for my motherly need to hear Juli’s voice on a daily basis. But I don’t mind SHORT conversations to set up plans to meet or something like that. What pisses me off is when people call, talk for 30-45 minutes, and I barely get an “Uh-huh” in. That’s not a conversation, it’s a monologue.
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:54 am
but what i don’t get is that they TELL us that they are killing time or that they are bored. just don’t say that! let me live in the lie. sigh.
July 23rd, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Well, you can’t be talking about ME, ’cause I got the message a long time ago. ;>)
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Sizzle: Seriously!
Sheryl: Remember our conversation over lunch last week? Yeah, that.
July 24th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
I’m sorry if you always think that I am just calling to pass the time. Most of the time I call you, I have something I want to share with you. And we all know how great you are with e-mail. But don’t be thinking that I am going to call you at 7 or 8 in the morning, when it’s convienient for you - it’s not convienient for me. If I have something to tell you, I’ll wait until I see you in person, or until you call me for something.
I got the point.
July 24th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
Honey, you have TOLD me that exact thing many times, and so have other family members. What’s wrong with the other times, like work breaks or in the evening? Is it so wrong for me to want a little time to unwind?