Apparently there is something wrong with me!

[Furrydog7]

I hate the house phone with a passion. I much prefer texts and emails as i can answer when it is convenient for me. However my mum thinks that there is something wrong with me as i have the house phone unplugged a lot. She doesn't understand that i don't always want my time inturupted by people talking crap about what they have had for dinner etc and the only way to convey to certain members of my family that i cannot talk is to unplug the phone.

Wish we could get rid of a landline , alas our mobiles rely on a very haphazard signal.
The best signal that we can get is to place the mobile, in a far corner of our house, among a peace lily .

Are people with an unplugged phone paying for their landline then or is it free in a broadband package? What's the point otherwise.

I prefer the landline, very rarely use my mobile for calls. Yes I text but not often. If I don’t want to answer the phone it goes to ansaphone

My house phone lives in the cupboard. We all look at each other if it starts ringing as only 3 people have the number. Even my nanny (96 years old) uses her mobile now, she loves to FaceTime us all.
I understand your dislike of interruptions and at least on a mobile you can see who's calling and either decline or mute them.

1MoreWine that made me laugh
Sorry can you speak up? Rustling? Yes sorry about that, I'm in the Peace Lily

We have a landline. I feel old now .

I barely ever use my mobile phone, mostly just have it for emergencies like so the dc's school can call me if I'm out or if I'm at the hospital with one of the dc and I need to ask dh to come and pick us up.

Unplugged ours years ago as hated getting phone calls at 11pm from brother and the folks... I like to be in bed by ten!

I have a landline but dont make or pay for outgoing calls and to be honest it hardly ever rings unless someone is trying to sell me something.

Nothing wrong with you. We all need some peace and time off. I have to talk a lot in my line of work so some peace is always good. If we had a land line then ours would be off a fair bit

@StCharlotte

How would you have coped 40 years ago when there was no email or texting and you couldn't unplug your phone?

I think people are becoming so insular these days and I'm not sure It's healthy. I say that - it's only on MN as far as I can see. I don't know anyone IRL who thinks like this.

You are absolutely spot on @StCharlotte. It's ridiculous thst people are afraid of answering the phone and, shock, horror, actually speak to someone.

How did these people manage at work, pre lockdown, if their phone rang, and how do they cope with Teams meetings?

I admit that our house phone is rarely used, but I would never get rid of it.

I don't know anyone in RL like this either.

The only people I want to talk to are on the same phone provider as ne do we chat for free. I also WhatsApp a lot. I have anxiety and hate talking on the phone. Which is bad because my job requires good telephone communication .

My mum was also horrified when we binned the landline about 10 years ago. She rings my brother on the LL still, even though DB and his family all use mobiles now. She will ring me via WhatsApp on wifi because it's free, which drives me nuts because there is a second delay. It's like talking on a radio. But she won't ring my mobile itself because it costs her money.

We binned the LL because cold callers from the Far East were waking us up at 2-3am asking us if we'd had an accident recently. We pulled the cord and never went back.

I love my house phone. The only people who have my number are my DP (non resident) and my parents. That way, I know it will only ever be someone who I want to talk to.

I don't have a smartphone, and don't do any kind of messaging. I can't be bothered with that stuff.

We have a landline. I ask people to ring that during the day and leave a message, because I'm not allowed to use my mobile whilst I'm at work.
Do they listen? Nope. The number of times I've had someone call my mobile number when I'm working is ridiculous.
Just call the damn landline.

I have a phone line which I use regularly, I hardly ever answer it though unless I know it’s likely to be parents etc. That’s what the answer machines for.

Never carry a mobile. Not interested in bring contactable every waking moment.

I use social media to message people but only at home on the iPad.

We haven't had a house phone for years and years.

My parents and in-laws still do - but they're the only ones I know.

I love having a house phone, now im working from home I can answer all the scammer calls and wind them up. I swear at them, repeat their questions back to them really slowly, go silent and tell them I fell asleep and blow whistles down the receiver. Such good times.

Gin I agree and are the mnetters who never answer the phone even if they're standing right next to it because that's what answer machines are for the same people that never answer their door unless they're expecting a visitor

and start threads if this happens.

"It's 7.30pm and someone just knocked at my door. I didnt answer. Should I phone the police?"

Totally agree. I put mine on silent.

It is a generation thing! I have finally managed to get both my parents and my in-laws to call our mobiles if they need to talk. The landline is mostly (always) ignored. I would get rid, but I always think that it is there in an emergency if the mobile network fails.

I have a landline. Don't understand why poster are so scathing about them. My LL phones are cordless, I don't have to sit on a 1970s telephone seat in my hallway to make phone calls, I can sit in any room in my house, or even in the garden, if I want.

And why do posters not know who's calling them on their LL? My LL had exactly the same caller id system as my smartphone.

I also get free calls on my landline in the same way I get free calls on my mobile.

I get far more calls on my mobile telling me I've had an accident than I do on my LL.

I have a smartphone, I text and use WhatsApp but I sometimes prefer using my landline because my hearing isn't great and it's generally clearer than the mobile. Also I find it more comfortable to hold than the smartphone, which is slim and can be a bit fiddly, I find, if I'm holding it in one hand and having to make notes with my other hand.

I like having the convenience of both.

@SmileyClare , I always answer the door whatever time of the day / night and I also always answer my mobile but history has shown that the only people who phone my landline are either my MIL , who I have no desire to talk to or people trying to sell me something which I don’t wish to buy .

Do those things still exist 😂

@StCharlotte

How would you have coped 40 years ago when there was no email or texting and you couldn't unplug your phone?

I think people are becoming so insular these days and I'm not sure It's healthy. I say that - it's only on MN as far as I can see. I don't know anyone IRL who thinks like this.

Badly, like many other autistic people who find communicating online more accessible.

Actually, it makes me more sociable to have that option.

What happens if you were without electricity for days? Presumably sit in your car with the engine on charging up your phones?!?
We have a non electric basic phone plugged in for emergencies.

We all have mobiles, and we have a landline. We give out the LL number to official agencies (DWP, for instance) and use mobiles for personal.

I have never used up my data, minutes or texts, ever. If you totalled the number of minutes I have left over every month, it would probably take me the rest of my life to use them up. TBH I think I only have a mobile to take pictures.....