What do you do when you get a call from a private call

[Muddle200]

I tend to ignore it

"Because i don't want to" sounds incredibly immature.

Sounds like a good reason to me.

We're not obliged to be available to anyone at any time.

So doing what we want is immature then?

Amazing I’ve made it into my 50’s then and not making myself available when I don’t want to be served me fine so far.

I've noticed when people say they don't answer the phone, it's a stick to beat them with by some people who immediately jump to 'telephobic'!

To those saying I don’t want to… I imagine a little picture of you with your arms folded, bottom lip out and your little feet stamping…

there there now…

Oh that's intriguing because I immediately pictured a self-assured woman simply stating that she didn't want to (answer the phone).

I don't really see the point in having a phone if you're not going to answer it.

It's like that MN line about invitations to go somewhere: it's an invitation, not a summons. It being a convenient time for someone else to call you doesn't mean it's a convenient time for you. Someone having your number does not mean you have the obligation to be always available to them.

Personally, for me the 'point' in having a phone is twofold: 1) to communicate with a few close family members and friends, and 2) because nowadays it's almost impossible to not have one. You're forced to leave a number practically everywhere and going through things online means you can't just leave it blank, while often it rejects the solution of 000000000000. Lots of things require phone/app verification. I've blocked calls from unsaved numbers and only temporarily unblock if I'm waiting for a med. call (irritatingly, the GP usually, but not always, calls from a number I have saved). I'd be pretty happy without a phone.

I know it's my boss. So i ignore it 🙃

100% - I give the phone a glance see if I know the number and carry on with my day undisturbed by randoms I have no interest in speaking to.

Exactly the same with anyone knocking on my door unannounced.

I don't answer withheld numbers or numbers that aren't recognised

They can leave a message if they want me

What is the point in having a TELEPHONE if you don't answer the fucking thing when it rings?

100% - if you need to talk leave a message I’ll call you back.

It's not that we don't ever answer the fucking thing, though. 😂

It's filtering. I am very unlikely to answer the fucking thing if it's a number I don't recognise or if I'm not expecting a phone call about something specific.

I have the fucking thing mostly because it's a pocket computer and very useful. I got rid of my landline because it was not useful and duplicated a service I rarely use.

I used to until I realised it also silenced calls from the Drs and I missed a phone appointment

Yep. Not sure why that’s so hard to grasp.

We answer when it’s someone we know
We call people
We return calls from VMs

And it’s been many years since most people used a phone purely as a telephone. It’s a little handheld multipurpose device with actual phone calls being one of its lesser functions for many.

@SamW98 But my landline doesn't have caller display. If I miss a call from the doctor or hospital and they leave a message, it's so difficult to actually get hold of the person who called.