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1 in 8 Take Fake Phone Calls to Avoid Talking to Others
A survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that people are lying 13% of the time when they say they have to take a cell phone call around you. That number jumps to an inconsiderate 30% in the 18- to 29-year-old age group. The survey also found that 42% of the 18-to-29 group "have had trouble doing something because they did not have their phone nearby." More than a quarter of survey respondents...sorry, I have to take this call.
I'd post something worthwhile but I need to take this call. . .
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
"People are lying 13% of the time?" C'mon.
From RTFA, the real stat was that 13% of adults admitted to doing this ever. I think we can be generous and assume that that 13% aren't doing this 100% of the time.
DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
we will IM others to call us just so we have an excuse to hang up on someone else, it is even good for getting rid of people who come to your desk and won't leave.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
It's a bit hard to convincingly fake taking a phone call when your phone is not ringing.
Maybe someone should make a smartphone application that could react to some kind of surreptitious gesture and make the phone ring. After a short delay to avoid making it obvious.
(Go on somebody, make the Sex Panther joke.)
DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
that I have done this before--not to avoid contact with people, but to make it look like I'm making contact with people.
Signed,
Forever Alone lolololol
'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
Speed dial #2 on my cell goes to my office phone - makes checking voicemail easy. And when the guy in the next office comes over to tell me about some damn facebook game he's playing now, I can fidget with my phone, hold down the number 2, and boom - my phone rings. "Oh sorry man, I need to get that."
Of course, if he ever notices that it's always the same number...
And as a bonus, I change the name from "Work" to "Santa" during christmastime. Scares the hell out of a kid throwing a tantrum when I threaten them with a long distance call to the North Pole.
Never underestimate the potential of Human stupidity. -Heinlein
Like Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally"
Memorable post performance line: "I'll have what she's having" delivered by director Reiner's mother.
There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.
I saw one of the TV announcers for the Toronto Raptors chatting on his cell phone when it loudly rang in his ear. guess he was one of the 13%.
The most interesting fact from this article is that 18-to-29 year-olds are much more likely to use cell phones as an excuse to not talk to someone. This jives with my experience in real life. Finally, now it is possible to agree with our grandparents that young people are more inconsiderate than old people.
People in that age group seem to think that they are entitled to do anything they like, as if their feelings are more important than everyone else's. Instead of treating people with respect, many young people seem to think that it's acceptable to ignore the person making the request. This happens in dating, where childish women give out fake numbers; in friendships, where some idiots have decided it's acceptable to commit to something and then not show up; and in family life, where you invite people to a party and they can't take five seconds from their self-centered lives to apologize and inform you that they will not be able to attend. A year after I graduated college, a co-worker and I scheduled a bowling outing for about 30 people; despite being the organizer, she decided not to show up and was unreachable on her cell phone because "someone from Pittsburgh suddenly showed up at my house and I had to give her a place to stay."
When people pull stuff like that on me, I tell them to get lost - but they keep doing it because others are willing to put up with this crap. It's bad enough that people cut short in-person conversations to take cell calls. But it says something about how low our society's expectations are for our youth that we accept one third of that age group being so self-centered that they can't be bothered to talk to you even when they don't have anything else to do.
When a bum comes up to me and asks for something I take a phone call and they leave me alone. Some sort of bum code of conduct I guess.
The verbage for all respondants is much more positive than the verbage for young adults. For example, "help prevent unwanted personal interactions" sounds (to me at least) much less anti-social than "avoid interacting with people around them" and "important tool in an emergency" gives an entirely different sense than "have had trouble doing something because they did not have their phone nearby", yet that appears to be how they align.
This might be entirely unintended but it looks to me as if a subconscious bias has been exposed.
Please learn the difference between "13% of people lie" ("1 in 8 Take Fake Phone Calls") and "people are lying 13% of the time" before posting any more articles about statistics.
Liberty in your lifetime
I think the interesting thing here is that people seem to think that it's OK to answer a phone while they're talking to somebody else. It's understandable if one is a receptionist that needs to answer the phone, but for most people it's rude regardless of whether or not there's somebody on the line.
Same goes for call waiting. There are a limited number of times during which it is acceptable to use call waiting most of the time you're showing a decided lack of respect for the person that's one the line.
Now it is possible to talk, in public, to someone that isn't there, and that is normal. This has been a real boon to the schizophrenic population. Thank you blue tooth fairy
When someone "takes a call" within about ten feet of me, the FlameWar App(tm)(sm)(r)(c) automagically finds their contact info and haunts them for a month.
Take that, you hot girl that thought I wasn't stupid enough to be cool......
Oh, wait. Uh.. sorry I can't finish this, I have a conference call.
All the 18-29 year olds that I know will sit there and text and facebook and whatnot while they're talking to you. I don't think they would be polite enough to fake a phone call to not want to talk to me... I'd think they would just get up and leave.
Then again, maybe I'm just a lot of fun to talk to
Huh? Oh, are you still here? I was doing something else. What were you talking about? Oh, wait, I have this important text message to read, hold that thought.
Bearded Dragon
but I have made certain that someone would call me at a certain time in order to extricate me from a situation.
sig not found
I didn't RTFA, but isn't there perhaps other explanations than 'young adults are less respectful'? That age group is also the most likely to have young children, and many are also in a transitional phase where they're moving on from high school and college lifestyles into the adult world -- part of doing that frequently includes shedding of old acquaintances (and even friends), and might necessitate termination of a social encounter.
Furthermore, what is "I need to take a call" replacing? It's very possible that taking a fake call is replacing some previous behavior people would use to avoid a social encounter.
It also seems to me that there are far more socially inept individuals in the young adult demographic. This may be because, as a member of that group, I am exposed to them more often, but I don't think so. The number of people who I met in college who could not take the hint that they were annoying or that people would prefer them to not be around was staggering, and many people probably feel that 'taking a fake call' is preferable to saying 'go away, nobody likes you'.
In short, I don't agree with the assessment that young adults are necessarily less respectful based on this study. It still may be true, but this study doesn't really consider enough factors to be useful at all in that regard.
As a socially acceptable way to talk to the voices in my head.
immediately walk away from someone if they answer the phone mid-conversation. if they raise their finger, raise them your middle finger and walk away. they'll catch on.
I see this crap all the time and find it tremendously disrespectful. I fall in that 18-29 age group, though at the upper end. I have a few friends at the lower end of that spectrum and they're worse than my older friends. I generally don't call those younger "kids" very often. Why would I want to invite someone to be a guest in my home who is going to eat my food, drink my beer, and ignore me? Then when they can tell you're getting irritated, typically after you point it out at face value several times, they might engage in conversation for a minute or two. Though when they do, you can tell they're not really involved in the conversation, but just waiting to talk. I don't need those types of people in my life. They're always looking for the next big party or next best thing instead of enjoying the company they're with.
So that being said, it's no surprise 3 of my best friends are in their 50s, and a couple others in their 30s and 40s. I'm by far the youngest in my normal social circle.
...haven't learned about voicemail.
"The older age groups have their own ways of doing the same."
Both have good reasons for wanting to ditch some conversations in a non-confrontational manner.
Hint to the clue-resistant:
If YOU get put off often, YOU might be the problem.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
The same age group act's like they are having Crack withdrawals when they do not have a phone at all for a 48 hour period. My daughter lost her phone on vacation in the woods and was acting like she was going to cut one of us if she did not get her fix... " I need to check my messages, give me your DAMN PHONE OR I WILL CUT YOU!"
people need to unplug more and learn how to not be a slave to the tech.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
1 in 8 people found to be incredibly boring to converse with
I'm sorry I missed the first posts, I was on the phone.
Paul: Father... father, the sleeper has awakened! - Dune
Why do people do that? What started this trend?
I'm right in the middle of that age group and I see it all the time. More often than that, though, is taking out a phone to play games or update Facebook right in the middle of a conversation or lunch meeting. Then all of the sudden I'm the obtuse one for getting up and walking away when the rest of my peer group is sitting around tapping away on their phones at one another. Why even go out if you're just going to fiddle with your phone the whole time?
The worst part is, I see it at all levels. This isn't just something the lower class is doing. It might be the way I was raised, but I find the whole thing impossibly rude. If I took out a Gameboy during dinner while I was growing up, it would've been slapped out of my hands into the trash can. I'll be doing the same favor for my kid, if I ever have one. Too bad there's nobody worth my time to procreate with in this day and age.
I'm not even old, but get off my lawn anyways.
What is with that at work? Why do people want to tell me about Mafia Wars or their latest WoW raid? Why do they think I have any interest in that at all?
Even Red Dwarf mocked this 20+ years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5TxzDY_sEk
There is no etiquette rule that dictates that you must answer the phone in a situation like that. The person on the line will just assume that you're indisposed at the moment, which you are, and either leave a message or call back.
The sort of self entitled thinking that demands that people answer the phone even when the callee is indisposed is really not something which should be allowed to continue. Manners are getting uncommon enough as it is.
Of course, if you want to assign blame, then the blame lies with the "Greatest Generation", as they were the ones who were the parents for the generation after them, and they in turn for the generation after them, etc.
If you look at the state of this country, it seems like the Baby Boomers really did the most to screw it up directly, when they were in positions of power in the government and industry. However, who raised the Baby Boomers? That's right, the "Greatest Generation" that's so revered. Looks like they weren't so great at parenting, and should have focused on raising their kids better instead of having so many of them.
My mothers calling!
My water is boiling!
I gotta piss!
Somebody's at the door!
I think dinners burning!
I'm being kidnapped by aliens!
I killed da wabbit -Elmer Fudd
All I have to do is pretend my hearing aid battery just died or just go "What?" enough times. Few random people have the patience to deal with someone with a hearing loss. Failing that, I've long ago mastered the art of listening while not hearing a word they've said and I have an out if they ask me if I've been listening afterwards. :D
...so what ?
While I am at work, and talking to someone I prefer not to talk to, I reach into my pocket and speed dial my direct extension, the speed dial begins with the "block ID" code. I then answer professionally and say something like, "I suppose I can look into it for you. Oh, you need it now? This could take some time".
I do this once a week at least. *shamed*
and like mat catastrophe I have also had people call me to get out of a situation. Or I've rang myself with another phone while on the line, so they could hear the call waiting blips, knowing that when I say "I have another call" and switch over, I'm not just muting the phone.
I'm a computer programmer. I'm NOT people person.... only thing is I am not rude to anyone's face at any time (unless justifiably aggravated, i.e. by a girlfriend's conniving, interfering family member...) so people generally like me and THINK I'm not socially retarded. What they don't know is that I prefer to have very few people in my life.
The person on the line will just assume that you're indisposed at the moment, which you are, and either leave a message or call back.
All the while the 'phone is ringing and ringing and ringing. Depending on your job function the call could be orders of magnitude more important than whatever the hapless bore is banging on about.
Oh hi boss, just returning your call regarding the serve....
Right, no..I got the messages you le...
Well...no...I agree it is very urgen...
I was at my desk!
I just couldn't take the ca...
Well, I don't know if it'll seem more important now, bu...
Bob was telling me about his fishing trip with the kids at the weekend. Did you know he caught 3 cod and 2 snapper? Hello? Hello? Boss?
Nice strawman you've got there.
If you're at work then there will be guidelines about that. It's still not required by etiquette that you conduct yourself like a jackass though.
...or maybe social etiquette is just changing.
Can you spot a irony marker in my post? (Extra points for finding a movie quote and cookie-cutter racism).
And that goes double for the idiot who marked it troll. Mod points should not be given to people who can't pass a reading test!
Aargh *@#!
I do have trouble when i don't have my iphone nearby.... ..... ......
only because i think i forgot it somewhere, and thinking of it being lost, and what will i do if i cant find it...i better go find it....
i got to find it right now.....