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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!
How about a bluetooth sensor? You could tell it to randomly call you in 2min stddev 1min whenever that jerks phone is in range. Doesn't completely ignore the jerk but at least will put a limit to how much of your time they can waste.
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
I have this on my HTC Android phone too. It's a widget called Fake Call. You select a person in your phone book who will fake-call you, then the number of minutes of delay (from 0 to 10 minutes) before you get the call. It would be nice if this could be scheduled at a specific time.
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.
An alternative to faking cell calls is to fake listening to your iPod. I know plenty of people (myself included) who will have our headphones on, even if they're not actually listening to anything. Hell, I know people who don't even carry their ipod with them. They just have their headphones on and the other end goes into their pocket. It's especially useful when on Tri-Met or any other public transportation or public situation. If you just want to be left alone and not hassled or bothered, it's a fantastic way to achieve it and you don't have to go through the motions of pretending to talk to anyone on a phone.
The Samsung Tocco Lite has a fake call feature, just press and hold the volume button for a couple of seconds and it's good to go. A few moments later and you get what looks to be an incoming call from someone withholding their number.
Very useful for getting out of a situation where you don't want to talk but at the same time don't wish to be rude.
regards, the_leander
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
It's a bit hard to convincingly fake taking a phone call when your phone is not ringing.
But more effective in the long term if you do it right...
Them: Blah blah blah
Me: Oh, that's my cell phone, gotta take this
Them: But I didn't hear it ring...
Me: [reaches into pocket, draws out nothing, looks into empty hand] It's the president!
Them: You don't even have a cell phone...
Me: [thumb to ear and pinkie in front of mouth] Yes Mr. President! TERRIBLY fucking boring! Ugly too!
Them: [never talks to me again]
but I have made certain that someone would call me at a certain time in order to extricate me from a situation.
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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.
Interesting comment from an anonymous coward.
Anyway, telling people at your workplace to "fuck off" will likely lead to a talk with your boss or HR, disciplinary action, or termination. Workplaces don't like employees who "aren't good team players". Of course, they never do anything about the obnoxious loudmouth who keeps interrupting people who are doing real work so he can make himself look important.
I'd say the fake phone call is a good workaround for this problem.
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.
Because that's more confrontational, and a lot of people don't like confrontation. Basically, by saying the above, you're saying "what you're telling me isn't important to me and I want you to go away". With the ringing phone, you can blame it on the person on the phone (who doesn't actually exist).
How many people want to hear "I don't care about what you have to say to me"? This will hurt the coworker's little feelings, and then he'll become your enemy and try to cause problems for you and stab you in the back at any chance he gets.