"hi, call me"

[GrayHare]

I receive a fair number of "Hi, call me" phone messages from people I know. A high % of the time I call back and they do not answer, so I leave a message like "Hi, I'm returning your call. What did you want to talk about?"

Their next message is often, "Hi, thanks for returning my call. Call me." So, at this point three phone calls have been made and we still don't have a subject. Usually I then stop returning the call. What do you do?

 

[braumeister]

You have strange friends. If I didn't reach them on the first call, I would leave a message saying "I hate telephone tag. Email me with what you want to talk about and a good time to reach you."

 

[NW-Bound]

Is it from the opposite sex?

Call on me, oh call up, baby
Call on me, oh call
Call on me, oh call up, darling
I know who you are
Come up off your calling chart
I know where you're coming from

Call me!
(Call me!)
On the line
Call me, call me any anytime
Call me!
(Call me!)
I'll arrive
You can call me any day or night
Call me​

 

[easysurfer]

I got a brother who calls and his message on my answering machine is always "Hi, call me back..." and doesn't say what he's calling about. That kinda bugs me, but I guess things balance out as he get's irritated reaching my answering machine and that I'm not immediately available since I still have a landline and no smartphone

 

[GrayHare]

The women in my life know what they have to put up with so they're good about messages. No, many of these "call me" messages come from business associates who I'd expect to know better.

 

[FireBug]

If it's important, they will call you back (ie find a way to get a hold of you). If not, forget about it after one attempt on your part.

And not to hijack your thread, but man-o-man, what's with the robo calls? Worse than ever. Everything from solar panels and home improvement solicitations to the IRS wanting to send the cops to my house. Now, I've just started getting them on my cell phone as well.

If I were King........

 

[steelyman]

Jon Stewart:

"It's like that early morning phone call: 'It's your mutha. Call me.' You don't know if it's malignant or the neighbor's kid got into Brown".

 

[Rustward]

I once had a boss who would message me with "call me". He had a strong back and a weak mind.

He was not able to write a complete sentence.

 

[Bestwifeever]

When it's "real" people, there seems to be some subtle power games going on.

My son-in-law never calls us that he doesn't say "let me call you right back" when we do answer the phone. Otherwise he leaves a message saying to call him. Then he'll ask what we want.

OT but in the same vein: One of my friends who is very busy will text "let's get together," I'll say "okay, what works for you?", she'll say, "anytime," I'll say "same here," then we just drop it til next time. Someone else I've not been in touch with for more than 20 years (no reason, never a close friend) emailed DH to tell me to call her to get together.

Robo calls are going to outlast cockroaches to the end of the world, they'll still be cranked out long after we're gone.

 

[CoolChange]

I've quit calling back friends and family who do this as with most coworkers.

 

[FireBug]

Robo calls are going to outlast cockroaches to the end of the world, they'll still be cranked out long after we're gone.

Quote of the day!

 

[Ronstar]

I don't get the "call me" calls anymore. (Except occasionally from 85 yo MIL when something goes amuck in her apt). I do almost all communication by text or email.


Sent from my iPhone .using Early Retirement .//82339)

 

[Sarah in SC]

Oh, don't get me started on people leaving me voice mail! Basically the only ones left who use it are the ancients. Just text me for the love of all that is holy. Or I'll just see I have a missed call and call you back. Or text you. But a vm that just says "call me" is super super annoying!
I'm ahead of my generation with this attitude, apparently.
Please Do Not Leave A Message: Why Millennials Hate Voice Mail : All Tech Considered : NPR

 

[ArkTinkerer]

Before caller ID it use to be a common joke to call the psychic hotline and say "Hey its me! Call me back!"

 

[Major Tom]

Whether it's e-mail, social media, telephones, or some other form of communication, some people seem to use it more as a tool to create a strictly controlled amount of distance rather than to actually communicate.

None of the small number of people with whom I communicate on the phone do this - they actually leave a message on my machine (yes, I still have a land-line with an answering machine attached) saying why they want to talk to me. Some of them leave long rambling messages telling me everything that is going on with them.

Funny what you say about voice mail Sarah - I am the other way around. I don't see why people are so attached to texting. If they want to talk to me, why don't they just pick up the phone and - you know - actually talk?

OTOH, when I finally get a cellphone one of these days, I will probably be a convert to texting!

 

[scrabbler1]

Back in the 1990s, when my 80-something grandfather (my only grandparent still alive) left a message on my answering machine, all he would say is, "Grandpa calling!" and hang up.

So, when I'd call him and he'd answer, I'd say "Grandson calling!" The only catch there is he has 3 other grandsons in addition to me. He'd have to pause to try to recognize the voice (I did not know if he had put out calls to any of the other grandsons). He would figure out it was me and we'd have a good laugh before talking about stuff.

 

[hausfrau]

Back in the 1990s, when my 80-something grandfather (my only grandparent still alive) left a message on my answering machine, all he would say is, "Grandpa calling!" and hang up.

Ha, ha- this made me giggle.

 

[Meadbh]

Here's why I prefer text based messaging (texting or email).

When I call someone, I am concerned that I may disturb them in the middle of something important, like operating machinery. I know what I want to express, but if they are busy, I know I am inconveniencing them, and if I get voice mail, my message may not have the right tone to convey what it want to say, especially in social situations. I am also wary of leaving voicemails when I am not certain I have the correct number, or on a shared answering machine. You never know who might listen to the message, so I have to keep it vague. Someone other than the intended recipient might delete it. Also, I have no certainty that my message has been received unless I receive a reply.

With email or text, I have a record. This was especially important at work, when people would claim ignorance about X. I could find and resend the email and refer them to the date and time when I told them about X. Text and email are offline and We can have a good conversation at everyone's convenience. I like this because I can consider and edit my response. Of course it's important to think twice before pressing Send. This includes the email address.

One thing I do not like is shared email addresses. If I get an email from Jack & Jill, I need to know whether I am talking to Jack or Jill. Get your own accounts, people in couples!

 

[marko]

My SIL will leave long, rambling messages...as if she's talking to you. "Blah, blah "isn't that great? what do you think? so, I was telling Joe, blah, blah" She can sometimes go on for several minutes or until the machine cuts her off.

It's like she doesn't know you're not there.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Tom, you may be right about the control of communications. I tend to use quite a few different text based comm tools, rather than the phone, most of the time. Not that I don't love a good long gossipy phone call, but most of the things we have to cover with other folks can be accomplished much more easily over text.

If I need DH to pick up stuff at the store, or go to an address, it is a lot simpler to just email or text him those things rather than have him write them down and possibly lose the piece of paper!

But I can see where you wouldn't care for it...considering you don't have a cell phone!

I use a lot of apps, too, like the news aggregator Flipboard, and by saving an article to my own "magazine", I can share it with friends who follow my magazine. Similarly with Spotify, when I follow friends, I get to see in real time their current musical interests, as well as use the messaging options to share a specific playlist, or artist, or song that I think they'll like.

 

[easysurfer]

I don't get the "call me" calls anymore. (Except occasionally from 85 yo MIL when something goes amuck in her apt). I do almost all communication by text or email.


Sent from my iPhone .using Early Retirement .//82339)

You don't get any texts that read "Hey, text me..."?

 

[calmloki]

You have strange friends. If I didn't reach them on the first call, I would leave a message saying "I hate telephone tag. Email me with what you want to talk about and a good time to reach you."

Yeah - calls without a subject . With all the tenants phone calls are rarely good and I'd really like to be prepared and, you know, efficient. Is the building on fire? 30 day notice? why the rent will be late? plumbing plugged? move in date or deposit amounts?

We just go with "phone tag - you're it".

 

[Major Tom]

Back in the 1990s, when my 80-something grandfather (my only grandparent still alive) left a message on my answering machine, all he would say is, "Grandpa calling!" and hang up.

So, when I'd call him and he'd answer, I'd say "Grandson calling!" The only catch there is he has 3 other grandsons in addition to me. He'd have to pause to try to recognize the voice (I did not know if he had put out calls to any of the other grandsons). He would figure out it was me and we'd have a good laugh before talking about stuff.

This is about answering the phone as opposed to leaving messages, but I'll tell it anyway. Not sure if the same convention was in effect in the US but when I was growing up in England in the 70's, the accepted "proper" method of answering the phone was to say the exchange name and your number. So if your number was Bromsgrove 6734, that's what you'd say when you picked up the phone. When my dad retired, he loosened up a little and would answer the phone with simply, "George speaking" and then in his later years, he really let it all hang out by simply picking up the phone and saying abruptly, "George." This was in the days before caller ID, and was quite a renegade move for my rather conservative Dad

If I need DH to pick up stuff at the store, or go to an address, it is a lot simpler to just email or text him those things rather than have him write them down and possibly lose the piece of paper!

But I can see where you wouldn't care for it...considering you don't have a cell phone!

I've had a few times recently when I've thought that being able to text would be very convenient. I'm sure if and when I ever get onboard with a cellphone, I'll take to texting very quickly.

PS - I did have a cell before, when I was working, so I'm not a complete dinosaur. Didn't text though due mainly to the fact that texting back then cost more, and wasn't as popular as it is now. I remember hearing that people in the UK texted each other like crazy, but it hadn't caught on here yet.

 

[robnplunder]

My SIL will leave long, rambling messages...as if she's talking to you. "Blah, blah "isn't that great? what do you think? so, I was telling Joe, blah, blah" She can sometimes go on for several minutes or until the machine cuts her off.

It's like she doesn't know you're not there.

Why don't you return the message that goes something like "yeah, ...., I know what you mean, ... no, .... maybe, .... yeah, ...., OMG, ...., ok. Bye. "


DW and I play golf and often matched up with others. A good portion of them gives us their number or ask for our number. That's the last time we ever hear from them. Perhaps, people are just saying "call me" but don't really mean to. These days, we politely decline to take or share our number.

 

[Meadbh]

PS - I did have a cell before, when I was working, so I'm not a complete dinosaur. Didn't text though due mainly to the fact that texting back then cost more, and wasn't as popular as it is now. I remember hearing that people in the UK texted each other like crazy, but it hadn't caught on here yet.

I came late to texting. While I got my first cell phone in 1995, it was one of those clunky Motorola ones where you had to tap the right combination of numbers for every letter. I found that a PITA. However, I remember visiting Ireland in the late 90s and seeing my 20 something relatives all texting away at a furious speed. I don't know how they did it. The Blackberry keyboard is what got me started on texting. I do not find screen only phones to be as ergonomic, so I do most of my texting from my iPad.