Do you feel obligated to respond?

[mountainsoft]

Do you feel obligated to pick up the phone every time it rings, answer the door every time someone knocks, or immediately reply to every text you receive?

My wife runs to pick up the phone every time it rings, even if we're eating dinner, getting ready to shower, etc. I'm like "that's what the answering machine is for. If it's important they'll call back or leave a message." Thankfully I have a variety of filters on our home phone so we rarely get junk calls.

Similarly, if someone knocks on the door, my wife jumps up to see who it is. But if I'm sitting around in my pajamas, or they knock after I've gone to bed, I just ignore them. And after dark, I just don't trust opening the door. Unless they're banging on the door and yelling for help, it's just not that important.

My wife also keeps her cell phone by her side at all times, immediately picking it up and responding to any text message that she receives whether we're eating dinner, watching a movie, etc. To me the whole point of text and email is you can respond when it's convenient. Otherwise you could have just called... At a convenient time.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't feel obligated to respond just because someone happens to call, text, or knock on our door.

 

[MarieIG]

No I don't. I usually look out the window on the second story of the house if someone rings the doorbell. I don't open the door to strangers. I look in case it is the police or otherwise something of importance. I don't open the door at all to sales people or surveys and I usually don't answer the phone unless I know the party calling, or I'm waiting for a particular call and it may potentially be from them.

DH answer the phone much more frequently than I do, including for mystery numbers, and actually opens the door if there is knocking - usually without looking first.

Depending upon the text, I try to respond within what I consider a reasonable time but not too late and not too early.

 

[bbqcoder]

No, I don't feel the need to respond to every interruption. I do have an Apple Watch so I can easily see who is calling/texting. Will respond if it's important to me.

As for answering the door, yeah, I do answer it every time someone rings/knocks at the door. I should get into the habit of using the Blink app to see who is at the door but I don't. No one ever rings/knocks late at night.

 

[Dtail]

I am with you. However my fiance does usually check a text as soon as it comes in. I tell her they can wait.

 

[Jerry1]

I’m in no hurry to deal with the phone or texts but if someone is at my house, I’m on it. I may not open the door, but I figure out whether it’s any type of threat immediately. Usually, that just involves looking at the security cameras. There’s no way I would just ignore someone at my door. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m going to open the door but it does mean that I’m aware.

 

[easysurfer]

Why do I feel obligated to reply to his thread?

 

[jollystomper]

For phone calls, we have call screening implemented for our landline phone system and cell phones. We will answer if we recognize the caller. Otherwise, we let call screening handle it. If it important, the person will leave a message ; if so, we choose whether or not to answer.

I tend to keep my cell phone in the"center" of our house (family room) when I am home, so that I do not get the constant notifications. Any calls that come get routed to the landline phone, and when I pass by it I may check to see if any texts have come it.

For someone at the house, we have security cameras set up so that get a video alert when someone approaches the door, before they ring or knock. We can decide, based on who it is, if we want to answer.

DW usually has her cell phone with her most of the time, but unless she is expecting something she rarely rushes to answer and respond to right away. She might read a text but will wait until a convenient time to respond.

 

[iloveyoga]

I have all my notifications silenced on my phone and I don't answer calls unless I know who it is. Most friends and family text anyway. I have a No Solicitors sign up and just don't have many people come to the door. I would look to see who it is on my doorbell app before answering the door . I do wear my Apple watch so I know if someone needs to get ahold of me.

 

[braumeister]

No, I don't feel the need to respond to every interruption. I do have an Apple Watch so I can easily see who is calling/texting. Will respond if it's important to me.

Same here. Works like a charm.
As for the door, I have a Ring doorbell so I can see who's there without getting up from my chair.

 

[CO-guy]

No home phone. I usually look out the window to see what vehicle is out front if there's a knock at the door.

My cell phone is on silent almost 100% of the time. I check for messages every so often, or not for hours if I'm busy.

 

[wrigley]

No

 

[timbervest]

All landline calls (yes I still have one of those) go to voicemail which screens out all the telemarketers. If i recognize the number on Caller ID I may pick up. Cell phone on silent. I generally respond to texts promptly unless I am doing something else. A balance.

 

[GrayHare]

I used to but telemarketers killed that reflex.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I have custom ringtones and custom text alert tones on my cell phone for all family members and most friends so I know exactly who is calling or texting by the custom sounds. Therefore I can decide the urgency of my reply before I even look at my phone. I also use the Do Not Disturb feature on my phone and only four people are allowed through that barrier, all four are family members.

Furthermore, I have Google Pixel's call screen feature activated so anybody calling me I don't recognize must tell my phone why they are calling and then I can decide if I want to pick up or banish them to the ether.

I definitely answer the door whenever someone rings the doorbell. It's almost always a neighbor. If it's a solicitor it gives me an opportunity to practice my reverse sales skills, i.e. putting up objections, and then seeing how skilled the salesperson is at overcoming my objections. It's fun!

 

[OldShooter]

Ooma VoIP "landline" (our old wireline phone number) has a list of known numbers that I harvested from a year or so of calls. Now it allows numbers from this white list to ring, but routes all other calls to voice mail. Some of them hang on long enough to leave a 4 second blank voice mail. Others, I suppose, just hang up. Maybe one in fifty plays their spiel to the voice mail.

On my cell, Google/Android will offer to screen any call from a number it doesn't recognize. It plays a script and the spammer typically hangs up fairly quickly.

I am not aware that we have ever missed an important call by being this restrictive with inbounds.

 

[Koolau]

I only answer phone calls from people/businesses I've registered in my phone. If they won't leave a message, too bad for them.

I do answer the door as we are gated and not many "unwanteds" can get to our door.

 

[TickTock]

Do you feel obligated to pick up the phone every time it rings, answer the door every time someone knocks, or immediately reply to every text you receive?

Phone - no. Generally, if it's not a number already in my contacts then I let it go to voicemail. If it's important then they'll leave a message.

Door - generally, yes. And I'm good at saying, "Thanks, not interested" to unwanted knocks and then closing the door.

Texts - no. I'll see who texted and what they want and respond accordingly.

 

[mountainsoft]

actually opens the door if there is knocking - usually without looking first.

Admittedly I am guilty of that too. We have a little half circle window at the top of the door that's hard to see out of. I could look out the dining window next to the door, but then they can look back at me too. I usually just open the door.

We're in a rural area so people rarely come to our door anyway. It's usually the mail person knocking to let us know they dropped off mail, or the occasional J. Witness. That's about it.

Many years ago we used to get a lot of drunks knocking on our door when they drove their car off the road on our curve. We tried to help when possible, letting them use our phone and whatnot. Unfortunately, I had to kick a young couple back out into the cold one year when they started getting out of hand. That was the last time we offered to help anyone. Thankfully we're back off the road more now, and the area has grown up reducing weekend partiers, so it hasn't been an issue. Besides, most people have cell phones now and don't need our phone.

 

[mountainsoft]

I tend to keep my cell phone in the"center" of our house (family room) when I am home, so that I do not get the constant notifications.

I keep my cell in my office, mostly for the two step website verifications. If it's blinking a notification when I come in I'll look. Otherwise it can wait.

When my wife doesn't have her phone next to her, she charges it up in our master bedroom closet. Unfortunately, a few family members have a habit of sending texts at 2am. Ding! Ding! Ding! Thankfully my wife doesn't jump up to check them in the middle of the night like she used to.

 

[imjustawarrior]

Only answer calls I am expecting or from people I know.

No one should expect texts to be replied to immediately. That is the culture of texts.

I usually answer the door because we seldomly have someone come to the door.

It is your life, your time, your choice.

 

[Walt34]

Unless we're expecting a callback from someone or a visitor we ignore both. If it's important they'll leave a message, and if not I don't care. The phones are there for our convenience, not every wackadoodle trying to sell or scam me.

 

[CO-guy]

Admittedly I am guilty of that too. We have a little half circle window at the top of the door that's hard to see out of. I could look out the dining window next to the door, but then they can look back at me too. I usually just open the door.

My better-half will attempt to answer the door if she's home. The dogs go ballistic, and there she is trying to crack the door open to tell someone she's not interested while the dogs attempt to claw their way out. Usually it's just some kid selling boosters, etc.

Multiple times after this battle with the dogs she's asked me what I do differently when she's not there and my response is always the same, "I just don't answer the door." No disappointing neighborhood kids. No wresting with the dogs. No need to disrupt whatever I'm doing.

 

[ponyboy]

No to all of the above. Also, I can't think of anyone I know anymore who has a land line.

 

[athena53]

I have to fight the urge to open the door and respond to texts and calls. It's easiest with the front door. I live alone so I can't just fling it wide open without having an idea who's there. Fortunately I have some good vantage points where I can see if I recognize the person at the door. The last visitors I ignored were a couple of middle-aged guys in business suits with sober black coats. One was carrying a briefcase. Whatever they were selling, I didn't need it.

I now ignore phone calls on my cell and my MagicJack if I don't recognize the name or there isn't one.

Texts are annoying. I feel a mad urge to respond and when I do, sometimes it turns into an extended session. To me, texts are for short messages. "I'm on the road, should be there in an hour."

 

[MarieIG]

I keep my cell in my office, mostly for the two step website verifications. If it's blinking a notification when I come in I'll look. Otherwise it can wait.

When my wife doesn't have her phone next to her, she charges it up in our master bedroom closet. Unfortunately, a few family members have a habit of sending texts at 2am. Ding! Ding! Ding! Thankfully my wife doesn't jump up to check them in the middle of the night like she used to.

Yep. I have the 2:00 a.m. gang too. A friend in Arizona who doesn't go to bed until 1:30 a.m. in her time (two or three hours earlier than mine), and a few insomniac cousins. As my own sleep is pretty spotty, I usually hear them coming in, but I don't answer till morning.