Phone phobia

[mikebird]

Making / placing a call is slightly easier than receiving, as you're the controller / master to choose the nature of the conversation. The recipient has to play ball.

If I'd never had to deal with recruiters and their psychological tricks, life would still have been fine by now. "Call me back - horrid"

They hide behind the anonymity. There's never any communication between strangers when they can't see each other.

I have the ability to reserve an appointment with my GP. Receptionist has to answer my call and bear with my needs. I hate to pass details about my ID, address, etc, especially announcing your own phone number... I am bred to use my eyes for appropriate reasons - listing out items is nonsense. Just the stressful speaker moaned about 'we can't give you an appointment for two weeks, because we are soooooo busy...' and I feel the superior one to get her to shut up and stop moaning 'she might be used to the nature of the public' and just give me the date and time. I'm not in a rush. This collapsed to her behaviour. She said something scrambled and hung up. I called back directly to confirm the details... 'did we just speak recently? I managed to get a time out of her.

I like their automated service to cancel an appointment beforehand which I often use if I get better while waiting, leaving a message.

Now to request a car fix with a garage, I don't feel capable of explaining properly by phone. I prefer to walk all the way there to speak properly. I can't drive there, so it takes discussion how to go about it

I know that society's grandeur of the old-fashioned telephone and its specially pouted little portable magic is now the underpinnings of keeping in touch. Everyone has to be willing to answer any call, any time, any place, any mood, to keep lubricating the rough edges of life, turning each individual into a worldwide celebrity under scrutiny. I refused several calls as I typed this

 

[5arah]

I'm not that bad with phone calls these days, but I really do prefer texting or even talking in person. I wonder if it's not bc in person you have nonverbal cues to help you know what the person thinks of what your saying, while on the phone, you're talking, which is generally difficult for us, with no indication as to what the other person is thinking, which lets the irrational fears that go with SAD run wild.

 

[jaim38]

I have no anxiety calling my parents but slight anxiety with my friends and relatives. Strangers give me the worst anxiety. Before calling a stranger, I usually have a detailed script typed out. Hopefully I become better at it to lose the script.

 

[ruhig]

I hardly ever make calls, and often avoid answering.. It doesn't bother me too much if it's my parents, but even with my friends I'll only answer if I think it's really important, otherwise I'll get them to text me..

 

[THeCARS1979]

I dont have trouble with this. Those of you who do , try writnig down what your going to say and then see how long you stay on and if you can get a small conversation out of that, thats great

 

[jaim38]

Today I called customer service to close a bank account. I was really nervous but get this: I also cared about the customer service rep! I tried to sound as nice as possible. I keep having thoughts like "Do I sound mean?", "Is she angry at me for closing the bank account?", "Will she not treat me well since I'm not a customer anymore?" I sound like a people pleaser, which contradicts my signature.

At the end of the call, my voice started getting raspy but I still thanked the customer service rep and said bye to her. I paused for a bit and then hung up, but I thought I heard her say something else. Oops! Did I hang up when she was about to tell me something? Or maybe it's just my imagination? I felt bad and started stressing over this. This is weird because instead of worrying about myself, I'm worrying about her feelings! This customer service rep is a complete stranger to me, btw, but I don't know why I'm trying to empathize with her.

Maybe I'm being too sensitive. Gosh, I care so much about the littlest things in life.

 

[rosewood]

i cant make small talk in person very well, but once i have calmed down i can manage a phone. online chatting though, whew...thats hard.

 

[mixedupgirl]

I have a big problem with answering my phone....i either ignore or reject most calls because I always put pressure on myself to have something to say....i don't think i'd be so bad if i was busy doing stuff and had something interesting to share..... I use to get a big panic feeling when people called me but now its normal for me to just ignore or reject....bad I know... I can call the bank and professional companies no problem, its just when it comes to socialising...

I think its about time I grew some big hairy ones now though and worked on trying to break this bad habit....

 

[mikebird]

Phone interview today which I'd been waiting for longer that two weeks.

It was a conference call with two of 'em together using a speakerphone for one to hear. The third might have joined, but didn't today.

The person talking was impressive. One of the easiest to get on with. I has tons of material prepared to speak about. I kept it quiet - using the main person guiding the conversation. I interrupted a bit too much, saying a bit too much. I was nervous, trying to relax and slow my words, but my usual stutter and anxiety takes over, and I'd cite that as my main weakness at interview, and it'd be detected / judged. We almost lasted the intended 45 mins. I'm sure they won't want me.

One thing happened before. Some other recruiter, who I do know, emailed me exactly the same spec in the area. I had to be careful and decided to say I had an interview arranged already. He asked real or phone and I had to lie it was real.

Any desperate company finding someone special for a role will broadcast this across many recruiter firms, paying in full, to widen their search network.

I thought they might have been informed of my arrangement, and it's all a simple psychologist's tool to test applicants' reaction, using children's playground games...