Anonymous wrote:I never answer my phone unless it’s my kids, spouse or sisters: period. Text me or don’t expect a response.

Good luck with that if the caller is a hospital.

Also, you never answer, "period!", if it's the kids' school or activity etc.? Come on, aren't those numbers programmed in your phone and you pick up if you had a call from the school or the sports team contact person or whatever? Wouldn't you know something might be wrong if those kinds of places phoned rather than texting?

Anonymous wrote:I don't answer my phone if I don't know who it is. If it is legit/important they can leave a message or text me.

Be sure that when you go to any doctor's office, you let them know (usually it's on a form there) that they have your permission to leave a voice mail or text you. Some doctors' offices will never just leave a voice mail or text unless you have checked off the box permitting them to do so. Otherwise they default to speaking directy to you, as the only way they'll communicate. It's a privacy thing, PP. Don't miss a medical update or test result because you didn't pick up the phone and didn't realize they needed permission to leave a voice mail or text you.

Anonymous wrote:I feel really old. I would expect a call from the doctor's office to go as follows...

"Hello?"
"May I please speak with Larlo Jones?"
"May I ask who's calling?"
"This is Larla from Dr. Smith's office calling about your upcoming appointment..."

I know...I am old too. I always answer "Hello". If the person does not immediately identify themselves, my next sentence is usually "Excuse me, but who am I speaking to?" I do not offer my identity or confirmation of my identity until I know who I am speaking to.

Anonymous wrote:If it’s a normal, local number I’ll answer “This is (my name).” Otherwise I let it go to voicemail.

Spammers program caller id to match your number.
I do NOT answer calls that "look" local. When it is school or doctor, I add the phone number to my phone's contact list for next time.
Having an out of region phone number helps.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't answer my phone if I don't know who it is. If it is legit/important they can leave a message or text me.

Same.

Curious if those of us who are like this are all millennials. I loathe answering the phone.

I always answer. I’m a millennial and dislike phones (although less as I get older) but I get calls from medical providers, clients, kids’ childcare, etc so I will generally pick up because I hate asking people back more than I hate picking up. I say “Hello” and then “May I ask who’s calling?” if they don’t immediately identify themselves. I very much appreciate the phone scripts my mother insisted I learn back in the 90s.

Yes.

"Hello."
"Is Jack there?"
"Who's calling?"

If it's a good call:
"Oh, hi! Thanks for calling!"

If it's a spammer:
"Remove me from your call list." And hang up.

If it's a robot, hang up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone answer a number they don’t know? Genuinely curious.

Doctors, handymen, other businesses,and, most importantly, my teenagers could be calling me from an emergency room pay phone …

I was with you until this. Do your teens not have cell phones? This is laughable

I'm a "do not answer the phone" type but PP is not laughable. Someone transported by ambulance may no longer have their phone with them, or the hospital or a bystander may be calling at the patient's request. It's happened to me. (I just also think it's too rare to plan around.)

Anonymous wrote:If I answer it I say “hello, this is Larla.”

I don’t think it matters whether they know it’s me or not.

I do this and I find that half the time they still ask "is this Larla?"

If there's a pause while they route to a live person, I hang up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you answer your cell phone if you don’t recognize the number? Do you just say “hello” or state your full name? The reason I am asking is that I just say “hello”, you never know who is on the other line - it could be a doctors office or a spam call… but people in the other line never introduce themselves. They demand to know my name but never state theirs first. Be it a doctors office, someone calling from the opera to request a donation, or some newspaper trying to sell me a subscription.

I just press the button and don’t say anything. They called me — they can speak first.

This is weird. Saying hello doesn't commit you to anything or give anything away. Just don't answer if you're that paranoid.

DP who also does that. It's not paranoid - most spammers will start talking or playing recording only after they get a live human response. So when in doubt, I keep quiet for a few seconds, if it's a spam, they hang up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say “hello?” And if they say “Hi is this Larla?” I respond, “Who is this?” before I say whether or not I’m Larla. I often need to answer unknown numbers, but most of the time it’s a spammer.

Doctor’s offices usually will usually announce who they are first.

This is exactly the situation that keeps happening - someone calls from a doctor’s office and they just never say their name. Every single time I have to ask who is speaking. It’s so annoying.

Complain to the doctor. They should be starting their call with at least "hi, I am calling from Dr. X office".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't answer my phone if I don't know who it is. If it is legit/important they can leave a message or text me.

Same.

Curious if those of us who are like this are all millennials. I loathe answering the phone.

I always answer. I’m a millennial and dislike phones (although less as I get older) but I get calls from medical providers, clients, kids’ childcare, etc so I will generally pick up because I hate asking people back more than I hate picking up. I say “Hello” and then “May I ask who’s calling?” if they don’t immediately identify themselves. I very much appreciate the phone scripts my mother insisted I learn back in the 90s.

Anonymous wrote:I don't answer my phone if I don't know who it is. If it is legit/important they can leave a message or text me.

Same.

Curious if those of us who are like this are all millennials. I loathe answering the phone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you answer your cell phone if you don’t recognize the number? Do you just say “hello” or state your full name? The reason I am asking is that I just say “hello”, you never know who is on the other line - it could be a doctors office or a spam call… but people in the other line never introduce themselves. They demand to know my name but never state theirs first. Be it a doctors office, someone calling from the opera to request a donation, or some newspaper trying to sell me a subscription.

I just press the button and don’t say anything. They called me — they can speak first.

This is weird. Saying hello doesn't commit you to anything or give anything away. Just don't answer if you're that paranoid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone answer a number they don’t know? Genuinely curious.

Doctors, handymen, other businesses,and, most importantly, my teenagers could be calling me from an emergency room pay phone …

I was with you until this. Do your teens not have cell phones? This is laughable

If it’s a normal, local number I’ll answer “This is (my name).” Otherwise I let it go to voicemail.

I never answer my phone unless it’s my kids, spouse or sisters: period. Text me or don’t expect a response.