Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!ria!uwovax.uwo.ca!telecom-request From: collins@wam.umd.edu (Bernard F. Collins) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Some Callers and Answering Machines Message-ID: Date: 25 Mar 91 14:35:43 GMT Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Organization: University of Maryland at College Park Lines: 30 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 240, Message 2 of 11 In article Bill Berbenich writes: > But why won't some people leave a message? Don't they realize that [Stuff deleted] > wash the dog, wash our clothes (in that order), and shop. Maybe these > people who don't leave messages are just gamblers at heart and they > want to take their chances catching their callee at a free moment. > Maybe they don't realize that if they leave a message they might > (probably will) get a call back, but if they don't leave a message > they definitely WILL NOT get a call back - unless I get real curious > and call a strange number back. I confess. I am one of those disturbed few who frequently hang up without leaving a message on an answering machine. I do not resent the machines. I own one myself. There are however many situations in which I prefer simply to hang up. When I am calling just to chat with a friend; or when I need a piece of information which I can readily get elsewhere. Many times I simply do not want to put another person to the trouble of trying to reach me. Answering machines are wonderful devices that in some measure restore control to people who do not like to be at the beck and call of anyone at any time. That does not mean that those who reach a machine are required by good manners to leave a message. If I visited someone's home in person, and he were not there, I very well might choose not to leave a note on his door. The freedom to take or not to take a call is accompnied by the freedom to leave or not to leave a message. There are very many real-life circumstances in which people like myself do not find that the curiosity of the persons we are calling is enough of a reason to leave a message.