Savannah Mul – Opinions Editor –
There comes a point in everyone’s lives when we screen calls. We don’t want to answer the call so reply with a text message explaining we’re at work, but are really at home and don’t want to talk when you know you really should have picked up that phone call. Or with the beauty of a cell phone, you can always, somehow miraculously, “lose service.”
However, with the annoyances of talking to someone you don’t want to talk to, it is still important than ever to show proper etiquette when talking on the phone. It’s never good to lose your cool in a public place either, where you might see a person screaming into the receiver to a friend, lover or family member. That’s never a good sign of any type of relationship. Where’s the respect there?
So first off, your phone rings and you keep looking at it; debating or not if you feel like picking up. If it’s your best friend, chances are you will pick up. But if it’s not your best friend and someone else you can care less about, don’t answer the missed call with a text. Yes, you’re probably guilty of this, and if you actually are busy then that’s a different story. But to make up some silly lie of where you were or what you were doing at that time during the call, might and very well could come back to bite you in the ass. Not worth it.
I’ve seen this argument happen a few times, which I just owe to choosing the unfortunate seats to sit in, in the student center or library. Where the people around me just seem to break out in loud, disruptive, screaming phone calls about why their boyfriend or girlfriend lied about being somewhere. The argument is much worse when the couple is actually sitting next to me.
Here’s a little hint for you guys, if the arguing doesn’t go away and it keeps happening in a public venue, just breakup; do the world a favor so we don’t have to hear the argument as well.
Texting has made us lazy in the way that we communicate with others. If anything, it also made this generation’s communication skills suffer greatly. We all know that there are times when you know you really should call someone or see them face to face, but the end product of that conversation are done in text messages. Which if not done correctly can spur a fight, or make a fight even worse. The problem with texting is you can’t tell a persons tone or sarcastic comments. It’s not good to rely on texting as the number one way to communication with others. It’s unprofessional, hard to understand their tone, and impersonal.
When it doubt, just make that phone call.
When you do call a person and they don’t pick up; the voicemail answers. No one wants to hear a rambling voicemail either. It’s 2013 and there isn’t a need for directions on how to properly leave a message, everyone in the cell phone world should know how to do that by now.
Also, don’t forget to put your phone on silent in classrooms or libraries. It gets old and it gets old fast listening to everyone’s annoying ringtone go off every 20 minutes. Show some proper etiquette on the phone, we’re all mature adults, so I think we can do that.
