It's almost always the way

Earlier this morning, there was a phone call I wanted to make. However, because the line was engaged I decided to leave it a few minutes and then try again.

Cue a slight tangent. My current landline phone enables me to categorise the people stored in my phonebook into groups and assign specific ringtones for those groups.

I was just on my way to the bathroom when I heard the familiar sound of Scott Joplin's The Entertainer; the ringtone assigned to 'Family'. I let out a groan because I was 99.9% certain that I knew who the caller was... My Mother! Scream 

After doing what I needed to do in the bathroom, I then popped into my son's bedroom and realised that my mother had obviously tried phoning him too.

Anyway, my mother had left us both messages asking us to phone her back, although she didn't say why. From the perspective of my son and I, we consider messages like that to be the worst kind. It's the fear of not knowing the reason WHY my mother wishes to speak to us unless we pluck up the courage to contact her. 

It has been said that we should do one thing every day that scares us. Given the choice, I think I would rather walk around outside naked, in broad daylight. If the tone of my mother's voice was anything to go by, I'm guessing she has a problem that I won't be able to assist her with anyway.

Do you receive phone calls from specific people that fill you with dread? If so, please feel free to share.

Parents
  • I hate and fear using the phone, so I no longer answer calls unless I know who it is calling and I'm feeling sufficiently able to speak to them... 

    I probably speak on the phone 2-3 times a year maximum now.

    When my mother was alive she phoned me every week. Her calls went on for about an hour and were thematically similar - asking of routine meaningless questions, complaining about people/things in her life, complaining about her health, criticism of my brother - and even more so, his wife and children, criticism of me. 

    It was difficult. I have to be honest, I don't miss those calls. 

    It was the overwhelming negativity of them that upset me. 

  • I am similar to you in that I also avoid answering the phone if I don't know who the caller is. I work on the principle that if it's important, the caller will leave a message. The drawback though is that not all callers will, which leaves me feeling curious and anxious about the identity of the caller.

    Although I can understand why you don't miss the calls you received from your mother, I am sorry that they often left you feeling upset. 

Reply
  • I am similar to you in that I also avoid answering the phone if I don't know who the caller is. I work on the principle that if it's important, the caller will leave a message. The drawback though is that not all callers will, which leaves me feeling curious and anxious about the identity of the caller.

    Although I can understand why you don't miss the calls you received from your mother, I am sorry that they often left you feeling upset. 

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