Family Matters
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Phone Talk
by Janet Tubbs
ood
(and bad) habits
are learned by children who watch
the way their parents interact with — or talk about
— others. Patterns that may last a lifetime are set
by the age of seven and most thoughtful parents teach the
basic rules of etiquette: "please, thank you, you're
welcome."
They may know how to
handle a knife and fork, not to yell in church and not to
feed the dog under the table, but how many know the basic
rules of telephone courtesy? Recently a number of calls
were made to homes as part of a project needing parents'
input. What I heard—on both ends of the
conversation— was so appalling, it was obvious that
telephone etiquette was
lacking not just in children who
may not have learned it, but in adults as well.
With that experience in mind, and for anyone with a phone, here are a few common sense tips for people of all ages:
1. Don't listen in on extensions
2. If you dial a wrong number, apologize. Don't get mad - it was your fault.
3. If somebody calls you by mistake, be polite. You have done it yourself.
4. Don't make crank calls. It's not funny. It's childish and illegal.
5. If you get a crank or obscene call, simply hang up. Don't get angry or scared and don't listen. That's exactly what these sick people want. If it happens again, tell the telephone company.
6. Be firm but polite to solicitors if you don't want to listen or talk to them. They're only doing their job.
7. Don't mumble
8. Don't yell because you're 10 miles apart.
9. If you're hard of hearing get an amplifier for your phone. Don't accuse the caller or whispering or mumbling.
10. Talk into the mouthpiece.
11. Don't eat, chew gum, or slurp your drink while on the phone.
12. Don't gab on the phone when you have a guest.
13. If someone calls during dinner, ask if you can call him back.
14. When you dial a number and somebody answers, don't ask, "Who's this?"
15. When calling, wait at least five rings before hanging up.
16. If you reach a message machine, don't leave a "cute" message.
17. If you have a message machine, don't record "cute" messages.
18. When you call, identify your self immediately, "Hello Sandy? This is Marcia."
19. Don't play guessing games. "Guess who this is?" is annoying and embarrassing if someone you think is a good friend can't identify your voice.
20. If the person you ask for is out, don't say, "Oh" and hang up.
21. When you reach the
person you're calling, ask if they are busy. They may be
in the middle of dinner
or an important project.
22. Don't monopolize the phone. There are other people in the family.
You probably have a few pet peeves of your own. Just add them to the list and tape it to the refrigerator.
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Janet Tubbs is founder and president of Children’s Resource Center, in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is also one of the Founders of VegSource. Her column, Family Matters, is a regular feature of VegSource On-Line Magazine.
You can visit Janet's home page by clicking on this link: