I was wondering, what do you do if the phone rings just as you are about to eat your dinner? I mean, it's on the plate in front of you, it's too late to put the dishes back in the oven to keep warm.
The obvious alternatives are -
a) leave it. They'll ring back if it matters
b) leave it to the answerphone and phone back
c) answer, explain you're about to eat and offer to phone back or ask them to
d) let your dinner get cold while you take the call
e) eat as you listen, while the caller listens to you chew
Tonight, I'm drinking Seville orange vodka and feeling warm. I don't think I was quite the thing, yesterday.
Tomorrow, I'm going out for a Christmas lunch. Probably it will be my only turkey/Christmas pudding combo this year, as it's not our choice for Christmas day (no one in the family, that is) and I'm not booked for any other organised festive meals, that I remember about right now.
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18 comments:
I'm a London sort so no question - answer phone all the way always!
Innit.
Caller recognition helps - if I know it is family or a good friend I answer, say I am about to eat and will ring back. Anyone else, I let it go to answerphone and deal with it later.
Caller i.d. is priceless. If it is just me eating dinner and not a sales/telemarketing call, I'll take it. If company is here, I can hear the message and, unless the call says someone is in the emergency room, the phone is not answered.
If I am eating or about to start doing this I do not care for a damn phonecall. Chances are that I throw away the phone.
Sod the phone, you're right, they'll call back if it matters.
Mind you, last night I called a friend of mine round about tea time, it rang for ages, and the ignorant tartbag didn't answer! Can you imagine.
B if it's switched on, otherwise a or c.
I used to be a slave to the phone. But that has changed....
...when I call my boys and they happen to be eating, (and this happens a lot as they are a very disorganised bunch in that house and dinner time has abut a 2 hour time range, 8pm - 10pm, so it's hard to know when not to call) they tell me they're eating and say they will phone me later - this is how their father has them trained. It infuriates me to reach them only to be told they can't talk. So I won't do that to anybody else.
I let calls go to the answerphone and ring back later.
M takes calls though - every time - and it irritates me enormously that the food I've spent some time preparing then gets cold and congealed.
wendy
B
a/b for me. But Ann, who is basically much kinder (or anyway more curious) than I am, always opts for d!!!!!!! curses curses !!!!
A, B (the two can be done together) and E.
f:) Answer but using my skilful Goldfinger impression with an extra hint of menace.
Doesn't Carson answer the telephone for you?
I know I should say a) as that's the most sensible since our answerphone doesn't kick in until 40 rings but have to admit that in practice it's usually d) which is incredibly stupid of me. However, I am getting good at putting off cold callers (mealtime or not) but it's satisfying to be able to say, "This is not a good time to call. We're having lunch" before hanging up. If you don't hang up quickly they'll try to book a time when it is convenient, damn them!
We are c here, except I will never answer the phone between 7 - 7.15 (except on Saturdays).
We have no answerphone on our landline but in reality it doesn't matter as we receive very few calls.
Often mobile is in my handbag upstairs so wouldn't hear it in the dining room anyway.
I asked because the phone rang just as the Sage was about to take his first forkful last night. He answered, explained to the friend that we were just eating, and he'd phone back. He tried several times to return the call, but there was no answer - we suspect the tv was turned up loud and he couldn't hear the phone.
We don't have caller id because the Sage would always answer anyway. For me, it would be b, but if I were foolish enough to answer, d. The Sage, usually c. He's unable to leave a ringing phone.
The butler is busy serving our dinner, Chris. When he's done that, he goes to polish the silver.
The phone rarely rings so I'd do c).
Good question.
BT and TalkTalk do free caller ID.
A couple of years ago, I'd have looked at the number and if it was a friend, I would answer and either arrange to ring back or, if a quick thing, deal with it immediately.
Now we ignore all phone calls most of the time after 8pm, wich is around the time we eat/relax. No-one is that important that they take precedence over together time. People we know are now nearly trained to ring earlier :)
The sensible thing to do is a or b, but I admit to doing them all:-]
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