Can’t resist revisiting this for my usual annoying ideas– what’s so great about the blasted telephone? It hangs on your wall. It sits there. It makes an annoying noise. You run to answer it. You don’t know who it is. You can’t see the person you’re talking to. It’s probably a salesman or a wrong number or an annoying neighbor– but, it’s too late! You picked it up. You said “hello”.
I think we should change the rules. When you pick up the phone, you should just listen. The other person should say, “Hi, it’s Bill– is anybody there?” Then you can decide. You can say, “You again? Go away” or you could say, “Bill? I’m moving this weekend and I have 45 boxes of books and need help– you have to come over.”