Peeves, apparently

[boots-aregard]

So, my father and my sister have asked me to change my cell phone message. I remember very well the day I recorded the new message: I'd just got a new phone, I was in the City, pushing the baby up one of the legendary hills in the stroller after visiting the store. My new phone rang, and I had to park/lock the stroller wheels, figure out which bag (diaper bag, handbag, grocery bag) contained the phone, dig it out and then try to figure out how to answer it. Ack! Ack! Password screen. Had I set a password? Of course the call went to voicemail before I could answer it. So, since the baby was asleep, I stood there for a while to figure out how to set a password, and recorded a new message greeting for voice messages.

It said, "Hi, sorry, new phone. I'm probably standing with it in my hand and can't figure out how to answer your call. Please leave your message." That's it. One line. Hardly rambling.

But my dad explained to me (seriously!) how after several months of this, it's actually cheerfully 'cutsie' enough to discourage him from calling. "I understand you are probably to busy to answer, but I don't want to listen to _that_ just to leave a message." (His messages generally consist of "Hi, this is Dad. Call me back." He doesn't understand that my phone tracks incoming calls and I call him back from the tracking not from his message.)

So I changed the message. But...really? People are strange.

Any other stories of apparent peeves?

[AnnCohrs]

My parent's neutral phone message was recorded by the phone installer. People who know them casually hang up because it's not a voice they recognize.

[Astral]

Not a peeve, but a confusing voicemail message...

The message on my parent's answering machine was recorded by my brother when he was about 8 years old.

He's now 29.


(I have no idea how that thing even still works)

[Tarlo Farm]

It doesn't sound like yours was a long message, but I too will not call some people who leave long, cutsey (sometimes singing) messages. That's what texting is for.

[Cookie]

In the whole scheme of life, this is minor... but...

My brother. He calls and says, "Hi it's me, give me a call when you have a minute, I want to talk to you about blah blah blah blah blah........................................................blah blah blah.................................................... blah blah blah..." on and on and on, until the message cuts off.

So I've learned not to listen to the entire message and I just call him back and then he says, "did you get my message?"



I have clients do this from time to time, too.

[Racetrackreject]

Gosh, I couldn't even tell you what most people's message says, including my own. I just hang up when it goes to voicemail and I never listen to my own voicemail, not that I ever have any because everyone knows to just text or I will call them back.

[TeresaB]

Don't think your message was that horrible that I wouldn't call, but whatever.

I don't even listen to messages, I just press 1 as soon as the rings stop and it goes instantly to VM.

[Valerie]

Ok, am I the only weirdo who thought that this was about Harry Potter?

[Tarlo Farm]

Yes.

[Abby Kogler]

A you are cracking me up tonight >;->

I have a dear friend, a girl I really love and have known for years, who has started leaving long PSAs as her voicemail. About how much water it takes to make a gallon of milk...or how much grain it takes to feedlot a lb of beef; always something like that...I call her often and by the time I have heard those messages a few times (and they all start with 'Did *you* know..." I am sorry I called. Does she really think that we, her friends, are just waiting for her wise lecturing tidbits? and that we will suddenly say 'wow! I will now be a vegetarian!' or "To hell with the milk!' or whatever. She is totally normal in every way, but this just gets very annoying.

So, even though your message was pretty innocuous, I can see that hearing it over and over would get old >;->