30. Don’t Answer the Phone Just Because It’s Ringing

I know there are people out there who are constitutionally incapable of letting a ringing telephone go unanswered. I am married to one of them. And I admit it took many years of almost constant telephone use to reach a point where I could harden my heart to a ringing phone. But now that I’m there, there’s no going back.

It’s a minor point in a simplification program, but just because it’s convenient for someone to call you at this particular time does not necessarily mean it’s convenient for you to answer. Just think of all the times a ringing phone has interrupted a sound sleep, a good soak in the tub, a hot meal, an interesting conversation, some important work, mad passionate sex, or simply a quiet evening of welcome solitude.

All I can say is thank goodness for the answering machine. Now it’s at least possible to monitor your phone calls so that you can talk only to those you wish to talk to, when you wish to talk to them. If you don’t have an answering machine, you can turn your phone off so you don’t have to hear it ring when you don’t want to be disturbed.

There’s no question that the telephone is one of the greatest conveniences of the modern world. But it can be one of the greatest nuisances unless we learn to use it for our own convenience rather than someone else’s.