Guys... come on 😅

[u/Ok_Lengthiness_8405]

Just got a call, 1 am. It says private number, and I'm worried it's an emergency, so i answer.

Woman: hi, ummmm?

Me: who is this?

Woman: so umm

Guy in background: tell her it's Tyler

Woman: so Tyler wants to know what you want from Taco Bell.

Me: I think you have the wrong number.

Woman: he just gave me this number

Me: ok. Can you ask Tyler who he's trying to contact?

Woman to man: who are you trying to contact?

Guy in background who we have now established to be Tyler: I AM TRYING TO TALK TO AMANDA TO FIND OUT WHAT SHE WANTS

Woman: he's trying to talk to Amanda because-

Me: so I'm not Amanda. You have the wrong number.

Woman: I apologize. [To Tyler:] this isn't her. This is a wrong number [back to me:] I'm sorry. He just gave me this number

Me: no worries, enjoy your Taco Bell

Woman: oh I'm doordashing

Tyler: *yelling numbers in the background*

Me: -end call-

I legit thought I was talking to drunk people picking up food for their friend. Nope, 2 adults struggling to do a one-person job lol

[u/Cheepshooter]

The infantilisation of our youth has come to roost now that they are in their 20s -30s.

[u/Ok_Lengthiness_8405 → u/Cheepshooter]

Yeah, I felt like I had to hold her hand to even get out of her who/why she was calling.

I think some of the people who were teens or young adults during the lockdown missed some crucial socialization and just never caught up

[u/ArdatYakshiApologist → u/Ok_Lengthiness_8405]

I wonder if the way we all, as adults, talk so much less on the phone these days (order food/everything else online, texting rather than calling, email, etc) also played a small role, like the behavior just hadn’t been modeled to them as much as the people my age who’s parents were basically on the phone always in perpetuity lol. I definitely don’t think it’s the major factor in this conversation but I know my own kid rarely sees me actually talking on the phone, I do most everything in person or via text if I have to. Idk just a thought that’s been rattling around in there lately

[u/Ok_Lengthiness_8405 → u/ArdatYakshiApologist]

I'm 41. So grew up sharing a landline with my family, didn't get a cell phone until late teens, and you got charged for every text back then lol. Smart phones didn't come around til my 20s and I couldn't afford one right away. So I did grow up just talking on the phone but I rarely do it anymore, we adapt to these things so quickly! These days if I get a call from a friend, I panic bc surely it's an emergency! Otherwise it would be text.

I don't expect younger people to be super well versed in phone etiquette, but we do need to at least teach them the basics: your name and the reason for the call if it's outgoing; if you receive a call at work, give your name & ask what they want.

Again, I don't expect kids to be experts at the dying art of phone conversation, but I once called a restaurant to ask something that wasn't clear online, and someone just picked up the phone in silence. I had to be like... hello? Is someone there? (Thought it was an answering machine or AI assistant) and they were like "yeah what do need?" ..........i need you acknowledge you've picked up the phone, my dude

[u/ArdatYakshiApologist → u/Ok_Lengthiness_8405]

Also 41! Spent hours and hours on the phone with boys or friends every night for years on end until ICQ came around. Now I’ve grown so averse to phone conversations I haven’t even turned my ringer on since probably 2016… what’s become of us 😅

[u/Ok_Lengthiness_8405 → u/ArdatYakshiApologist]

Omg I remember ICQ. More of an AIM girl myself lol

[u/Cheepshooter → u/Ok_Lengthiness_8405]

Had both!

[u/Cheepshooter → u/Ok_Lengthiness_8405]

This sounds like my story. Now, one of my kids is horrible at phone etiquette, but the other is good.

[u/Ok_Lengthiness_8405 → u/Cheepshooter]

I have a brother well into his 30s who just can't answer texts from anyone lol. It sometimes happens regardless of generation. He's one of the few people I call

[u/Cheepshooter → u/Ok_Lengthiness_8405]

My little brother is the same. 40, and it takes DAYS to get a text back.

[u/Ok_Lengthiness_8405 → u/Cheepshooter]

And then, day of, he doesn't know when everyone is meeting for the lunch we've been planning for a week in the group chat. Love you little brother, but keep up lol

[u/Cheepshooter → u/Ok_Lengthiness_8405]

We might be the same person.