Telephones
I've just had a 'failure to communicate' with a relative. They called me on the landline and launched into a tirade about me 'never using my mobile and what's the point of having one if you don't answer' etc etc. I then asked said relative if they withheld their mobile number? 'Yes' came the reply. I then informed them that I never answer withheld numbers - ever.
Youd've thought I'd just announced I was lightly grilling a baby prior to a marathon chicken-buggering holiday on the moon. they really didn't understand that someone could actually NOT answer a 'phone!

Do you, gentle reader, answer 'withheld number' calls? If so, why? My own logic is, if you don't want me to know your number, I don't want to talk to you.
Discuss
(Captain Placid 24/7 ball gags, brownie mix and clown porn, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:42, 98 replies, latest was 14 years ago)

I might have lunch a bit early today.

( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:47, Reply)

OMG! POST YOUR RECIPE FOR THAT!

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:49, Reply)

Take one midday.

Remove 15 minutes.

Eat.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:50, Reply)

isn't the law that you have to have at least 30 minutes?

( The Light in Chains don't touch the Pope's boner, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:09, Reply)

My (admittedly limited) understanding of EU Worktime Directives
is that you are entitled to a 20 minute break for every six hours worked.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:14, Reply)

Hmmm...
In that case I shall reduce the time I record for my hour long lunch from 30 minutes to 20 from now on. Excellent.
( The Light in Chains don't touch the Pope's boner, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:27, Reply)

erm, why did they not just leave a message?

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:48, Reply)

I asked that very question
"Don't like talking to those things" came the reply.
I give up.
(Captain Placid 24/7 ball gags, brownie mix and clown porn, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:49, Reply)

I answer it but I pretend I'm on fire.

(PsychoChomp, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:49, Reply)

I answer it, but pretend I'm pissing on you because you're on fire.

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:51, Reply)

I answer it, but pretend to be Chompy

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:50, Reply)

I rarely answer withheld numbers
Especially on my work mobile as the number for that is on the interweb and I therefore get a lot of sales calls that I neither want nor would be able to actually buy anything if I did. But it goes to voicemail,
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:50, Reply)

This^
WITHHELD normally means work stuff, at 10:30pm on a Friday, hence it is never answered

Anyone who rings me personally with WITHHELD will soon be removed as a friend. Don't be a cunt, use your number.
( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:50, Reply)

I only withhold it when I make nuisance sex calls to you.
*breathes heavily*
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:52, Reply)

These are the only times I answer
one-handed
( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:16, Reply)

do you have some kind of giant novelty phone that requires two hands?

( The Light in Chains don't touch the Pope's boner, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:29, Reply)

Yes, yes I do

( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:34, Reply)

I'd be more shocked to fine that people do answer withheld numbers.
I don't answer any number I don't recognise. People will have to leave messages, and if they don't, they won't be hearing back from me.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:52, Reply)

I'm the same as your relative, I don't understand why anyone wouldn't answer a call, just because you can't see the number?
I'd guess that you'd have been fine answering house phones before they started displaying numbers on them, so why should it be any different on your mobile?
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:52, Reply)

It's a scary world out there
I answer all calls, but I cover my phone in tin foil first.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:54, Reply)

that doesn't work, man.
You need the foil on your ears to prevent the mind waves getting in.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:04, Reply)

because you had no way of knowing who it was before
if a number is witheld now it's either a business call or a tosser with tinfoil hat issues. I've got no interest on wasting my time on either.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:54, Reply)

It could be either my mum or my wife calling from their respective work phones
And since I'm not a tinfoil hat wearing freak I'm quite happy to answer telephone calls.
( Bazongaloid, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:57, Reply)

But what if it's the minicab office calling up to say they're taking to court because their being blackmailed by some ex-staff who say that you've got their data when you haven't walked in the building in like 3 years?

( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:00, Reply)

I solve this problem by only giving out my mobile number to people I know
so the cab company don't have it.
( Bazongaloid, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:00, Reply)

But I used to work for them, so they have to have had my number.

( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:03, Reply)

You should change your number.

( Bazongaloid, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:04, Reply)

But I've had the same number all my mobile-phone-using life.

( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:05, Reply)

have their number blocked, then.
it's hardly rocket surgery.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:06, Reply)

Or just don't answer it if you don't want to.
Which brings us back to...
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:08, Reply)

TEN POINTS FOR TEAM-'deal with it later' !

( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:10, Reply)

...slowly rocking backwards and forwards, danking?

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:10, Reply)

danking?

( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:14, Reply)

yes sweetie.
Drunken wanking whilst sobbing.

The friday night practice of 47% of male b3tans.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:15, Reply)

I miss danking.

( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:17, Reply)

The other 53% do it every night

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:18, Reply)

you totally made a typo
quite the speedy imagination at covering it up though. the illiterate quentin could learn a LOT from you.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:19, Reply)

I totally didn't.
it used to be used a lot on here.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:26, Reply)

Doe - a deer, a female deer...

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:10, Reply)

They use their personal mobiles and the company has about 30 numbers.

( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:09, Reply)

me too
i would get dreadfully confused if it changed.

and just think of all the hundreds of HAWT guys who would no longer be able to text me.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:08, Reply)

I can see that
but then, what's the point of them texting you? you'll only decide they can't hold a candle to nipple boy.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:15, Reply)

i'm not THAT bad!
i do know he would drive me insane in the long term.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:15, Reply)

Of course you're not.

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:18, Reply)

I don't know many people who call me from their work phones, generally
so I don't. Not answering a phone to someone you have no need to or interest in talking to is hardly the preserve of the tinfoil hatted, Al.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:01, Reply)

Thats exactly what a tinfoil hat wearer would say.
WAKE UP SHEEPLE! IT'S ALL A CONSPIRACY TO GET YOU TO MISS YOUR PHONECALLS!
( Bazongaloid, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:03, Reply)

Fuck, I'd never thought of that.
We're off the map, people.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:04, Reply)

Exactly.
It may, however, be the preserve of the terminally grumpy, but I am happy to be counted among that set.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:03, Reply)

Telephone calls are intrusive though.
They pay no mind to what you are doing att he time and just demand yor attention. I don't answer my phone for any number of reasons, and withheld numbers is just one of them.

I won't answer on public transport, if I'm eating, pretty much if I am in the middle of anything that I don't want to interupt, even if it's just reading the paper.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:58, Reply)

This,
I often put my office line and mobile on voicemail if I am in the middle of something. Phones are very much like a small child shouting in the corner of a room demanding attention, to this end they should be beaten and silent at times.
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:59, Reply)

You usually answer if you're in the middle of a wank, though.

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:03, Reply)

I usually arrange for someone to call when I know I am going to be.

( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:04, Reply)

Because I have a nervous disposition and find it quite an ordeal to talk to cirtain people when I am in cirtain situations.

( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:58, Reply)

I'm actually the same as you, and I don't believe in withheld numbers.
The whole point of them was to stop advertisment companies and for children to prank phonecalls. Now we have the TPS service in full-swing, the system is redundent.

I honestly believe that I have a right to know who's calling me before I awnser the phone. The only possible exception is companies and call centres, where the outputted phone number should be the main callcentre rather than the personal line.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:56, Reply)

most of my clients and nearly all other law firms are on withheld numbers
it's really annoying as i would like to screen sometimes. i can leave them for my secretary, but she's busy enough.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 11:58, Reply)

‘A ringing telephone is merely an invitation to answer – not a command’ as my mother always says.
Unless if course it is her trying to get hold of me….
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:01, Reply)

ah, my father's favourite tenet
do as i say, not as i do
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:09, Reply)

he sleeps with gay men?

( The Light in Chains don't touch the Pope's boner, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:13, Reply)

anything's possible

( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:14, Reply)

i think that's any parent's favourite.
It would certainly be mine, if I was ever crazy enough to spawn.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:21, Reply)

I wouldn't try it on my son
He is far cleverer than me and would easily tear holes in any argument I might try and make.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:26, Reply)

Oh lordy, I am _so_ using that.

( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:10, Reply)

I tend to answer anything.
But I don't think I've ever been called form a withheld number. I support your stance, your relative is a dick.
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:02, Reply)

No I don't
If I don't know the number, I probably don't want to take the call. It's inevitably some cunt trying to sell me something. If they want me to call them, they'll leave a message. If they don't leave a message, it wasn't important enough to bother me with in the first place. Your relative is a knob.
(berk, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:06, Reply)

Generally not.
However, at the moment yes, because it could be a prospective employer / agency calling so I'd rather not take the risk. If it's not, then a polite but firm "fuck off" generally does the trick.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:11, Reply)

If you have a spyglass on your front door, and someone rings the doorbell
you can see who it is and decide to open the door or not.
If you can't see who's there, would you still open the door, or are you one of those weird johnnies who says "Who's there? I've got a dog, you know!" before you let anybody in?

Or is that just a silly analogy?
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:11, Reply)

Seems fairly reasonable to me.

( Bazongaloid, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:13, Reply)

Has the drilling stopped yet?

( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:14, Reply)

No. It will never stop. It will haunt me forever.
I'm not even sure it's drilling anymore, I reckon they are digging a basement through the floor of the building.
( Bazongaloid, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:17, Reply)

They might be tunnelling up to your hob nob stash

( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:19, Reply)

It's a better analogy to say
that you don't answer the door if the person is wearing a mask.
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:14, Reply)

But it could be Zorro!

( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:14, Reply)

Yeah, and I'm not having him waltzing in and fucking up my curtains with his flashy Zeds.

( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:15, Reply)

Does Zorro wipe his cock on curtains too, then?

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:17, Reply)

Only if he can find a clean bit.

( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:17, Reply)

i am a bit worried about the "too" here

( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:18, Reply)

why, are your curtains dry-clean only?

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:19, Reply)

No, she has antimacassars

( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:20, Reply)

aren't those
the old lady lace things that go over the back of chairs for some reason i never quite understood?
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:21, Reply)

They are indeed.
Their purpose was to stop naughty men getting hair oil all over your nice clean sofa.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:22, Reply)

hair oil or spunk?

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:28, Reply)

You say tomato....

( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:45, Reply)

.. I say "you should probably get that checked out if it's coming out red"

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:52, Reply)

To prevent macassar from staining your furniture.

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:23, Reply)

are we old, or just clever?

( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:23, Reply)

A little from column A...
a little from column B
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:25, Reply)

aren't all curtains?
who would risk putting them in the wash? what if they shrank?
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:20, Reply)

Cleaning curtains?
Must be a woman thing...
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:21, Reply)

you'd have shorter curtains?

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:26, Reply)

Not really a problem
I'm quite tall and could still wipe my cock on them.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:27, Reply)

yeah, me too.

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:28, Reply)

I thought it felt a little crusty

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:36, Reply)

I get so many junk calls that I have started screening.
If I don't have the number on my phone, I don't answer. If they don't leave a voicemail, they don't get called back.
( Kroney, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:23, Reply)

Well of course they don't - you don't have their number.

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:24, Reply)

I mean any number I don't have in my phone book.
Withheld or not. It means they're somebody I don't know, if they have a good reason for calling, then they'll leave a voicemail.
( Kroney, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:30, Reply)

Imagine if Uhura did that!
JUST IMAGINE!
(PsychoChomp, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:49, Reply)

You've just asked a Trekkie to imagine a GIRL
there'll be jizz everywhere!
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:51, Reply)

the whole room will look like a plasterer's radio.

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 6 Feb 2012, 12:52, Reply)