Emailing and Talking On The Phone
By whittear
@whittear (110)
United States
October 15, 2008 5:18pm CST
I was watching a show earlier today and they were talking about rudeness and how there are things that a lot of us do that are rude and we don't even realize it. Now talking on the phone and typing an email at the same time is something that I have done before. Only once or twice, but I have done it, and it is considered rude according to the show I watched. The audience at the show was polled and it showed that most of them had done this as well.
I understand why they say it is rude. I have been on the phone talking to somebody before and I could hear them typing. It seemed like they weren't really paying any attention to what I was saying and I had to keep repeating myself. It made me feel like they didn't care about what I was saying, so I ended the phone call. So I understand it, and that's something I will pay more attention to now and will try to be sure I don't ever do it again.
So I was wondering how common that is. Have you ever typed an email (or responded to a discussion) while talking on the phone with somebody at the same time?
1 response
@Spazor (30)
• United States
15 Oct 08
I was watching that show today as well.
I hate talking to people while they're typing! It really miffs me because it seems like their priorities are all out of whack. If a customer calls up, shouldn't you give your full attention to him or her? It frustrates me that a non-urgent thing, like sending e-mail, would be put before actually talking to a person. It's unprofessional and very rude.
Assuming you watched the rest of the quiz, what do you think about ducking out of a conversation to answer a non-urgent cell phone call? I usually reject incoming calls while I'm speaking with someone, or I quickly pick up the phone and answer "I'll call you back." I don't want to damage my relation with another person because of a call from my girlfriend. That's nuts.
@whittear (110)
• United States
15 Oct 08
Well to me it's not as clearly right or wrong in that situation. I mean, how do you know that it's an urgent call or not unless you answer it? Know what I mean? I think that one can be a little tricky. I try not to answer my phone if it rings and I am talking to somebody, but if it's a call from my husband I will answer it because we don't usually call each other unless it's important. Now it's one thing to answer and tell the person that you will call them back once you know it's not urgent, I think that's ok to do. It's another thing, and absolutely rude, if you answer and just keep talking on the phone and ignoring the person in front of you once you know it's non-urgent.
