Hear my phone ringin, sound like a long distance call.

[constance]

I'm curious about something. Also mildly annoyed, but mostly just curious. When someone calls you and you miss the call and they leave a message -- I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume this has happened to you in the past and may even happen to you again in the future -- do you return the call without listening to your voicemail? (Oops, I guess I'm also assuming, here, that you have some form of caller ID, how first-world of me.) Or do you listen to your voicemail first, even if you know beforehand who's called you? Or does your answer depend on the circumstances?

And: I don't know who invented the key lime milkshake, but that person deserves all good things in life.

Comments

[amelia-eve.livejournal.com]

If I'm already in a back-and-forth exchange already I'll probably just call them back, but if I wasn't expecting the call, I usually listen first.

I have one friend who NEVER leaves a message, and just expects me to call him back when I see his missed call. I have taken to texting back instead, just out of orneriness.

[xanthophyllippa.livejournal.com]

I just wouldn't ever contact him again. Ever. But then, I lose friends faster than I can make them for a reason... :D

[tofty.livejournal.com]

ahahahahahaha!

[tofty.livejournal.com]

The only time I'll ever return a call without listening to voicemail first is if I've just barely missed the call and there isn't actually a message to listen to yet.

I don't blame you for your orneriness. I'm not as peeved by people who don't leave messages as I am by people who don't listen to them, but. Well, actually, now that I think about it, I might not actually return the call! This doesn't happen much to me, but I predict that I would assume that the caller was just calling on a whim and didn't have anything in particular to discuss, and I'd wait to hear from them again.

[somniesperus.livejournal.com]

I listen first. Otherwise, picture this:

ME: Hey, I'm calling you back!

THEM: Oh thank God, so what do you think?

ME: Huh? Think about what?

THEM: What I said in the message. You know, the message I left in your voicemail. The message that explained everything already.

ME: Oh, I saw you left one. I didn't listen to it.

THEM: ...

[tofty.livejournal.com]

I KNOW RIGHT. This is exactly why I compulsively listen to other people's messages, and why I want them to listen to mine. We're like soulmates.

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

I always listen to the message first, only because I have family and friends who leave complicated messages that they expect me to have listened to before I call them back. Then again, though, I don't have caller ID on the home phone, so that probably makes me ineligible to answer this.

Also, apropos of nothing, we have been discussing Azkatraz on aubrem's LJ, and amelia_eve posed the question, "How can we lure tofty to come? Which is an excellent question! Are you in any way lureable? As I mentioned to amelia_eve, the Laurelwood Hotel and Airport Shuttle Service has a suite available- pretty much year-round, but especially on that date (mid-July of next year? Must recheck info site.) There's turn-down service! And cake! And an adoring dog! And a full-service kitchen which might, by that time, no longer be repellent to behold!

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

And key lime milkshakes? Why are these not available around here?

*backs away slowly from the exclamation point key*

[tofty.livejournal.com]

It seems a tragedy that they are not! You know what would be a good idea! A milkshake shop, like those trendy cupcake shops, where you sell nothing but hard-to-find flavors. Imagine the fun coming up with new ones!

[amelia-eve.livejournal.com]

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes. You should come to Azkatraz. Doooo eeeeet!

Also, please bring key lime milkshakes to enlighten us.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

If I can (1) figure out a way to transport them or (2) open a Krystal franchise in the Bay Area, then you got it, kid.

[amelia-eve.livejournal.com]

There are key lime milkshakes at Krystal? Why did I know this when I was in Georgia last April, and desperately trying to pick up the alleged wireless signal at Krystal? At least I got corn dogs.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Krystal's alleged wireless sucks, doesn't it? I myself have tried to hook into a very weak and unstable Krystal signal. Succeeded with only enough effort to convince myself that it wasn't really worth the trip.

I think that the key lime milkshakes are a fairly recent development, so maybe not so surprising that you didn't see them on the menu. But you had the corn dogs! They are my favorite things on their menu, aside, obviously, from the aforementioned dairy-based citrus dessert.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

You are always eligible to answer! I get some complicated messages too, especially from my mother, and I will admit to sometimes cutting the message a little short if I know I've gotten the gist and I know that I'll be talking to her for further details soon. But I do always listen.

Laurel! I have been eyeing the talk of Azcatraz with interest, not because I'm interested in attending any of the events but because I so want to meet my west-coast friends! The thing is that I'll actually maybe be there next summer for a family trip, and I'm thinking that I might slip away for a day or two to visit then. But if those plans fall through... Either way, I am feeling that next summer is a good time to be in the BA.

So, funny you should have brought this up!

[octoberstory.livejournal.com]

I almost always listen to the voicemail first! How annoying for the caller to have to reiterate everything she's just recorded, simply because I can't be bothered to listen to the message first. If I'm in a huge rush (or JUST missed the call) I'll occasionally make an exception, but I try not to.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

I totally agree! :O

[xanthophyllippa.livejournal.com]

If it's someone I think might be asking me to do something fun, and if I want to actually DO something fun with that person, then I will call back without listening. I then explain, "I'm sorry, I didn't listen to your message yet because I wanted to catch you right away."

If it's someone I know I don't want to talk to, I listen to the message but do not call back.

If it's someone towards whom I feel neutral, or if I know it's a checking-in kind of call, or if I think it's an administrative (e.g. non-personal) call, then I'll listen to the message first and call back when I have time.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I will sometimes delay returning a call if it's someone I'm not especially psyched to talk to. But sometimes it unwittingly takes me a while to return calls even to people I adore -- my phone tends to sit in my purse, where sometimes I don't hear it ring or sometimes it doesn't bother to ring at all, I guess on account of signal issues.

[trickpie.livejournal.com]

I absolutely listen first unless I'm in a dire hurry for something.

[trickpie.livejournal.com]

PLUS I WANT A KEY LIME MILKSHAKE D:

[tofty.livejournal.com]

ME TOO. I only had a bit, because it was someone else's milkshake and they gave me a bit in a baby cup to taste, but oh my god, it was good. And that's not even because I'm pretty sure that it was the first milkshake to pass my lips since last October. It was just that good all on its own, completely out of context. Oh my god. Did I say that already?

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Me too!