I was in the same situation after I dropped my iphone in a glass of milk (don't ask...:S) But I was a bit agitated because it was at a point when I NEEDED to be in contact with various people. If it weren't at a very inconvenient time I know I would have appreciated it more.

It's very easy, check who is calling and decide if you open the phone. I duck calls all the time and return them, or not, at my convenience. Even better sometimes I send a brief email instead of calling.

My favorite excuse, oooops, I left it in my purse and didn't hear it ring.

Second favorite, it was in the pocket of my jeans and it spent a couple days in the laundry hamper.

The phone is for my convenience and not everyone else.

Brooke

i have one only because i'm old and doddery and if i get a flat tyre i cannot loosen the blo..........dy wheel nuts because they are put on by a bl........dy machine.

Apart from that use why would you want one?

The other day the Dragon Woman told me that i had a big unused credit on my phone that would expire if i didn't use it up so i had to ring long distance to use up my credit. ( I phoned a guy at an orchid nursery and had a chat.)

The Dragon Woman was happy, my credit had declined to $A.4.31.

And Brooke ..i am not ashamed to call her the Dragon Woman because she frightens used car salesmen.

Brooke - I do exactly the same time...my friends have learned to live with the fact that I'm one of the only under 25s who doesn't have a phone glued to his/her ear. Too bad I don't have a purse I can conveniently 'leave' my phone in.

Now life without e-mail, on the other hand...I think I would shrivel and die within 4 hours...maybe 5 :)

I have other excuses if you want to borrow a couple more :>)

Brooke

Here are some more:

I went to a movie/show, switched it to silent, forgot to switch it back.

Left it in the charger in some out of the way room in my house and forgot about it.

Left it in my coat pocket and it was put away in the closet.

Put it on my desk, got distracted, left the room to go downstairs for some reason, decided to have a sandwich and watch TV while eating, and my ADD addled brain failed to realize I'd left my phone upstairs where I can't hear it, and got sucked into staying downstairs for some reason or another. (Can you tell that this general scenario actually happens to me all the time?)

I was gardening and had no pockets for things like phones.

In the shower.

At work.

Cooking.

Taking a nap.

See, there are lots of excuses : ) All said though, I'm a text messager. It's A: generally unobtrusive. B: doesn't require an immediate answer C: allows you to do other things at the same time. D: no one feels they have to drop what they're doing to answer. E: is usually no big deal if ignored.

See items A-E, in the post immediately preceding mine. I especially like item E. I have no obligation to answer either my home telephone or my cellular version.

I don't understand "text" messaging. Unless there is an issue with a caller's speech making it difficult or impossible to communicate verbally, use voicemail! Or, is it that the "caller" is too chickens*** to communicate directly?

Voicemail is one helluva lot faster and simpler for all concerned. If I don't answer, voicemail is the only option when calling me on my cell phone . I'm not paying extra money for someone else to play cute word games on my personal account!

--Stitz--

I don't know. To me text messaging is kind of like email. Or perhaps more like chats. It's great when you can't actually be on the phone (for instance, room is too loud) and for quick questions. Voicemail annoys me most of the time, to be honest (especially when you end up playing phone tag, basically), but has its uses as well. What I don't understand are the people who refuse to ever talk on the phone, only using texts. When you want to have an actual conversation, the phone is second best to being there in person. But I know of people that will text you but won't ever answer the phone or call you back, even though you know they're there. Nobody I ever have to deal with, thank goodness. In any case, to each his own as far as phone stuff goes... some people love texts, some people hate em, and we're all still free to choose our preferences, happily.

Stitz, texting is more efficient than voicemail for getting quick messages that don't reall need conversation. Especially as quinn said, when it's not convenient to actually carry on a conversation. It's just leaving a digital post-it. Or if your bored and want innocuous idle chat, texting is something to do. And like email it's great for getting out instant info to large quantities of people while on the go.

I'm a texter too. My phone serves 3 purposes - coordinating when/where I'm meeting someone in the near future, canceling meetings in the near future, or finding people if I can't see them. I will call when I need answers immediately, or if I need to cancel something/apologize about something, but generally texting suffices.

In locations of loud music, texting is a LIFE SAVER!
C - yo where you at
M - by the dj on the left side..come find us
C - omw...just holding V's hair back in the bathroom....

Jokes!

That said, I didn't have voice mail until 2 months ago and it's an absolute delight. I love getting messages. And now, I actually get a little annoyed at people who call and don't leave a message. Voice mail is definitely useful too...but does come at a price, like texting!

I guess I'm either antisocial or autistic, but I could never appreciate 'chatting' on the phone. If someone wants to talk to me casually, then I'll meet them at a coffee shop for 2 hours...I'd rather do that than sit there with a device glued to my ear. (maybe that's why all my long distance relationships are such epic failures...just kidding)

Personally, I see phone conversations as an intermediate between the emotionless-ness of instant messengers and the intimacy of meeting in person. In person, body language is a large component of communication, and in instant messaging, it's generally understood that emotions and expressions do get lost, and so it's 'okay' to occasionally pause in between sentences, or sign off without a lengthy 'okay goodbye! I loved talking to you! Can't wait to chat again! Say hi to so and so for me! ETC....'

But with phone conversations...it's so awkward. I never know when to say bye, or how to end a conversation. The communication cues are all so alien to me. I'm fine ordering pizza, calling in a complaint, or calling a friend to confirm a date or time...but just to chat? I can't do it.

thanks for sharing, calvin.

I used to get annoyed when people didn't bother to leave a message after initiating a call. No longer. Just as it is my privilege to ignore a call, it is the caller's privilege to choose to say nothing on a recording. For whatever reason.

email? Same thing. No obligations for casual contact.

Voice mail is definitely useful too...but does come at a price, like texting!
Voice mail...at a price? You need a different calling plan!

--Stitz--

My daughter washed hers in the washer . I never use mine but have one for the same reason Authurm does ..

I hate my phone I can't even justify the cost of it, except for the fact it lets people contact me in emergencies, other then that I some times wonder if i should just cancel my plan and throw it into the road, hahah,

but then again I've never been a very "tele-social" person so i guess six in one half dozen in the other

I was involved in a motor vehicle accident eight years ago which disabled my vehicle. I was ~ 100 miles from home. Thanks in part to my cell phone, I returned to my house within 4 hours.

THAT is why I have one.

--Stitz--