sashinka | observation orientated, with a twist of lime | a blog

Y'know, I'm never really comfortable with call waiting.

I don't have it any more on my home phone, because I was constantly not-really-having attention on the person I was talking to because someone else was calling, or playing phone call arbitrage in trying to keep everyone happy.

Now, I have one voicemail if I'm on the phone, and my answerphone if I'm not home. I know, I don't get that many calls, it's not really worth it.

But when I call someone who's got call waiting, I don't feel good. I feel like I'm interrupting them - they're talking to someone else, and invariably they'll pick up, say a hurried hi and juggle calls for a minute and then either ditch you and call you back, or ditch the other person.

Either way, it's not a good scenario.

So usually, when I get call waiting, I spend a couple of seconds wondering if they'll pick up, and then give up, and then they call back and say "I got your call waiting, but you'd gone".

The whole thing is not exactly what you'd call quality communication, and as I get older, I'm more thoughtful and careful about how and when I talk to people.

Seems to me, the only people who win out of this situation are the phone companies: two calls at one time, you can't make more money than that.

I think they should invent a new thing: a special tone that when you call, and someone's on the phone, you hear it, and you know they're busy, and you hang up, and if it's really important, call them again.

I know, they could call it the engaged tone.