Get connected

I've gotten alot of e-mails today, which has been nice for a Monday, especially a cold, dreary one. Someone also called, a client, and I took a few rings to answer it because I always forget where I put the phone. For the upteemth time, I was asked by the caller whether he/she had awoken me. This was after lunch, mind you. I don't know whether it's because I don't answer the phone on the first ring or because I probably sounded sleepy, but I'm guessing it's the latter. I hate talking on the phone, and I know it shows. Whenever I answer, it's with a strange combination of sleepiness, ennui, and suspision. No one I want to talk to ever calls me, with the exception of K, and I am terrible at talking on the phone. There's no visual cues from the other person, and I'm not as polished a speaker as I am writer. Everything about the phone fills me with dread, from making an appointment to calling a family member to wish them a happy birthday. I'm not a superfluous cell phone talker, either. Unless I've broken down on the road or am going to be late, I see no reason to call someone while I'm in the car, store, at someone's house, at a restaurant, in the middle of a movie, well, you get the picture.

I've read you should place the receiver on your left ear and not your right because then you can pick up emotional cues from the caller, so maybe I'll try that in the future. I should also condition myself to pretend it's Publisher's Sweepstakes Clearing House every time the phone rings. But then I'd just get filled with dread about what to do with all that money.