An interesting approach to a phobia
I don’t like talking on the phone. Its not my thing, I prefer the text or the email as my forms of communication. To each his own, whatever. While I’ve never thought of my dislike of phone talking as a character flaw (others, including parents, girlfriends and coworkers all have) it is probably a symptom of my larger lack of interest in socializing. As in I don’t really like talking in general so maybe thats why I don’t like talking on the phone specifically.
I say all this as a way of explaining why I found this Ask MeFi question interesting. Here it is, in it’s entirety:
This is obviously a girl-induced question, but generally I dislike the phone no matter who I’m talking to because of good ol’ anxiety/being tired. I’ll never love the phone, but I was thinking about a few options. 1) Would it help to just randomly call stores daily and ask for things? 2) Volunteering as like a call-handler/receptionist somewhere (I applied for the receptionist deal at memorial park conservation). I’m lazy when it comes to volunteering though and I don’t know if #1 is the best option because the other person isn’t really talking as I’d be doing all the talking. What does the great council of mefites recommend? And no talking to people in everyday life more is not an option, I don’t believe in socializing
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Before you ask, no the guy asking isn’t me in disguise. But it pretty much could be. I love the idea of randomly calling stores as a way of getting over his phone problems. There’s genius in that idea. I’m not making fun of him though as his two options get at something my Dad likes to talk about sometimes, doing counter-phobic things. For instance I’m not a fan of heights or small planes, so naturally for my 20th birthday I went sky-diving. I don’t like talking to strangers or making small talk but for two months in college I worked as a canvasser. I actively did the things I didn’t like or scared me as a way to confront those fears.
This is not to say that a counter-phobic approach actually solves things completely. I still don’t like heights and small planes, or talking to strangers for that matter. But my dislike or fear isn’t as strong as it was before I jumped out of a plane or knocked on 50 strangers’ doors in an afternoon. I know I can do these things if I have too. The problem isn’t really one of fear, its one of willpower. Of course my fluctuating willpower is a whole separate problem. I think I’m going to go call a couple random stores now.
Holla at me