Convopage
See the entire conversation
Dear Everyone Under 35: I know it is not how you like to communicate, but "What's wrong?" Is not how you answer the phone.
362 replies and sub-replies as of Nov 27 2017
Bravo to everyone who responded to this with on-brand humorless indignation.
I'm letting this go because I only ever thought it was funny and some of you are SO MAD now! Love you all. (Well, most.)
Had I seen this yesterday, I would've responded: "what's wrong with answering like that?" :)
Did they schedule this time to be angry?
I am both filled w a sense of anxiety, dread and irritation at unscheduled calls AND find your tweet hilarious (the latter likely Bc of the former?)
Everyone knows you answer “talk to me”.
So silly!
I think the problem is that it wasn't funny.
I find it really second hand embarrassing when people endlessly editorialize on peoples reactions to things as frivolous as tweets.
These tweet is incredibly ironic!!
Scheduling the call?? Hilarious.
Like calls to like.
Dear Mark: If you were looking for humored responses, you should have told a better joke, preferably one that was actually funny and not whiny or annoying.
With love,
Someone under 35 who answers the phone with “hello.”
Actually most of the responses I got were good-humored and very funny, not self-indulgently smug or personally insulting. So I feel good!
Personally insulting? How was that personally insulting? I mean your *joke* was whiny and annoying, but I don’t know you. For all I know, you could be great.
You're the one being a shithead here, not them.
But why else would you be making a phone call?
Exactly- I had, like, a 6 month period a few years ago where it seemed like every family phone call involved a serious illness or crisis or death. (Hard to dial back the adrenaline now.)
Stop calling people, it’s rude.
What’s wrong?
Hahahahahahaa...at least they picked up!
I prefer to just send a carrier pigeon with a note asking, “What’s wrong?"
My mom does this and she's 63
Also Dear Neurotic Jewish Mother (said lovingly)
But it's probably the most appropriate question to start any conversation with in 2017.
No, it’s not. Usually, it’s “who died?”
"AHOY-HOY!" is.
If ahoy-ahoy was good enough for Alexander Graham Bell, it’s good enough for me. (And I use it.)
as a guy consciously attempting to keep all tweets sub-140 i admire that committment to the original intended use of a platform
I haven’t updated my Twitter app. Still on 140. It’s a delight.😎
"ahoy" (spelled ahoj) is actually how to say hi in Czech.
How about “nuQ neH, ghuycha?”
Don't forget Montgomery Burns!
It is if you are a Jewish Mother/Grandmother 😁 lol (It was how my Nana answered the phone after 9pm!)
Soon you will say that the door bell is for ringing on and not disable it the first thing you do when you move in.
Here we go with another Back in my Day Twitter Rant Towards Millennials.😒
And we LIKED IT!
WE LOVED IT!!!!!!!
Is that specifically an Under 35 greeting or a general 2017 greeting?
What are you doing calling my mom? (Also, she’s so excited you think she’s 35.)
I prefer to communicate via subtweet.
This is awesome; most of the time I respond to people who actually call me in a worried state that there must be some emergency #whynottext #whynottextorlineorwechatorwhatsapp
Cause who under 35 calls someone? Texting is best practice. If anyone calls me it’s to say someone has died.
Funny! My mother used to say "what is it?"
High volume - the world was always crashing
...but if you've got Caller ID, and your getting a call from a Debbie Downer type; seems fitting to me!
No, you must answer by repeating your number.
Hello 077……..
That’s how I’ve always answered the phone, it’s how my mother before me answered the phone. It’s a symptom of WCSD. (Worst-case scenario disorder.)
and the first thing you say when someone picks up the phone is, "don't worry, nothing's wrong." none of this "hello" nonsense.
I do appreciate a “don’t worry” when the call comes from my kids’ school.
If the call is after 11pm, it changes to “who’s dead?”
I gave up answering the phone altogether a while ago--too much anxiety.
We went straight to, “Who died?!”
The joys of being Irish 🇮🇪or descended from Irish stock
Aka: Catholics.
We only did that for middle of the night phone calls.
Isn't that just the mellower variant of "What fresh hell is this? "
After my nephew was killed, I hate the phone to ring late at night. Figure something bad has happened.
Finally a name for my condition!!! Eerily I was from Irish stock and 😬 raised Catholic. If I get a call after midnight I will just promptly die (while having social anxiety about what to say at the Pearly Gates...)
It is when its my grandpa calling! 🙂
I'm 40. If someone calls me, besides my mom, something is wrong.
Slightly younger but if my mom's calling (or texting me to call her), something's wrong.
Mom can't handle technology. She signs Facebook messenger messages like they're emails. It's adorable, really.
should've just texted tbh
Perhaps appropriate as long as Trump is POTUS? 😏
Interesting though. Shows good and regular news is texted, etc. But BAD NEWS is what a call is....like when we Over 35's get a very late, very early morning one.
I had to explain the no late/early calls to an acquaintance. Those hours are reserved for horrible death calls or hospitalizations.
I had to explain it to my mother in law who should REALLY know better
See, I’m more like:
[Warmly:] Hiiiii!
[And then:] What do you need?
I'm 49 & if someone calls me on the phone I automatically assume something is wrong.
hard to beat "Who's dead?" from Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck.
to be fair that was in person
Then y r u calling MARK?
My mum doesn't like "ahoy you slag" so "what's wrong" is the default.
Voice instead of text signifies emergency. Related: “What’s wrong?” was an accepted response to long-distance calls in the days when they were expensive, hence rare.
It is when the people who called you have conditioned you to say it because they only call when something's jacked up. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything
Also, don't act like people in your generation didn't do the exact same kind of shit. Probably did it worse cause y'all didn't have the kind of accountability we do now.
I still have a hard time not assuming calls after 10PM are something wrong, because that's the kind of household where I grew up!
Calls after 10 pm are definitely something wrong. Either someone's in the hospital, or someone's about to be because they *know* not to scare me like that if its not important.
Why are you ringing though???
Never ring unless someone is dead.
Send a gif!
thanks elder. I personally prefer "Hello? Whatdayawant?"
But only with close family members
I still answer my phone by reading out my phone number...
I usually just whip open the flip phone and yell "TALK TO ME"
Bit that's the only time my fam calls me anymore! -32 and not visited since college move-in (including graduation)
Meaning I think it's bc boomers only contact their children when someone dies. Am I right @jonlovett ??
Back in the old days we had this real quaint habit of saying 'Hello' when we answered the phone. Ah nostalgia I miss you...
I’m 47 and I react the same way to my phone ringing.
Well you also didn't grow up with 9/11 being your first memory bro.
This made me inordinately sad. 😞
Ok other people before you have had to deal with terrible events, too, tho. I’ve never heard anyone say, “I don’t answer the phone bc, yknow, Pearl Harbor.”
Plus- if anything, isn’t 9/11 MORE reason to answer? What if no one picked up the phone when people called from the planes?
I don’t say it, but when the phone rings and I know it’s not delivery I think “fuck, who died?”
I reject your reality and substitute my own
It is when your arenas call late at night.
“Are you on fire?” Is my go-to, and I’m pushing 50.
How else should we interpret someone using such a barbaric form of communication other than an emergency that probably involves severed limbs or panicked vomiting?
Why else would someone call and not text?!
Sometimes, I answer and say hello. Other times, I say oh fuck and decline the call.
Oh god, that’s me.
Me too, Matt. Me too.
Fine, "is everything okay?" it is. Gotta stand my ground on this one.
Just say "Hello," secure in the knowledge that everything is NEVER okay.
I know full well everything is okay! I'm trying to teach by example that phone calls are for conversations too serious for texting! I don't want to press a glass rectangle against my cheek-skin for twenty minutes!
But...you can...you can just...talk to a friend because...it's nice to...oh never mind.
Phone calls are also appropriate for confirming plans to Skype.
Skype is horrible. Everyone looks dead-eyed, like they've been tased.
Please, Mark, that's just my face.
LOL, what is this from?!
Infinite Jest. He wrote a whole long prescient chapter on the subject.
That’s awesome
People under 35 (myself not included, thank Christ) don’t talk on the phone. They text, Snapchat, and if necessary FaceTime.
There's a great bit about this in Infinite Jest.
Oh hey, turns out that bit IS this bit.
Which if Mark just wants to read it and not the other zillion pages is here: declineofscarcity.com/?page_id=2527
Thanks!
This is still exactly how I feel about FaceTime. Who wants this.
His argument was so persuasive 20 years ago that I’ve just avoided all video chat.
We'll see what tune you're all singing once you've got to maintain a sex life in a long distance relationship.
I chose to spare you my exception.
I am never doing that ever again. Not worth it.
(Although he failed to guess that texting would largely supplant phone conversations, which seems surprising with the benefit of hindsight.)
I am waiting impatiently for the Transmittable Tableau to become real
No, they probably just feel that way talking to you.
I don't know you. Why are you being an utter asshole?
Honestly? Your dismissive attitude towards the responses, writing them off as "on-brand humorless indignation" instead of realizing that maybe it's a cultural difference between generations stemming from the fact under 35s never got (and will never have) stability in their lives.
We have little, if any free time. A phone call is someone inserting themselves into what bit of personal time we get so it's not unreasonable to prefer texts.
I apologize if we seem grouchy: We work multiple jobs for a living.
I tweeted about how you answer the phone. It's not the occasion for a lecture about the woes of the mobile economy (you're not the first people to "spend all your time at work," BTW), moaning about generational anomie, or huffy "Adapt or die" posturing. Just fucking say hello.
The flip side of that coin: Just fucking text us.
I realize we aren't the only ones to "spend all of our time at work" but Baby Boomers and Gen X had a choice about how to spend their time. We do not.
It isn't "adapt or die" posturing, merely pointing out it's common courtesy to text now-a-days because time is at a premium.
The tweet didn't say "Pick up when I call." I text, as everyone does. It said, "IF you pick up, don't lead with irritation." Suppress it! Nobody's mood needs to be expressed at every second! Also, genuinely curious what choice you imagine previous generations had about work.
If we don't pick up we are accused of being rude, or flakey. As previously established, we see phone calls as being a tool for urgency. Texts are for chatting. As to "previous generations," Boomers and X had a lower cost of living much of their adult lives and so worked less.
Speaking of previous generations, I'd like to point out we are merely reviving the art of letter writing in a more interactive format. As with letters in the past, we like to revisit those conversations since they are enjoyable. You can't do that with a phone call.
The world expects us to be available 24/7 now and cell phones are an extension of that. A text conversation can be answered when it's convenient to us because a convenient time for one is not a convenient time for another.
Again, my tweet wasn't about the virtues of calling versus texting. Okay, gotta run. Appreciate the chat.
And yet, in a way, that is exactly what that tweet was about. I hope you have a good day. Sorry for being rude but sometimes that's what it takes to get a point across.
Far more rarely than you would imagine. Which, in a way, was exactly what that tweet was REALLY about. You have a good day too.
They both have their uses, no doubt. But human conversation for its own sake is as lost an art as letter writing. Just flatly disagree with you about work/time though. In 2017, we take for granted of wealth time-saving conveniences that previous gens did not have. It evens out.
The only thing time saving devices have done is increase productivity. We see no benefit or profit from them, instead being forced to work even harder. What do we have to show for it? Certainly not a savings account. A vast majority of us are one missed paycheck from homeless.
You get annoyed when I bring up economic situations but you need to understand we constantly think about it because we're trapped in precarious situations. We don't have side hustles for fun; They pay our bills.
Which brings us back to texts. They're more convenient for us.
Nooooo. Ur doin it wrong. Confirm calls via text/WA. 😬 calls imply urgency... or like, Sallie Mae stalking u. Or scams.
The pharmacy, car service Dept...everyone texts. No calling unless urgent or preset! Eek. *shudder*
you've described here two functions of WhatsApp
No. You can't. Your generation did that specifically because there was no more convenient way to communicate information. Now that there is, get used to the new way.
damn man, it's just phone calls
You just told me I "can't" talk to a friend on the phone because technology has solved that.
Maybe take a breather from Twitter.
That's what gaming with discord on is for! 😄
There are plenty of 18/19 year olds who talk on the phone just to gossip. I've sat opposite them on the train...
I've no objection to this, but I generally ask first :)
Then they can text and ask when it's a good time to monopolize half an hour of our time. You know, acknowledge that our lives are important too and we don't just exist to drop everything and focus on them no matter what else is going on.
P obvious the person who answered is done with you as a friend and sees you as baggage or a burden. LOL
No. No, it's not.
hell yeah that's just how I like it
I'm embarrassed to say I accidently hang up every time I put my phone to my ear. I'm just good with speaker on and not touching the actual device.
‘Hello’ has a bad word in it. May I suggest opening with the question, “Are you ready to talk?”
If people are intrusive and disrespectful of our time, we can refuse to answer, set a boundary, or continue to pretend that our needs and preferences don't matter. I know entitled folks want us to keep on letting them be disrespectful and intrusive, but why should we?
I'm firmly "Sorry, you've got the wrong number"
Flabbergasted to discover people answer their phones
If you don't set up the call via WhatsApp/IM/text, I assume something urgent/ terrible happened.
When my lil bro calls, I immediately panic and think someone in our fam is dead and IT'S NOT OKAY.
I had to read some responses before I figured out that this is because young people don't talk on the phone, they text. (I don't know many people under 35.)
Sounds like how someone responds in a movie or TV show where people answer the phone—and hang up—in ways in which they never would in “real life.”
If someone calls its usually my resident and something „IS“ wrong. 🧐
Sure it is. Pattern recognition is a thing.
Signed, a 35-year-old.
This tweet and it’s replies are ILLUMINATING.
It is HEATED in this thread! Me being an ignorant old man and 9/11 have both been raised.
I had no idea that people answered the phone in any other way, nor did I realize it was so important to defend not saying “hello.” (I am under 35 fwiw!)
This is clearly one of those subjects, like the phrase "no problem" or whether mayonnaise is good, that is an unexpected flashpoint.
What’s wrong with the phrase “no problem”?
I'm well over 35; it depends on what time of day it is and who is calling. "What's wrong??" is appropriate between midnight and 7 a.m. from anybody. Family you talk to once every other year, always!
This thread.
Generations of Jewish mothers are disapprovingly shaking their heads at you.
Only half of them. The others answer the phone with "It's about time you called."
I thought this was true for all mothers!
oh.
what's your problem?
is that right?
jk, im not <35
I once got "GO." and immediately hung up out of panic.
How about: “Calcutta. Black Hole speaking.”
"GO" is supremely douchey. Please don't tag my entire generation with that one 😜. I'll own the other stuff, I often answer the phone "Hey, what's wrong?". Not sure if that's better.
are you sure you didn't accidentally call a drug dealer?
Right? It makes a pleasant interruption from reading someone's long essay about how hard relationships are in the digital age.
If you're 34, heads up, YOU'RE a millennial.
Did you know... ‘hello’ was a standardised greeting that only entered the English lexicon with the advent of the telephone!? ‘Ahoy’, was floated as a possible choice but I guess it didn’t *take*.
I hate to break it to you. But if you're 34, you're a millennial.
My point is that everyone is bashing on them, and it doesn't do a bit of good. It happens with every generation /literally every generation/ and it only makes people upset. The least that could be done is not treat them like some category of "other" especially if you are one
I only ever say 'Hello' and I'm 23...
I actually do this when my kids call *me*! 🤣
I answer the correct way:
"Casanova of the ghetto speaking."
#goodtimes
#jjforever
The Red Pony and Continual Soiree never fails to get a smile out of me....
But do you tell them it’s a beautiful day?
It is when it's your mother's nursing home calling.....
It absolutely is.
It should always be "what fresh Hell is this?"
I mean, unless you just ordered delivery and it hasn't arrived yet, you answer voice calls by letting it go to voicemail and then texting them back asking whats up.
So what was wrong?
Wait! You got someone under 35 to answer the phone??
Please tell me how you made that happen. Signed, a GenX-er with two Millennial offspring
I'm a GenX-er and there are literally 4 people in the world I will answer the phone for.
Phone calls are over as the main mode of communication, deal with it.
LOL! Eh, I’m 56, and I developed my aversion to the phone while I was caregiving for my mom w dementia. My friends know to text me now. (But I think your tweet is hilarious. I resemble those remarks!)
Lol, I know the feeling. I set a special, jarring tone for Mom's Land Line so I could ignore it if I needed.
Depends on the time, anytime after midnight local that is a completely reasonable way to answer, but before then, I'm with you, no it's not.
27 and my preferred method of answering is "uhhhhhhyellow"
Yawn. Another pointless slam on millennials from someone from the perfect generation. Here's an idea: Maybe don't call them if they're so wrong at life. -from Someone NOT under 35
Nobody EVER phones unless shit is fucked up. "Phone"= "the world has ended, all is pain".
Anything less than that is rude as fuck.
Using a phone now is like being seen outside without a hat in the 20s. Something just *has* to be wrong, why else would you be so flustered?
Speaking as someone over 50, answering this way saves a lot of time.
If it’s my mom or siblings I just say “What?” 😂
Same, especially because they're prolly waking me up!
Then just text me
Whazaaaa?
7am: I was getting my 6yo ready for school when my mother called. I: “This better be good.” She: “Your father died during the night.” One learns.
lol, if you don’t text to set up a call first I’m gonna assume there’s a tragedy.
My mother answered the phone this exact way when I called her on Tuesday night.
She said that “I never call her”, so when I did, she assumed something was wrong. And I called my parents house line, and not her cell, so I technically didn’t call “her”. ☹️☹️☹️
#JewishMothers
People answer their phones?
Only when we are given no other choice! D:
That's how my mom has answered the phone for years...shes 65.
Lol at "under 35" because this is what my mom does every time I cal her
My experience with under 35 is that routine communication is text and urgent is phone; hence "what's wrong."
"Why are you calling? Like seriously"
Just send me a selfie if you are bleeding to death.
So true 😭
Hahahaha...
How about the old, old standby, "It's your dime."
Most of my calls are people trying to tell me my computer is broken so yeah a phone call = something bad happened. And I'm >50.
When I get a call after midnight, it is the only way I answer the phone
After midnight it's "okay I'm logging in right now I'll be in the NOC channel in just a second."
Why are your needs more important than mine? Why do I have to drop what I’m doing to talk to you? I don’t have time for a phone call; if you want me to be polite, send a text!
Btw “What’s wrong?” Is short for what the hell is wrong with you?
and there’s a special place in hell for people who leave a voice mail message saying simply “Call me.” Don’t do that, Mark.
People make fun of me for answering the phone ‘hello’ they think it’s strange. I’m just trying to be polite. If they walked in the room, I’d say the same thing. What’s the difference. My younger than me millennial friends call me to chat on phone. I think they are lonely.
I’m 40 and I answer this way
What's wrong grampa spill cream of wheat on your sweater vest now you're grandson stopped answering the phone CUS ITS 20 FUCKING 17 STOP CALLING PEOPLE IT'S SCARY
toughen up
Actual footage of me when the phone rings
The next time your phone rings, it will be me. I'm inside the house.
Bring weed. that's the only guy I want calling me.
I find that’s only the case with baby boomers. My friends and I typically say something like, “better be good, dickweed”.
I don't know, these days it seems like a wildly appropriate greeting to literally anybody in any format, including in person, on the street.
Well...if it's 3am and the phone rings, it doesn't matter how old you are. Someone has died.
Well these days if it's someone older than 35, I assume they're calling to complain about yet another arbitrary thing that millennials are "killing". So why bother with niceties.
Just had this conversation with a 25 year old today. Well, I talked to her while she texted to others.
Sounds like you were bothering her, but couldn't take the hint that she didn't want to talk to you.
Yes it is
Depends on who's calling. I have a couple people named "<name> wants something" because that's the only reason they call. I'd say I'm good answering with "what do you want?" or "what's wrong?"
I call my parents once a week and without fail if it’s my 58 year old mother that picks up the phone, this is how she answers every time. She KNOWS I’m calling just to chat and check up on them! It’s not just the kids, Mark!
conversely, my mom’s “everything is fine, but...” is not reassuring.
Everyone knows that conversational phone calls are arranged by text beforehand! Get with the programme old man.
Send a text before calling and after sending an email.
This is definitely how I will be answering the phone from now on.
I never had a problem with saying "hello", but I used to not be able to end a call. I would just randomly hang up in the middle of a conversation.
Dear everyone over 35, other people are real, have lives that are different than yours, and are worthy of respect. Not everyone enjoys being capriciously summoned to an open-ended time commitment for unknown reason and purposes with no regard for what else might be going on.
What is so horrible about actually speaking with someone?
I answer the phone sayin 'hello, you've reached good looking'
What d'you want .
Or.
YES? (exasperated tone)
Dorothy Parker, answering phone, "What fresh hell is this?"
Exactly what I was going to suggest :)
Haaaaaa. I’m 37. Totally do that.
its "söyleeeğ"
Kzzkdğxldmşsdldö 😔
If someone answers the phone that way to me, my response is “your test results are in”. Then you sit in silence waiting for the tears.
I prefer mid-90s “What’s good?”
I just assume it's a scammer
Wait, people still answer the phone?
I'm 42 and must admit this is my gut instinct when my phone rings now
Just don’t talk to anyone under 35 and this will clear right up.
yes please dont
Ah crap, does this mean my mom is under 35?
I hear ya-Most prefer to text & feel that a call can only be for emergencies
So, my saying "hi, persons name," is not the way to answer? Had no idea.
If it’s my mother, she’s told me too many cancer diagnoses in the last few years. It’s a valid question when my family calls me
I think that’s perhaps a little better than the exasperated, sighing “what” I get when I have the audacity to call my 25-year-old daughter.
I'm 31 and no one I know does this, my 20yo little brother calls me all the time just to talk. If he called me at 2am on a Wednesday on the other hand...
Calling people is almost never a good way to communicate.
- Everyone Under 35
46-year-old here who has totally done that.
My friends answer this way bc i never call unless something is wrong. Lol
This is so specific that YOU need to evaluate your relationship (i.e. what you’ve done or said to them in the past) to IT or who this is abt
Dear Mark: TAKE A HINT and step outside of your generational bubble. There's a whole world out there full of people who have their own needs
Right. I prefer "What fresh hell is this?" Ala, Dorothy Parker.
adapt or die buddy
🤷🏽♀️ talking is so blasé
Dear Mark, don't tell others what to do or not do! I've never had anyone ask me what's wrong when they answered the phone, if you're getting a lot of this I'd suggest you check yourself and see if you're the problem (You might be a taker and not a giver) / a 20 year old
Ok sorry 🙄
Oh I absolutely think something is wrong if someone asks to call me.
This is literally my first thought when my mother calls me.
no one phones me unless they want something or something bad has occurred. I answer the phone with "wassup?"
Calling has become analogous to using a flashlight 🔦 during a blackout. Yes the phone has a 🔦 too. That’s why it’s called a smartphone. 💡
I mean... Says who? You don't make the rules, friend!
Maybe the problem is people over 35 calling us without scheduling the call first
“*Answer* the phone?” I know all of these words, but they make no sense to me in this order.
First of all phone calls are the devil. Why would anybody call,ever?!😢Why not text instead? I literally get anxiety watching my phone ring. And mostly I just let it ring...and ring.lol..I am 35😊
Do people still use the phone at home? If it isn't a text or an IM, I'm not answering because it's a friggin telemarketer.
My 62 year old mother answers the phone this way and it infuriates me every time
Oh, dear, I'm well over 35 and this is still how I answer the phone sometimes.
obvs the polite way to answer is "oh god, is everything okay?"
see also, "wut." (my daughter)
I’m 26 and I’m always confused by people who don’t want to talk on the phone. “Call me” has devolved to “Just text me,” which has been devolved to “snap me.”
I’ve yet to meet or date anyone over the last 5 or so years that DO NOT want to talk on the phone unless there’s an emergency.
Anecdotally, this conversation shows just how impossibly shattered simple, common etiquette is now. Nobody here agrees on any phone protocol, regardless of age. It's kind of shocking.
I am 61 & remember when a phone call or door knock after 9pm meant someone was in the hospital or died.
"Yooooooo" works just fine for everyone/ every situation
what is answer the phone
I suspect the joke is on those of us older than 35 who still make calls.
That’s how I answer when my husband calls. Every time. (I’m definitely not under 35!)
It’s how I answer the phone when it’s family calling. Signed, a GenX-er
What's even more annoying is when you try to explain to some dude that he called the wrong number and he acts like you highjacked the phone of some girl he wants to talk to and is giving him the run-around.
How do you feel about “what’s up?” Now that I always know who is on the phone, I vary my greetings. Hiyo, Hello, what’s up, yuup, hit me. I’m 41.
Dear men over 35 writing this tweet... Amalgamation rarely works.
Lol... I hear you, but... the world's changing bro. If someone calls me instead of texts/emails, it is invariably because:
a) I owe them money
b) something is very very wrong
c) someone is dead
Pretty sure my Mother in Law does the same thing.
It just has more to do more with it being 2017 than generations.
A phone call now is a much bigger demand for a chunk of someone’s attention span and time than it was in 1956.
What if you're 35 and answer that way depending on who shows up on the caller ID?
Right up there with “Where are you?”
I prefer Dorothy Parker: “What fresh hell is this?”
At this time, it is appropriate
If it’s not someone I want to talk to, yet I still feel obligated to talk to, it’s certainly a viable option. So’s “Yes.” It just screams “you’re interrupting me!”.
I’m 32 and I answer with ‘yellow’
have you tried being under 35 lately, Mark
The only thing that can be conveyed via a phone conversation that text can't is "emergency." We don't like talking on the phone because most of us spend all of our time at work and phone conversations are intrusive into what little personal time we get.
Ergo if someone we know is calling it must be a dire emergency. It's not our fault you don't know the etiquette.
Depending on who's calling, "what?" has proven more than effective.
Whenever my brother or Grandma call they immediately say 'nothings wrong!' cuz I always assume the worst. 😂
I'm over 45 and "What's wrong" seems like a reasonable assumption to a phone call I wasn't expecting. It's how I answer when people who only phone at night call me during the day. It's never been the wrong response.
Right? Everyone knows it's "Whatsamatta" @TrueCrimeObsess
Hahahahaha!!