"I'll Call You" — a Survey on Telephone Manners

Response: #1
Received: Jul 16, 1997 13:17 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

Other:

Why didn't you call?

Other:

How did he or she respond?

Didn't

Response: #2
Received: Jul 27, 1997 02:46 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

I wanted to give or receive information to/from this person

Why didn't you call?

When I made the promise, I fully intended not to call.

How did he or she respond?

Was displeased

Response: #3
Received: Aug 28, 1997 23:27 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

I just wanted to chat some more
I was too busy to talk then, and wanted to continue later

Why didn't you call?

Other:

How did he or she respond?

Didn't

Response: #4
Received: Nov 21, 1997 04:38 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

I just wanted to chat some more
I was too busy to talk then, and wanted to continue later

Why didn't you call?

The other person unexpectedly called me first.
The information the other person needed was provided by another source — there was no need to call.
I felt tongue-tied.
The phone was repeatedly busy.
Something came up — I was unable to call.

How did he or she respond?

Mentioned it, but let it go

Response: #5
Received: Jan 29, 1998 11:11 ET

Why did you make the promise?

I was too busy to talk then, and wanted to continue later

Why didn't you call?

When I made the promise, I fully intended not to call.

How did he or she respond?

Mentioned it, but let it go

Response: #6
Received: Mar 19, 1998 20:52 ET

Why did you make the promise?

I was too busy to talk then, and wanted to continue later

Why didn't you call?

Something came up — I was unable to call.

How did he or she respond?

Mentioned it, but let it go

Response: #7
Received: Mar 25, 1998 15:51 ET

Why did you make the promise?

I wanted to give or receive information to/from this person
I felt that the promise was socially expected of me

Why didn't you call?

When I made the promise, I fully intended not to call.

How did he or she respond?

Was displeased

Response: #8
Received: Mar 25, 1998 17:04 ET

Why did you make the promise?

I felt that the promise was socially expected of me

Why didn't you call?

I had no idea what we would talk about.

How did he or she respond?

Didn't

Response: #9
Received: Mar 31, 1998 23:41 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

I felt that the promise was socially expected of me

Why didn't you call?

I felt tongue-tied.
I had no idea what we would talk about.
When I made the promise, I fully intended not to call.

How did he or she respond?

Mentioned it, but let it go

Response: #10
Received: Apr 9, 1998 13:40

Why did you make the promise?

Other:

Response: #11
Received: Apr 28, 1998 03:04 ET

Why did you make the promise?

Other:

Why didn't you call?

When I made the promise, I fully intended not to call.

How did he or she respond?

Was displeased

Response: #12
Received: May 13, 1998 12:08 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

I wanted to give or receive information to/from this person
I just wanted to chat some more
I felt that the promise was socially expected of me

Why didn't you call?

The information I needed was provided by another source — there was no need to call.
The information the other person needed was provided by another source — there was no need to call.
I felt tongue-tied.
I had no idea what we would talk about.
When I made the promise, I fully intended not to call.

How did he or she respond?

Other:

Response: #13
Received: Jul 10, 1998 17:42 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

I felt that the promise was socially expected of me
I was coerced into promising

Why didn't you call?

Soon after the promise, events happened which lowered my esteem for the other person.
When I made the promise, I fully intended not to call.

How did he or she respond?

Mentioned it, but let it go

Response: #14
Received: Dec 30, 1998 04:19 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

Other:

Why didn't you call?

Other:

How did he or she respond?

Didn't

Response: #15
Received: Jan 6, 1999 07:14 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

I felt that the promise was socially expected of me

Why didn't you call?

I felt tongue-tied.
I had no idea what we would talk about.
Other:

How did he or she respond?

Mentioned it, but let it go

Response: #16
Received: Feb 11, 1999 18:26 ET

Why did you make the promise?

Other: I wanted to call but it seemed when we talked there was sometimes an uncomfortable silence

Why didn't you call?

The other person unexpectedly called me first.
I felt tongue-tied.
I had no idea what we would talk about.

How did he or she respond?

Other:

Response: #17
Received: Mar 4, 1999 21:09 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

I was too busy to talk then, and wanted to continue later

Why didn't you call?

I felt tongue-tied.
I had no idea what we would talk about.
Something came up — I was unable to call.

How did he or she respond?

Other:

Response: #18
Received: Mar 9, 1999 18:43 ET

Why did you make the promise?

I felt that the promise was socially expected of me

Why didn't you call?

I had no idea what we would talk about.

How did he or she respond?

Other:

Response: #19
Received: Mar 24, 1999 06:11 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

Other:

Why didn't you call?

When I made the promise, I fully intended not to call.

How did he or she respond?

Didn't

Response: #20
Received: Mar 28, 1999 02:19 ET

Why did you make the promise?

I was too busy to talk then, and wanted to continue later

Why didn't you call?

Other:

How did he or she respond?

Other:

Response: #21
Received: Apr 20, 1999 19:26 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

No/Can't recall ever doing it

Response: #22
Received: Apr 22, 1999 13:23 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

I was coerced into promising

Why didn't you call?

When I made the promise, I fully intended not to call.
Other: Because sometimes they say the same thing and dont call back, so i was getting him back!

How did he or she respond?

Mentioned it, but let it go

Response: #23
Received: Jun 30, 1999 16:04 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

I just wanted to chat some more
I was too busy to talk then, and wanted to continue later

Why didn't you call?

The other person unexpectedly called me first.
Other:

How did he or she respond?

Didn't

Response: #24
Received: Jul 28, 1999 16:16 ET

Why did you make the promise?

I just wanted to chat some more
I was too busy to talk then, and wanted to continue later
I was coerced into promising
Other: I didn't want to talk, and the only way that the person would let me go is if I promised to call later.

Why didn't you call?

We talked face-to-face instead.
The other person unexpectedly called me first.
Soon after the promise, events happened which lowered my esteem for the other person.
Something came up — I was unable to call.
When I made the promise, I fully intended not to call.
Other:

How did he or she respond?

Mentioned it, but let it go Other: Asked jokingly, and then a lot of times after that, if I said I'd call back, the person just assumed I wasn't going to.

Silent07 replied "When I answered the question, I was thinking of more than one instance."

Response: #25
Received: Oct 23, 1999 00:45 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

I felt that the promise was socially expected of me
I was coerced into promising
Other: Too busy and didn't want to listen to them talk anymore, how much quatum physics can you listen to?? None for me!

Why didn't you call?

How did he or she respond?

Was displeased
Other: Hate mail is so irritating, should you throw it out or keep it as evidence for later.

Response: #26
Received: Feb 10, 2000 19:29 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

Other:

Why didn't you call?

How did he or she respond?

Other:

Response: #27
Received: Mar 6, 2000 22:10 ET

Why did you make the promise?

I was too busy to talk then, and wanted to continue later

Why didn't you call?

Busy life lead to a priority choice, she was not a big priority during that time.

How did he or she respond?

Other:

Response: #28
Received: Mar 29, 2000 09:14 ET

Why did you make the promise?

I just wanted to chat some more

Why didn't you call?

I was nervous of having that akward moment in a telephone call where nobody is talking and you think that the other person doesn't like you or vis versa If you have something to talk about though I think you should call and it will usually go into another conversation. If you are both really shy there is a good chance you'll have an akward silence.

How did he or she respond?

Was displeased

Response: #29
Received: Apr 14, 2000 17:30 ET

Why did you make the promise?

I was too busy to talk then, and wanted to continue later
I felt that the promise was socially expected of me

Why didn't you call?

The person calling wanted someone to talk to, and I was too nice to tell them they were boring me.

How did he or she respond?

Didn't

Response: #30
Received: May 2, 2000 05:21 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

Other: I really had intended to call them, but I had besides forgetting for awhile, I also just didn't feel like talking when I did remember. I wasn't interested in a romantic relationship with this person, but I did want to be courteous and call as I said I would. In 99% of the cases, I do. I have a very hard time rejecting a person if they are interested in me and I am not with them. I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, I have had mine hurt a lot, and it's no fun. So I suppose that is another reason, because I wasn't sure what to say, and didn't know how to deal with it, not to mention in all honesty, I was trying to avoid dealing with it.

Why didn't you call?

How did he or she respond?

Mentioned it, but let it go
Other: I had just met this person and had run into them another day. They did mention it, and I apologized to them. However, I never did call them, and I didn't see them anymore as I can recall.

Response: #31
Received: Oct 26, 2000 23:58 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

I just wanted to chat some more
I was too busy to talk then, and wanted to continue later

Why didn't you call?

well it's one of those days when your not allowed to use the phone cause you got in trouble. opps

How did he or she respond?

Mentioned it, but let it go Was displeased

Response: #32
Received: Jan 15, 2001 17:09 ET

Have you ever done this to anyone?

Have you ever promised someone a phone call and then broken your word?

Yes

Why did you make the promise?

I was too busy to talk then, and wanted to continue later
I felt that the promise was socially expected of me
Other:

Why didn't you call?

By the time I remembered to call it had been so long that I didn't want to make the person feel uncomfortable by bringing it to their attention.

How did he or she respond?

Was displeased

Response: #33
Received: Nov 7, 2001 18:25 ET

Why did you make the promise?

I felt that the promise was socially expected of me

Why didn't you call?

How did he or she respond?

Mentioned it, but let it go