phone lingo

[RamboPreacher]

at work, I answer with my name and ask how I can help them
at home, I usually answer with hello, but if I know (caller ID) it is someone i know - I usually answer with "orange Jello".

[DeWayneTN]

I say "SPEAK!!!"

[dolfan]

Shello!

Dyn-o-mite!

[Pastor Bill]

Work - "IS&S this is Bill how can I help you?"

Cell - "IS&S this is Bill how can I help you... yes I know Rose, but it's habit..." or sometimes I remember and say "Hello"

Home - "New Life Church..." (our only land-line is the church phone)

[Kenya]

Ok. Let's turn this into a real conversation.

We have this person, Emily. She calls about once a week. We have caller ID. If it shows Emily or Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital I yell "DON'T ANSWER IT! IT'S EMILY!!!" Emily is a left-over from my Dad's pastorate that somehow got our number. She's a sister of a husband of a distant cousin that I avoid when I see in Walmart. Emily spends a lot of time on the 5th floor (psych ward) in the hospital.

When Emily does slip through the answering machine and gets a real person, you can't get off the phone with her. I don't know her that well and am not even sure I would recognize her if I ran into her out in town. But somehow she has formed an attachment to us through my dad.

Is it very wrong of me to avoid her calls? I'm starting to feel just a little twinge of guilt but I still really don't want to talk to her. Can I just pray for her from a distance or do I have to get involved in her life?

[Pastor Bill]

Kenya,

Would talking to her endlessly on the phone be a help in her life? Would you be able to do much more for her if you were involved?

It's great to help people, to connect with people, but we also have to set boundaries and limits or some people will overrun you. Screening her calls makes sense if this is one that goes well beyond those boundaries or is a situation where alot of time on your part would really make little difference in her life. Once in awhile, connect with her, let her know you're praying (even if it's dropping a card in the mail "saw I missed your call the other day, have been busy, but wanted to drop you a note to say I'm praying") that might be one way to connect without being overrun by the situation, but honestly you know the situation more than us here, so you just have to think it through and do what you feel is right, and God's will.

[Dr. Ron]

Pastor Bill,

YOur advice to Kenya was totally inappropriate. She has set the boundaries.
Kenya is not a mental health care professional. She has no real or professional reason to take any responsiblity for this person.

While I know your advice is well intentioned based on good christian ethics, it certainly smacks of legalistic thought. I am not required to give my time to anyone because of my christianity if I feel they are in any way "toxic" to my life. Obviously, this lady has formed an attachment to Kenya based on her father's relationship with her and looks to her for an extension of that.
Whatever relationship John had with her is not fostered to Kenya. She is an attachment junkie.

Kenya, you owe this lady nothig and I can guarantee that if you give her ANY hope for that , she will step up her harassment. Do NOT give in to her and don't answer that phone....or be ready to be held captive to her.

I had a man like this who called me 9 times on Christmas eve, before noon . I had to turn off my phone except to make calls myself. I eventually had to change my number.

[Pastor Gary]

It's not if you have a Mental Health Professional and a Physicians Assistant living under your roof whose patients somehow get your home phone number. Unfortunately, we've had to use the answering machine this way...

I should have been more specific -- I was referring to calls I make to the cell phones of people who work closely with me as team leaders or staff. I have no sense of self-importance, but as a courtesy I don't think it is asking too much to expect those folks to take infrequent cell calls from me by the third ring.

[MrDanger]

I say, "Jello everyone, this is Jeff Jones speaking...:

That one is for you Gerald.

[Pastor Bill]

Dr Ron, I think you have misread me, or at least misunderstood what I was saying.

The comment about setting boundaries was not in reference to her not doing that, I do think this person is trying to overstep those boundaries (I even said that). I only suggested (since she said she feels guilty about it sometimes) that she could make contact in another way that is less intrusive (like dropping a card to let her know she's praying) if that were easier.

I guess I started with some rhetorical questions, and that may have been misinterpreted, but I was trying to say yes, screening her calls is appropriate because of the boundaries we have to set up with people, and if she wanted to contact her in a "safer" way that was an option.

[Gerald Creasy]

Shello!

Dyn-o-mite!

Yes, but even further back.

[Paully_44]

Hey, yep, hello, speak, talk to me, howdy, what up brah... it all depends on who is calling me.

[deb]

I have caller id, too. I don't answer calls I don't recognize - if they are leaving a message, and it's someone I know, I'll pick up. I always answer Pastor's calls.

A lot of times I'm yelling, "Don't answer it. It's Liberty Medical Supplies!"

[EagerBeaver]

Home: depends on who is calling me, much like Paully...
Work: Springfield News-Leader, multimedia, this is Chris Brewer...

[dolfan]

Cell: Hello or "This is Tim Shelton" if the number is one I don't recognize.

Office: "This is Tim Shelton, may I help you?"

Store: "Jif-E-Mart, may I help you?" or sometimes "Jif-E-Mart, this is Tim" if I know its one of the husbands, boyfriends, teenagers of one of our cashiers.