this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2023
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[–] obinice 62 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Nobody is actually this terrified of a phone call right? Besides the usual social anxiety anyway.

My father's phone doesn't even have internet, hell, they barely built a computer that could beat Nazi encryption back when he was born, he didn't even see his first computer in person until he was what, 50?

He struggles at testing, no way could he navigate a modern phone haha. So, phone calls are normal for us :-)

[–] solstice 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

You and your dad sound like what, millennial and Boomer? You're definitely not Gen Z or younger though I'm assuming.

I'm 40 so elder millennial I guess. I like Gen Z overall but goddamn do they SUCK at using the damn phone. I train a lot of 22-24yo kids at work and they truly are terrified of phone calls. Video call, friggin forget it man. Like they might turn on their camera once if I directly ask or tell them but it's a battle every time.

This is the same generation that's demanding full remote, and they refuse to actually communicate remotely. It's really frustrating and annoying. How in the world do you expect to function in a group if you can't or won't communicate with people in real time? Do they really expect to go to their entire careers only texting or emailing?

Again I like them overall, they are very smart educated and resourceful, but their communication absolutely fucking sucks. So yeah this comic is super accurate but I don't find it funny.

[–] Phlogiston 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How in the world do you expect to function in a group if you can’t or won’t communicate with people in real time?

wow. i thought it was just me.

I've got really good people on the team -- but only if you trust them go do stuff with zero communications and then the pop back up with completed work. Which is kinda ok if you don't need to do any team projects. Its driving me nuts and I totally see why some managers are like "fuck it, get your ass into the same room". Its simply easier than coaching people on how to be slightly better than a chatbot.

[–] solstice 9 points 1 year ago

What a breath of fresh air your comment is, thank you. The sheer absolute HATE I've been getting in this thread and others is so incredibly toxic and frustrating. I'm literally at the point where I'm like, you know what, you're right, stay the fuck at home and stay away from my team because I don't need that vitriol in my life.

I saw a thread recently here or on Reddit maybe hating on presentations and group assignments in school. It wasn't until I got to management that I realized how incredibly important those skills are.

Personally I'm convinced that it isn't "people don't want to work anymore." More like "people fucking suck at working together, on big projects, remotely, and friggin communicating as a team. So the sucky deadweight employees don't do squat, and the good ones are frustrated as hell, overburdened with their shithead colleagues work that the rest of us have to do now.

Sorry for the rant but this is fucking my shit up big time, and it's really hard getting all this pure hatred online by toxic people who refuse to even pick up the damn phone when I call to ask "how did you compute such and such" or whatever.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I used to be terrified as a kid if using the phone, then I ended up with a job in a call center. Three times.

Ugh. Still have nightmares about it, 15 years later. But! No longer afraid of the phone. It's something that you need to practice with though.

[–] solstice 4 points 1 year ago

I think a call center would be very intimidating for me. The onslaught of calls from different people, all grumpy, sounds a bit much. I guess it's a range or a spectrum or whatever. Still it's a generational thing though and the floor is way lower than it was pre-Covid IMO. Like it's normal to have some anxiety but you can't go your whole career terrified of phone calls. It's just really annoying and weird.

I'm getting flamed in this other thread about returning to office and it's so frustrating. All the haters over there are the same people terrified of phone calls like the girl in this comic, all want full remote, all terrible communicators.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

My dad is probably about the same age (currently 81)

He didn't touch a computer until the mid 2000s, and he just wanted to be able to email. It was a looooong journey to get him comfortable doing that.

Since he got a smart phone he texts literally every day, has installed a number of apps himself, can mostly get new services working himself (he did Amazon Prime, with some mild hand holding).

If anything, I call him more then he calls me!

It's doable :)

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm not NT so I like having the freedom and time to cook up good responses to texts that I can't make on the spot in a call.

(Btw not saying that NT people can do that easily but they seem to always be able to think quick on their feet socially speaking)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What is NT?

The only NT I know is Windows NT (I'm old)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Im just gonna copy paste because I don't think I can summarize it better:

The word “neurotypical” is an informal term used to describe a person whose brain functions are considered usual or expected by society. This term is often applied to people who do not have a developmental disorder like autism, differentiating them from those who do. It is neither a mental disorder nor even an official diagnostic term.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

"I'm not NT"

Not with that attitude! For real though, nothing in this existence is black and white. Labels are for cans, not people.

[–] aidan 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Correct, DSM has pushed this notion that correlation and diagnosis of symptoms are well understood when under the DSM they are more loose associations of symptoms that say nothing of cause. You wouldn't group and heart attack and a broken rib as the same illness just because they both have the same symptom of chest pain. This isn't to deny the real symptoms people have though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't know about this DSM, I just don't like labels. Especially "normal", that one sounds really lame.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

that one sounds really lame.

hmmm

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I chose the word NT because I think it's the least divisible label.

I don't choose or want to be neurodivergent, I'm reminded by NTs that I'm not normal in everyday life through social games and hints that I don't understand.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I wouldn't want to be called NT or non-NT. I definitely wouldn't want someone applying an opposing label to me just because they perceive I'm different than a label they identify with. Everyone is unique in their own way. You can just call me human.

I wish you the best, friend.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That's okay. Same to you.