Sarah Jo Austin

Thank You, Mr. Alexander Graham Bell

September 15th, 2008

I love being twentysomething because I’ve entered a phase where I’m deciding for myself what I like and don’t like. When you’re a kid, you have to do what your parents tell you to do, and when you’re a teenager, you tend to do what all your friends are doing, and when you’re in college, you tend to do what everyone is not doing. The same goes for likes and dislikes, and in the last year or so, here are a few of the things I’ve made up my mind about:

• I don’t like chicken unless it’s fried.
• I would rather drink chai than coffee.
• I don’t like crowds.
• I don’t like surprises.
• I want to spend my evenings at home reading.
• The telephone is the worst invention ever.

Let’s discuss that last one. It’s true, I hate the telephone, which is ironic because one of my primary job responsibilities involves answering the phone and being pleasant. Here’s the thing: the telephone is interruptive by nature, and a phone call is primarily convenient for the caller–not the called.

This is especially true in the workplace. Contrary to popular belief, I actually stay pretty busy in my office–especially on Monday mornings. And many of the tasks I engage in require quite a bit of concentration, and when I’m interrupted during those tasks, it’s very difficult to get that concentration back. This morning, for example, I was working on a task that I do every Monday morning and that usually takes 10 minutes max. But I received three phone calls in a row, two of which required sending an email message after the call ended, and when I got back to my computer, I had to think about what I had been doing.

OK, so I’m venting a little bit about work, but this is really about an invention that I’m so over. I have the Internet and email (and I know I wouldn’t have those if it hadn’t been for Alexander Graham Bell), but I’m ready to hang up on the telephone.

Entry Filed under: pure genius