Being interrupted 
Voice-Mail 

Being interrupted 
When I'm talking with someone and they (or someone else) interrupts me by saying something right in the middle of my sentence. Sometimes people try to even finish my sentence for me. I really hate that. It's my sentence. They have no idea exactly how I was going to finish it because they can't possible know exactly what I was trying to communicate. 

Even if they are really following what I'm saying and think they are on the same page and think they know what I'm about to say....so what? Why not let me say it? They certainly get their turn to speak when it's their turn. I think it is very disrespectful to do such a thing. Not that the other person always (or even ever) means to be disrespectful, but... 

It's either due to the fact that the other person is trying to show that they are following what I'm saying or that they're in agreement, or that they can relate with what I'm talking about... I know all about why people do it. It's not the why part that bugs me....it's the fact that even though they know it bugs me, they still keep doing it. 
 [entry added 20040808] 

Voice-Mail and Other Forms of Recorded-Auditory-Messaging
First of all, it's not actually the concept or usage of voice-mail it self that I don't like. So, this might not really turn out to fit in this category, but oh well. What I actually dislike, relative to voice-mail, is some people's usage of it and their insistence on and unreasonable expectation that I use it as they wish instead of using it in a way that best fits my personal needs. 

I usually do not use the phone much to initiate contact, and I almost never actually answer the phone when it rings. I understand the cultural attachment to these devices, but for me, having a telephone (or any other communications device for that matter) in my life is not necessarily for other people as much as it is for me. 

I decided a long time ago to not be tied to a telephone or to other people's expectations of me regarding my use of one. When it rings, I may answer the phone, and I may not. If/when someone leaves a message for me, I may not actually get the message for a week since I usually go that long between picking the thing up, which is the only way I'd know that I had a message at all anyway (Phone Company Voice Messaging). 

That's the part of the story which is just the way it is and I don't think I'm very interested in changing it much. I'm still open-minded though and willing to talk about it with anyone that wants to talk with me about it without trying to tell me what to do or manipulate me into getting my lifestyle to line up with theirs. Please feel free to ask me to talk about it in person if you want to discuss it. 

The other part of the story which I am indeed willing to change and which I am in fact in the process of working on is the part where I may even be told that I have voice messages waiting for me, but then I might forget to check. I have ADD. It is not an excuse by any means, but it is part of my reality (which was only diagnosed in my life somewhere around three or four years ago). 
    If I don't specifically write something on my calendar, it has much less of a chance of getting done. If I don't receive some kind of notification in front of my eyes (why e-mail works better for me), same deal. It's not even that I'm saying that this is just the way it is and there's nothing I or anyone can do about it and that others just have to put up with it. 
    Not at all. I am doing something about it, but it is a gradual process which requires me to continually reevaluate how it's going and keep walking the path of self respect in the midst of my frustration with the fact that I even have to deal with it in the first place. 

It's no one's fault. It's just a matter of genetic mutations. I think it might actually be true that it has effected my brain in such a way that, while I may have a 'deficiency' in some area as compared with other 'normal' brains, I may actually have certain enhancements and be more equipped in other areas than the 'normal' brain too. Another story for another day. 

So, basically, if it ever happens, I want to say in advance, I'm sorry for not contacting you in return when you call and leave voice-mail messages for me. If you do leave voice-mail messages for me, please also send me an e-mail to alert me to the fact that you've done so. If this is too much to ask, I understand. However, in my present circumstances (until some other kind of phone messaging arrangement is worked out), I'm not sure what else to say. 

A couple more quick thoughts about the phone... 
Just to make sure I'm understood... It's not that I have anything against the phone or that I don't like other people's usage of it. In fact, if it were the case that I had a business of my own for which a telephone was either necessary or preferred by my business contacts (colleagues or clients), I'm sure I'd most likely make the effort to be more in touch with people by that means and would play by whatever the going rules of business etiquette in our society are. 
    Also, sometimes I may even really like getting a voice message from someone in particular or about something in particular. So, don't get your self and my voice-mail box confused. Just because I do not prefer voice-mail doesn't mean that I don't prefer you.  :-)

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