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> I can’t imagine why anyone ever answers the phone. I get at least ten robocalls every weekday. I answer the phone all the time and it's always someone I know

> I can’t imagine why anyone ever answers the phone. I get at least ten robocalls every weekday. I answer the phone all the time and it's always someone I know. I do not have a caller id display. Here's how I managed that. Only 4 people know my real phone number and are under orders not to add it to any digital address book. My phone number is registered to an alias. I pay for my phone using cash. My area code is in a city I've never lived in and have no connection to. I add my number to the do not call list. For generic phone number requests, such as stores and shipper that demand it, it's always 555-1212. Of course this method won't work well for people who need to give their phone number out to people they don't know. But then again if that result is simply not to answer the phone ever, why would that be better. And for those who really only ever want to hear from a half dozen or fewer trusted friends and family, this is a solution that works.

mattkrause 7y ago
How do you get--and keep--a job? Have friends? Make medical appointments? Order pizza?
- probably_wrong 7y ago
  I am not the person you are replying to, but I would like to point out that my job never calls me (and if they expected me to be reachable they would give me a work phone), I keep in touch with my friends via my computer, and I order pizza online. Medical appointments are still done over the phone, though, but not always. I wouldn't go as far as to have no phone number whatsoever, but living without one doesn't seem entirely crazy to me.
  - dkersten 7y ago
    I lived without a phone number for about 9 months a few years ago. My phone was basically a WiFi device. I really enjoyed this time and am considering doing it again. I only stopped because my brother got annoyed and bought me a new SIM, but nowadays he doesn’t call me much and uses internet for voice. Even my mother uses WhatsApp for voice. Having a WiFi-only device (as opposed to a data-only one) did mean I had to plan things a bit, just like I had to do before mobile phones became such a popular thing. It wasn’t a big deal at all.
  - mattkrause 7y ago
    My current job doesn’t call me very often, but recruiters and HR folks love the phone. Likewise, small businesses are way easier to deal with on the phone vs. online (larger ones are a toss-up). I guess I’m convinced that it could be done, but I’m less convinced that it makes sense, and baffled as to why you’d pay for a phone and then go to such lengths to avoid using it.
- gambiting 7y ago
  For the last one - meteoric rise of services like JustEat meant that I haven't had to ring anyone to order food for at least 8 years now. If your restaurant is not on justeat/Uber eats/you have your own website that allows ordering, then I'm not interested in ordering from you. Also, if you order through a phone how do you pay? In cash??
  - mruts 7y ago
    I don’t understand? Is paying with cash a problem?
    - dkersten 7y ago
      It is if you live a mostly cash-less life. I don’t typically carry any cash on me and don’t pay in cash, which means I often also don’t have any cash at home. Card payments, contactless payments, Apple Pay, metro/travel cards and banks/financial institutions with fancy mobile apps have meant that I rarely if ever need cash.
    - joombaga 7y ago
      No, but it's less convenient, less trackable, and less safe than e.g. a credit card.
  - mattkrause 7y ago
    Even when you order from JustEat, don’t you give the delivery driver a number to call when they arrive (or get lost)? They almost never come directly to my apartment or office; I usually get a call saying they’re downstairs or outside (if parking is bad) instead. In...olden times when people ordered by talking to other people, you’d often pay cash. Some places would take credit cards, usually by reading the number out loud. One fancy place let you type the numbers in with the touch pad.
  - astura 7y ago
    You can read the card number to them on the phone. This is what we did back in the day back when credit cards were common but online ordering was much of a thing yet.
- raverbashing 7y ago
  My friends are smart enough to use modern means of communication
RHSeeger 7y ago
In the US, as long as you don't pay extra not to be listed, your phone number will be available to the world. I get 5-10 robocalls a day on a number I had never given out to anyone.
c22 7y ago
I get maybe 3 or 4 spam calls a year. I've had the same number for over 20 years and I've given it to thousands of people. Like you, I only give it to real actual people who I want to call me, though many of them were strangers. I never placed any restrictions on how they store it or made any other effort to keep it private. Since 2009 or so I have had a google voice number in a different area code that I use to fill out forms and give to strangers, but since blocking calls to it from that same area code I let it ring through to my main number now and it also gets virtually no spam (it's possible the 3 or 4 I get are actually from this number). My main actual trick has been to be discerning in the things I sign up for and never filling in information that's not required.
- inferiorhuman 7y ago
  The most egregious sources of spam I've found are the government. Get your name anywhere near a property deed and you'll get a barrage of spam from companies that think you're new to the neighborhood. Think you might want to save on paper and give out your email address when you register to vote? Dear god. San Francisco doesn't give voters the ability to only receive correspondence from the Department of Elections. The spam is insane. Obviously you get all sorts crackpots running for office that'll spam you endlessly. For a while I was even getting email about pet clothing from some guy. Turns out he ran a failed mayoral campaign and then turned around and used the voter rolls to promote his business (because clearly I want a tutu for my non-existent dog). And, sure, you can remove your email address from the voter rolls but not your physical address (so that spam will continue unmitigated). San Francisco is an extra level of special here as it doesn't even bother with HTTPS for their Department of Elections stuff.

mattkrause 7y ago

How do you get--and keep--a job? Have friends? Make medical appointments? Order pizza?

probably_wrong 7y ago
I am not the person you are replying to, but I would like to point out that my job never calls me (and if they expected me to be reachable they would give me a work phone), I keep in touch with my friends via my computer, and I order pizza online. Medical appointments are still done over the phone, though, but not always. I wouldn't go as far as to have no phone number whatsoever, but living without one doesn't seem entirely crazy to me.
- dkersten 7y ago
  I lived without a phone number for about 9 months a few years ago. My phone was basically a WiFi device. I really enjoyed this time and am considering doing it again. I only stopped because my brother got annoyed and bought me a new SIM, but nowadays he doesn’t call me much and uses internet for voice. Even my mother uses WhatsApp for voice. Having a WiFi-only device (as opposed to a data-only one) did mean I had to plan things a bit, just like I had to do before mobile phones became such a popular thing. It wasn’t a big deal at all.
- mattkrause 7y ago
  My current job doesn’t call me very often, but recruiters and HR folks love the phone. Likewise, small businesses are way easier to deal with on the phone vs. online (larger ones are a toss-up). I guess I’m convinced that it could be done, but I’m less convinced that it makes sense, and baffled as to why you’d pay for a phone and then go to such lengths to avoid using it.
gambiting 7y ago
For the last one - meteoric rise of services like JustEat meant that I haven't had to ring anyone to order food for at least 8 years now. If your restaurant is not on justeat/Uber eats/you have your own website that allows ordering, then I'm not interested in ordering from you. Also, if you order through a phone how do you pay? In cash??
- mruts 7y ago
  I don’t understand? Is paying with cash a problem?
  - dkersten 7y ago
    It is if you live a mostly cash-less life. I don’t typically carry any cash on me and don’t pay in cash, which means I often also don’t have any cash at home. Card payments, contactless payments, Apple Pay, metro/travel cards and banks/financial institutions with fancy mobile apps have meant that I rarely if ever need cash.
  - joombaga 7y ago
    No, but it's less convenient, less trackable, and less safe than e.g. a credit card.
- mattkrause 7y ago
  Even when you order from JustEat, don’t you give the delivery driver a number to call when they arrive (or get lost)? They almost never come directly to my apartment or office; I usually get a call saying they’re downstairs or outside (if parking is bad) instead. In...olden times when people ordered by talking to other people, you’d often pay cash. Some places would take credit cards, usually by reading the number out loud. One fancy place let you type the numbers in with the touch pad.
- astura 7y ago
  You can read the card number to them on the phone. This is what we did back in the day back when credit cards were common but online ordering was much of a thing yet.
raverbashing 7y ago
My friends are smart enough to use modern means of communication

RHSeeger 7y ago

In the US, as long as you don't pay extra not to be listed, your phone number will be available to the world. I get 5-10 robocalls a day on a number I had never given out to anyone.

c22 7y ago

I get maybe 3 or 4 spam calls a year. I've had the same number for over 20 years and I've given it to thousands of people. Like you, I only give it to real actual people who I want to call me, though many of them were strangers. I never placed any restrictions on how they store it or made any other effort to keep it private. Since 2009 or so I have had a google voice number in a different area code that I use to fill out forms and give to strangers, but since blocking calls to it from that same area code I let it ring through to my main number now and it also gets virtually no spam (it's possible the 3 or 4 I get are actually from this number). My main actual trick has been to be discerning in the things I sign up for and never filling in information that's not required.

inferiorhuman 7y ago
The most egregious sources of spam I've found are the government. Get your name anywhere near a property deed and you'll get a barrage of spam from companies that think you're new to the neighborhood. Think you might want to save on paper and give out your email address when you register to vote? Dear god. San Francisco doesn't give voters the ability to only receive correspondence from the Department of Elections. The spam is insane. Obviously you get all sorts crackpots running for office that'll spam you endlessly. For a while I was even getting email about pet clothing from some guy. Turns out he ran a failed mayoral campaign and then turned around and used the voter rolls to promote his business (because clearly I want a tutu for my non-existent dog). And, sure, you can remove your email address from the voter rolls but not your physical address (so that spam will continue unmitigated). San Francisco is an extra level of special here as it doesn't even bother with HTTPS for their Department of Elections stuff.