Why I Hate Call Waiting

Pet peeve day, here at the old blog... Okay, call me a luddite, but I can't stand call waiting. I think it's one of the worst inventions of the past decade. I refuse to add it to my home phone, and I refuse to use it on my cell phone (it's part of the basic service, so I'm stuck with it, but I ignore it).

My main argument with call waiting is that it's based on the premise that whoever you are talking to, anybody else must be more important. It's part of this whole hyped-up attitude we have in this country that wherever we are, whatever we're doing, there must be something better.

Then there are the people who are angry that I don't have call waiting. Again, they assume that their call must have been a higher priority than whoever I was talking to.

What about that person I'm already in a conversation with? Don't they count for anything? I don't like being put on hold, and I'm sure most people feel the same. I think it's disrespectful to say to somebody, "Look, I have no idea who is trying to call me right now, but they've got to have something more interesting to say than you do, so I'm going to put you on hold while I start another conversation."

I'm not saying anything crazy, like I want to kill the person who invented it - I'm a non-violent person - unless maybe I pick up some paintball guns and plan a more symbolic attack - no, not even that. I'm just saying that if I call you, and your call waiting rings, and you answer it, don't expect me to still be on the line when you get back.