Not answering

It's been a nose-to-the-laptop kind of month, with about two days of nice weather (which I spent outside instead of blogging about them).

Anyway, my day has lacked congruity. I've experienced a clash of technologies, or rather, a clash of technology and an aversion to technology.

Background: I don't like talking on the phone. I'm more of a written-word person. I'll IM, Tweet, chat, blog, converse on Facebook, but I just don't like picking up the phone. It seems like such an invasion and interruption when the phone rings. I'd rather respond at the time of my choosing, or at least know the topic at hand (subject lines in emails... please use them).

Getting caller ID at home, on my cell (for emergencies only, thank you), and at work has let me perfect my ability to avoid talking to vendors, my alma mater, and anyone I'm not in the mood to deal with or give money to. I know this sounds harsh, but I'm just not a phone person.

(Ironically, this post has been interrupted by three phone calls that I had to take.)

Moving on, we're developing a social-media plan of attack for a big event at work this week. I'm up to my ears in Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and related applications, all the while IM'ing a co-worker with whom I'm collaborating.

In the middle of all this, the phone rings. It's a vendor's number. Then the unavoidable flashing red light indicates I have a message, so I need to stop, wade through voicemail menus, and find out she just wants to see how we're doing. Ugh. Moments later, a person with whom I work, who does not connect with anything in the previous paragraph, asks if I've "actually spoken with" another staff member on a certain issue. She is leery of even emailing "because people can forward it." Sigh. Big disconnect, especially when trying to explain the aforementioned strategy for this week.

There's a time and a place for all forms of communication, and I will pick up the phone if that's the best way to get a message across. But 98.6 percent of the time, one of my six other "new techology" ways of communicating gets the point across while allowing me to multitask my little heart out and be far more productive.