Shoe by Gary Brookins and Susie MacNelly for November 18, 2021

I answer the phone, but if it’s a telemarketer I hang up on them, and I never listen to voice mail.

You’re a telemarketer’s wet dream, Cosmo.

I’m the opposite; I don’t answer it whether it rings or not.

He could leave his phone on vibrate. Or like a hard of hearing friend of mine, who had rigged a bright flashing light to his land-line phone. It was also connected to a device which looked like an old phone modem and would texted messages back and forth.

Is answering when there is no ring like answering when there is no question?

Would that be a rhetorical answer?

What if the ring or question comes after he answers? Does that put him in (or on) Jeopardy?

Pavlov would be proud of Shoe’s psychologist

No, I don’t want to extend the warranty on my car. What a scam!

You have tinnitus too?

Politicians asking “if they have my support” get a mouthful from me concerning the sanctity of the secret ballot!

If I don’t recognize the number (and it isn’t in my contacts) I wait a bit and then check voicemail to see if they left a message and to see if it is someone to whom I want to talk. If it is not someone I want to talk to, I block the number.

Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee with special, limited-time offers for things you have managed to get through your whole life without needing . (With apologies to John Donne)

Sounds to me like he suffers from anxiety overcompensation syndrome.

Jimmy Buffett – If The Phone Doesn’t Ring It’s Me

I am not afraid—I just come unglued as the robo calls pile up!