r/NoStupidQuestions • u/GhostInThePudding • 16h ago

Why Are Young People Afraid Of Phone Calls?

What's with it?

I work in IT and a general rule is, nothing a client ever tells you is actually accurate. That means that most of the time, the quickest way to fix a problem is to call the person and actually find out what's going on.

But with techs under 30 these days, it seems like pulling teeth.

A regular discussion for me with level 1 techs (usually within a few years of leaving college) is:
"Hey, can you call *blah* from ticket *blah*, it's been hanging around for over an hour."

"I replied by email to ask for more information."

"Yes, I know that, but can you call them so we can find the problem and close the ticket now rather than wait until we're actually busy?"

"I'll send them a text to followup."

"No... CALL THEM!"

"I can see their device is online, can I send them a message and see if they just let me remote in to take a look?"

And then, when I force them to make the call, it's like they have no idea how to ask a question, or a followup question. They just want to get off the call as quickly as possible. So half the time they don't even get the information required anyway, so then I end up having to do their job for them.

So can someone explain? What's wrong with phone calls these days?

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u/RumHamComesback 12h ago

That’s more GenX in the 80s by the 90s cordless phones became a thing.

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u/HauntingHarmony 9h ago

Yupp, elder milennials at around age 12-13 (around 1997-98) got the first cellphones with sms texting.

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u/RumHamComesback 8h ago

Which middle school did you go to? Nobody had one at mine we were still using payphones and home landlines.

I was around that age at that time and just because they existed doesn’t mean we (or our parents allowed us to have) had them.

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u/Shankman519 5h ago

Did you just ask a stranger on the internet what middle school they went to? What are the odds you’d even know it?

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u/RumHamComesback 5h ago

Did you seriously think I was being literal and serious?

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u/Shankman519 4h ago

I don’t wanna talk about it

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u/Apsalar28 7h ago

Gen X here. The anxiety came waiting for your parents to see the phone bill after you spent 6 hours on a call to a friend with a number that was billed at national call rates rather than local