Anti-Social Behaviour

I admit that pregnancy has made me a bit more stand-offish, cranky, tired, and sarcastic than usual. I say a bit more because I probably am always all of those things, just to a lesser degree. Right now I'm stressing because I have about a week long back log of calls to make. Here's what happens right now when my phone rings. If I'm sitting close to the phone, I'll check the caller ID to see if I feel like there is a life-threatening situation that needs to be taken care of. If not, no answer. Sorry. So, every call goes straight to voice mail, whereupon AT&T makes a liar out of me. My voicemail will tell you that we're not available (that may or may not be a lie) and that if you leave a message we will call you back. That, my friends, is a blatant lie. Ryan, for one, can not for the life of him use the telephone. He's always been deficient in this way. His own mother doesn't even ask for him when she calls. She knows better. So, if you're calling for him, just hang up. It ain't happening. If you're calling for me, I guess I should tell you that I'll be checking that voicemail about once a week, and I probably still won't call you back. I want to change the voicemail message to say something like that, but I hate obnoxious voicemail messages, so I just leave it a nice, polite lie. Is that wrong? I have to tell you, I've really grown to hate the telephone, and I may just have the stupid thing turned off. Email is enough for me, and I have a prepaid cell phone for emergencies. This way, my neighbors can't bother me to use the phone, telemarketers can't reach me, I won't feel so bad about not answering/calling back, and Osmand Depuff's bill collectors will get the point too. (He/she apparently had this number for a while.) Does anyone else have a hate/hate relationship with your telephone? Don't even get me started on cell phones!