The First Minute of Every Phone Call Is Torture Now
But at least you have something to talk about.
During the worst days of the pandemic, we all used Zoom, for better and worse. It had its quirks—You’re muted, Cathy, and so forth—but it offered a necessary human connection. The rise of videochat also amplified the decline in telephony. Already spoiled by robocalls, phone calls receded, save for spammers and moms.
Then we got Zoomed out and became desperate for phone calls again. The telephone is back, and thank goodness. But something seems to have broken in the interim. In my experience, it’s no longer possible to answer the phone successfully.
Instead, this: Hello? … Wait, hello? Can you hear me? Okay, hold on. Ugh. Okay, okay, just a second. I.
