A
strange but true fact which, if completely analysed, would no doubt unearth profound insights into
human psychology:
An amazing number of people seem to be scared of answering a telephone mid-ring. Perhaps because waiting until a whole number of rings have passed gives them a sense of completeness, they will rest their hand on the vibrating handset for half a second longer than necessary, waiting for the silence between rings before lifting the receiver.
Depending on the level of paranoia of the callee, they may even choose to follow this algorithm, which is guaranteed to maximise the time between answering the phone and the point at which it would ring again, as well as minimising the probability of (gasp) cutting a ring in half:
- Walk to the phone
- Rest hand on receiver
- Wait through intervening silence until phone rings again
- Lift handset as soon as possible after next ring terminates
It may only be a few wasted seconds each time the
phone rings, but
they all add up. So for your longevity's sake, just
answer the damn phone as soon as you touch it. You'll thank me when you're older.