September 2, 2009

Unscientific Poll: The Erase Case

There was no big fight, no big shouting match. Maybe we didn't click or we both lost interest. Who knows? It just fizzled. So, when's the best time to go ahead and delete his contact info from your phone? I can never tell!

I'm having trouble with this because I don't want to inadvertently answer incoming calls from dud dudes. I also don't want to be confronted with the fact that I've deleted a guy's number when he texts me, "Hey" and I write back, "Who is this?" It's not the biggest deal in the world, but I'm curious if there's a standard.

Consequently, I have a backlog of random numbers in my phone of people that I don't call and don't want to talk to. It's like having a closet full of sweaters that I don't want to wear. What do you guys think? Is it just me? Is your phone one big Do Not Call Registry?

15 comments:

Jon K said...

Furthermore, if you added someone on some form of social media prior to dating, and that didn't work as well as you'd have liked it to, when is appropriate to cut them off there, too?

Anna said...

Totally! Inquiring minds want to know.

Jilly B said...

Unless we're something serious, they don't get saved. If we are just dating, they are just a number.

Unknown said...

I only delete the numbers of boys I actually like. If they're into me, they will call eventually. Until then, I avoid the temptation of drunk texting them to profess my love.

barryg said...

One problem with having these numbers in your phone: possibility of an accidental pocket dial. I have done this and it is really embarressing.

Megan said...

I had a male friend who used to change unsavory girls' numbers in his phone to "do not answer." Since he had a few in there he couldn't tell who they were, just how to react if they contacted him. I always thought that was a clever system...

Anna said...

Megan, my sister Rachel told me to do that but that would just pique my curiosity. Who is this person calling me? Why shouldn't I answer it? PLUS, then I'd still have a bunch of numbers I don't want to call in my phone, all listed under the letter "d."

When I told her this, Rachel then suggested that I change the numbers to "zdo not answer," so they'd be listed under the letter "z."

So, what? I'm going to have a whole collection of crummy "z" entries at the bottom of my phone like a pool of discarded french fry grease?

G+G said...

I def. have a few "do not answers" in my phone, as well as random names like "Max Khyber," "Screen Door Boy" and "James Shoeshine." Probably time to purge my phonebook...

Anna said...

I have a bunch of normal boy names in my phone and I have no idea who they are or how they got there. Mike? Scott? John? WHO ARE YOU GUYS?? Where did we meet and are you hot?

thesimplicity said...

My question is "When is it safe to go un-invisible in Gmail chat?" It seems I have to hide out for a few weeks after a bad date in order to avoid a barrage of "DIDN'T YOU LIKE ME? I THOUGHT WE WERE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER!" messages whenever I check my email.

Anonymous said...

I put an X in front of names I want to avoid. I don't want to accidentally answer the call or text, but I have a morbid curiosity to see who is trying to contact me.

Jon K said...

I just delete the number. If I didn't want to talk to them enough to consider deleting the number, I think answering the phone and having to say "wait, who is this?" really drives the point home.

Katie D. said...

I agree totally with Serial. I keep numbers until they become a problem - i.e. I can't stop calling them when I'm drunk and I don't know why. Really - does anyone drunk dial guys they aren't even into?... or is that just me?

LizardQueen said...

I have phone issues in general and pretty much leave things in there for ages. I barely answer the phone as it is so I definitely don't want to be caught off guard if that guy that I dated this summer whom I haven't heard from in six weeks suddenly decides to call me. Come to think of it, I want to know it's him so I can scream "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!" at him. (He's done something similar before, and acted like it wasn't that big a deal. Good riddance.)

Elizabeth Treisner said...

I've done the "Do not answer" thing for only very specific people. I do often worry about having to do the "who is this?" text and having someone I actually might like to re-connect with be offended. It's hard when you do like a guy and you are worried about the embaressing pocket (or purse) dial (esp. with blackberries!) and/or the even more embaressing drunk text/dial.

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