I talked on the telephone today more than I can recall doing since working in a place where my job was to be on the phone.
I say that I don't like to talk on the tele, and that is partly true. I almost never answer unidentified numbers when they appear; maybe 1 out of 20 on some odd hunch that I should. With those folks that I do know, I admit there is a hierarchy to the probability of answering, but excuses to decline hitting the green button affect even the highest ranking .
Telephones are fucking invasive! Moreso to me than any other form of communication, short of walking up to unsuspecting people and initiating conversation. They twingle, demanding attention within a set timespan, and you are given no preview of what is to come once it begins, save perhaps knowing who owns the number calling. And once you're connected, it's socially binding. In non-business phone exchanges one almost always has to give a plausible (but not insulting) rationale for terminating the dialog.
Strange history I've had with the telecom dimension on the whole. At a preternaturally young age I had access to a computer and rapidly persuaded my way into a dedicated phone line for the family castle. There may have been actual legitimate business uses for the 'data' line. I honestly don't recall, although as the general 'sysadmin' for the machine, I knew this was not the primary function of either the machine, or the copper wire that from our house to the street.
