Sex and drugs and rock and roll

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

Now that I've got your attention, that is.

 

[Bitmap]

I'm right-handed, so I usually hold it in my right hand, anyway. I think I usually use my right hand, unless it is occupied otherwise (e.g. when I have to write something down).

 

[Hemo Rusticus]

Never really thought about it, but I almost always use my left hand. I even kept it in my left pocket for years (until I stopped bringing it altogether). Maybe because in my heart of hearts I always knew it comes from the devil.

 

[Bitmap]

Btw does anyone of you not hold their phone to their ear when making a voice call?

 

[rothbard]

Btw does anyone of you not hold their phone to their ear when making a voice call?

No, otherwise I can't hear anything, since the connection here is already pretty bad as it is.

 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

I'm right-handed and feel very uncomfortable using the phone with my right hand, but have no idea why. Yes, having it in the left is more convenient if I have to write things down, but I'm sure I had the habit long before there was much need to do so.

I tend to put a mobile on speakerphone to be able to hear it. I'm not good at mobile phone conversations when there's background noise of any sort on my end. It's not hearing loss as such, since my hearing was rated within the normal range the last time I did some test or other. Admittedly that was some time ago, but I had the same problem back then, and for that matter as long as I can remember.

 

[Hemo Rusticus]

I was just reasoning this as I read your post, that is:

but I'm sure I had the habit long before there was much need to do so.

 

[Bitmap]

I'm right-handed and feel very uncomfortable using the phone with my right hand, but have no idea why. Yes, having it in the left is more convenient if I have to write things down

I usually hold it in my right hand and operate it with my thumb. Do you happen to hold it in your left hand and operate it with your right index finger?

 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

How did you know that?

It hadn't even occurred to me that anyone right-handed would do it any other way. But that's not the reason I hold it to my ear with the left hand, as I did it with landlines before mobiles existed. It must just be another manifestation of the same tendency.

 

[Bitmap]

How did you know that?

It would seem to be the standard technique for somebody who routinely holds it in her left hand despite being right-handed. My mother uses the same technique.
I think it is the same thing with modern landline phones. It depends on whether you prefer dialing with your thumb or with your index finger... and with the old rotary phones, I suppose it comes down to whether you mind holding the handset in the hand you're dialing with or whether you don't ...

My mother also seems to think that you need to be twice as loud as you normally are when you're on the phone in order to bridge the gap between you and the other person on the line.

 

[Iáson]

Yeah, I usually hold my 'phone in my left hand, so that I can use my right hand to type. I don't know if that comes out of using the right hand to operate the dial on a landline, or is an independent development.

To be honest, I also find it hard to use a mobile to call people unless I put it on speakerphone. Then I tend to hold it with both hands, so that I can speak directly into the microphone.

 

[Bitmap]

I think I'm the last generation that still holds phones to their ear.

 

[Pacifica]

My mother also seems to think that you need to be twice as loud as you normally are when you're on the phone in order to bridge the gap between you and the other person on the line.

My mother tends to bellow — or perhaps rather shriek — on the phone, too.

 

[Hawkwood]

I'm right-handed and hold phone in right hand while using thumb to type. I assumed most right-handers do it that way but I know for sure my eldest does as he's doing it now too.

Edit: no idea why that R was capitalized.

 

[Hemo Rusticus]

Not exactly related, but yesterday I was helping an older woman at the 'self-checkout' (automated) counter at the grocery store, and she says:
'These things are disgusting. It's times like this I wish I were dead.'

But she had a sunny attitude, like she wasn't angry or indignant. In fact, she was smiling as she said it (& you could tell she meant it). I told her I agree for the most part, but not to let it spoil her day.

Also, she was one of the slim margin of people not wearing a face mask, and clearly didn't care a whit when I broke the '6 feet of distance' rule to help her. A hard-boiled ol' lady, to be sure.

 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

A variant: if you are using a headset, on which side of your face is the microphone? I don't know if they correlate, but mine is definitely left.

 

[rothbard]

Mine too. I am right-handed, by the way.

 

[R. Seltza]

FWIW, I'm right handed but I alternate between sides. My right hand is more comfortable but I hear slightly better out of my left ear. Most of the time, I'd rather use a Bluetooth earpiece since I'm usually listening to an audiobook & there's just something about having call audio blasted deep into my ear that makes things so much clearer.