Journal 1: Answering the Telephone
For this project I surveyed and researched the “Telephone Response Violation.” By doing so I would answer my phone and not say a word then I would jot down my observations of the other persons response. However, before I started my violation survey I was really quite worried. It doesn’t matter if you’re in China or America; it’s an impolite behavior to not answer or greet when someone phones you. Perhaps the person calling me might think I accidently hit the wrong button or something, which would potentially lead to them hanging up and redialing me again. I assume if I don’t answer within 5 seconds the person calling me would just hang-up and try again or try text messaging me. The past few days that I have been attempting the survey has been a bit difficult for me because I am use to always answering with “hello.” However, I made a concerted effort and achieved good results for this project.
My friend, Savina, and I were planning on hanging out Thursday afternoon. I waited for her to pick me up at the CRCC business building. She called me when she arrived, and I answered her phone call, but didn’t say a word. This (non-conversation) silence lasted for 23 seconds and then she asked “hello Caroline, are you there?” I did not expect this patient reaction from her. After we met, I asked her why she waited on the phone for a whole 23 seconds instead of saying something immediately. Her response to why she didn’t say something sooner and instead waited 23 seconds was because she assumed I was really busy at the moment and needed a few seconds before answering her call. Plus, she said she was in no hurry so she waited. She thinks my silent action is understandable because it has happened with her before. I think there is also another reason why she waited so long to respond. I think it also took her longer to respond because we had already planned me waiting for her in the CRCC building. I think “time” and “schedule” plays a big part in my survey.

Since Chinese Dragon-Boat Festival was coming up my friend Jing-Jing wanted to make rice dumplings with me. Saturday night she called and invited me to her apartment Sunday morning to prepare the rice dumplings. I told her that I would give her a call on Sunday morning when I arrived. When I arrived on Sunday, I did the same “violation” to Jing-Jing. After 4 seconds she said “hello,” then hung-up, and called me back immediately. She told me the signal around her apartment is not good, that it comes and goes. That’s why she reacted the way she did. I think her reaction is related to “etiquette and behavior”. Jing-Jing thinks it would be impolite to just hang-up and not dial back. She dialed back out of concern and worry of the service connection in the area. She respects her friends and doesn’t want to waste their time and/or have them wait outside due to bad phone service connection there.

Desiree is my personal banker and I did the same “violation” to her. She called me and introduced herself very formally. After I picked up the phone she waited about 3 to 4 seconds for me to respond. Since I didn’t respond immediately she kept asking “Hello? Hello? Hello?” to see if I was on the line because I picked-up the phone. I think her reaction categorizes under “communication” because her phone call is serious and professional due to her calling on her job where I’m her customer. She has formal communication skills and pays more attention to meeting good customer service. Here is a brief summary of my survey. I chose three individuals to test on. Two of which are my friends and the third is my personal banker. All of their reactions were very polite. When asked they all were not bothered by my actions or thought I was rude. In addition, I think it makes a difference that we are all acquainted with each other. All three trust me and know I don’t just answer and not say anything for a reason. My study shows how “culture shock” is related to “time, behavior, and communication.”

To wrap it all up, the only person that hung-up on me was Jing-Jing, which is something I think Chinese people are accustomed to doing in this situation. Usually, a Chinese person ends up feeling really uncomfortable if the person their calling does not answer/greet them when they pick up the phone so they will end the call. If they’re in a hurry they will try calling again immediately or try text messaging. There is a difference in a Chinese person’s response and an American person’s response. Americans tend to think more politely and respectability by staying longer on the phone until they get a response.

From my research I have learned that from now on I will wait a bit longer than usual on the phone when calling someone to give them a few minutes before I give up and hang-up. By doing so, it shows more politeness and respectfulness especially when I’m here in the United States.