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I freakin' hate telephones, and I always have, and the Dowager Countess of Grantham was correct in surmising that they are torture devices of the highest caliber. I always try to prefer virtual meetings with video and all the trimmings, especially screen-share capability. If not, in-person. Telephoning is like a last resort. I've pondered using TTY/TDD even though I have no physical impairments, but most agencies seem hostile to that sort of barrier and most of the time, I find myself needing to pass voice-recognizing gatekeeper AIs first. When I was promoted to "sysadmin" in my first job they set me at a desk with a computer and a PBX telephone. (It was an office at a gov't defense contractor...) The computer I could relate to on an intimate level; the telephone scared the living bejesus out of me, and I prayed it never to ring. A disembodied voice in your ear, especially one that interrupts everything you're doing and demanding a real-time conversation across space and time, that's incredibly rude, yet normalized for 100 years. I have PTSD and other disabilities, and I can get completely rattled and downright hostile/aggro when someone calls me and I'm not prepared, I'm not at my desk, no notes in front of me, even if I'm relaxing at home I just can't deal. I may answer the phone while on a bus or train, but I certainly won't sustain a conversation that way. Outgoing calls are sometimes OK but often end in disaster as I become increasingly frustrated. Now it's not uncommon