EEEEEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH#@!#!#!$!

[pile of monkeys]

I get these calls all the time- someone wanting to book an appointment, with at least one screaming, shrieking, wailing child in the background. So then the caller starts shouting to be heard over the noise, I'm holding the phone about a foot away from my ear, and finally I have to say, "I'm sorry, I really can't hear you at all. Maybe you could call back with a better connection?" (Because heaven forbid you suggest it's their screaming child's fault, or theirs, for not doing anything about the screaming- just blame it on the phone.)

Funny thing is, I also get a lot of calls with barking dogs in the background, which is also loud and difficult to hear over. Those callers will always apologize and either call me back or move to another room. People with screaming kids just keep talking right over the noise.

[Ree]

You do seem to have a way with words, GK!

Just to clarify, since he pointed it out to the mods after the phrase in question came under fire, but apparently it's not Gravekeeper's way with words, so he really wasn't being all that clever or original. Gravekeeper didn't come up with the phrase in question. I'm told that he was only repeating what he has seen other members using here.

If that's the case, I hope there will be no more instances of it, as both Spiffy and DGoddess have requested.

[Gravekeeper]

Just to clarify, since he pointed it out to the mods after the phrase in question came under fire, but apparently it's not Gravekeeper's way with words, so he really wasn't being all that clever or original. Gravekeeper didn't come up with the phrase in question. I'm told that he was only repeating what he has seen other members using here.

Indeed. Its been around the net awhile, really.

Sides, my material usually involves mammals. -.-

[calulu]

So then the caller starts shouting to be heard over the noise, I'm holding the phone about a foot away from my ear, and finally I have to say, "I'm sorry, I really can't hear you at all. Maybe you could call back with a better connection?"

I wish I could do that. Unforch I am wearing a headset and by the end of first angry shriek I am deafen to the point where I've either taken the earpiece off and tossed it or I am frantically fumbling to turn the volume down to lowest levels. Usually both of those things occur too late to save my hearing.

[Ree]

Maybe it's because people get used to the sound of shrieking children if they live in an environment where there are children, so they don't realize how awful it is when magnified into a phone's earpiece?

Babies and children are unpredictable.
A child could be playing away, as happy as a little clam until a parent picks up the phone to make a call, and suddenly, they start squawking. I've seen it happen so many times, and it happened to me, personally a few times. (I always apologized for the noise if I was making an important call and wasn't able to call back at another time.)
If a person waited until the children were sleeping to make every phone call, then they wouldn't get a lot accomplished.

It certainly sets a bit of a precedent for the child if they know all they have to do to get attention is to start a tantrum when a parent is on the phone, and they will hang up and tend to the child. Sometimes it's easier and a better lesson to just let the child have their hissy fit, as annoying as that may be for the person on the other end of the phone.

I'm sure there are just as many calls made to homes with well behaved, quiet children, but it's only the calls made when a child is shrieking that get attention.

As far as barking dogs, I have taken plenty of calls from people with dogs going apeshit in the background and never got so much as an apology for the noise.

Let's watch the generalizations and inferences that pet owners are better and more considerate and responsible than parents, because that is certainly the implication I was reading into that comment.

[Gravekeeper]

Maybe it's because people get used to the sound of shrieking children if they live in an environment where there are children, so they don't realize how awful it is when magnified into a phone's earpiece?

Thats probably pretty close to the truth. They're either desensitized to it or given up trying to stop it or ignoring the kid ( Like if the kid is just screaming for attention. ). Though its still kind of inconsiderate. My mom would have hung up and called the person back or told the person to hang on a sec while she...addressed me and I would have been quiet afterwards. ;p

[calulu]

Dog barking is annoying but dogs do not even begin to rate on the same same of ear splitting because of the tone. The high pitched screaming of a child will shatter your ear drum, but no matter how irritatingly loud a dog bark is it's not that high tones that cause your head to throb. Nothing against babies, have had a few, just hate them screaming in my ear while I'm working..

[Ree]

Dog barking is annoying but dogs do not even begin to rate on the same same of ear splitting because of the tone.

That depends on the dog. My Mom had one that drove me insane. It was a Poodle/Maltese cross and it was the yappiest thing. Its bark would shatter eardrums too, and it was spoiled rotten.
It got that I hated to talk to my Mom on the phone because the damn thing was always yapping at anything and everything. (A squirrel on the porch caused it to have conniptions...and my mom lived in the country, so there were lots of squirrels.)

I get what you're saying, though. A child's screaming does have a different tone that can cause a person to just about go insane.
There are days when my granddaughter will start screeching and I am almost in tears, myself, if there isn't anything I can do to calm her down.

I think, in the cases mentioned where the screaming seems to get louder, the parent probably picks up the child in an attempt to calm it, but the child continues screaming, causing misery to the person on the other end, because now the shrieking children are much closer to the mouthpiece.

[calulu]

Oh, I did forget about tiny yappy dogs. They are impossible.

But I'm sure everyone I talk to that calls my home is freaked out and has splitting headaches from my Sun Conure parrot. Now she is loud and barky and ear splitting.

[NightAngel]

Dog barking is annoying but dogs do not even begin to rate on the same same of ear splitting because of the tone.

I have a big dog.
She has a very loud, booming and somehow very high pitched bark.

It's one of those things that make you stick your finger in your ear and shake it around to quell the painful sensation.

[pile of monkeys]

I'm sure there are just as many calls made to homes with well behaved, quiet children, but it's only the calls made when a child is shrieking that get attention.

As far as barking dogs, I have taken plenty of calls from people with dogs going apeshit in the background and never got so much as an apology for the noise.

Let's watch the generalizations and inferences that pet owners are better and more considerate and responsible than parents, because that is certainly the implication I was reading into that comment.

I'm certain I get many, many calls from people with quiet children in the background- I just don't know it because they're quiet! They would make a for a pretty boring thread about sucky customers, since quiet calls aren't that sucky.

Anyone who doesn't apologize for loud noises on their end of a phone call, whether it's kids, dogs, alarms, their cell phone ringing obnoxiously in the background- these are all sucky customers. No judgment or implication was intended about parents or pet owners, just annoyance with anyone who allows loud noises on their end to interfere with a call. I live in an area where emergency vehicle sirens go blaring past my house at all hours, and when I'm on any kind of business-type call, I end up apologizing profusely, or telling the person I'll call back, or I'll be hitting mute for a few seconds. Anyone- parent, pet owner, or those on ambulance routes should show courtesy to those on the receiving end of all that noise.

[Pagan]

I think, in the cases mentioned where the screaming seems to get louder, the parent probably picks up the child in an attempt to calm it, but the child continues screaming, causing misery to the person on the other end, because now the shrieking children are much closer to the mouthpiece.

I think, too, that people forget that what they're speaking into is a microphone, which amplifies noise.

Not a big fan of the screaming baby on the other end, but I find it infinitely preferable to people eating while they're on the phone with me. I cannot begin to describe how much that grosses me out. Not to mention how incredibly rude it is.

[Gravekeeper]

I cannot begin to describe how much that grosses me out. Not to mention how incredibly rude it is.

Nononono, the absolutely worst is when you realize you're getting "Bathroom Echo". ><

[Ree]

I'm certain I get many, many calls from people with quiet children in the background- I just don't know it because they're quiet! They would make a for a pretty boring thread about sucky customers, since quiet calls aren't that sucky.

Well...duh!!! That's a no-brainer of course.
Of course the point was that calls with screaming children in the background are sucky and calls with quiet children aren't an issue, but there were implications that leaves one to believe all households with children result in the same type of call with them screaming in the background, when that's not the case.

My comments were directed at these points you made:

I get these calls all the time- someone wanting to book an appointment, with at least one screaming, shrieking, wailing child in the background. <snip>

Funny thing is, I also get a lot of calls with barking dogs in the background, which is also loud and difficult to hear over. Those callers will always apologize and either call me back or move to another room. People with screaming kids just keep talking right over the noise.

In my opinion, that was a pretty clear generalization that pet owners are more considerate than parents, and that was what I was addressing.

[pile of monkeys]

In my opinion, that was a pretty clear generalization that pet owners are more considerate than parents, and that was what I was addressing.

I apologize, it was certainly not my intention to make an offensive generalization. I was recounting the experiences of phone calls I had received that were similar to the OP's, and other calls that also involved loud noises. In my experience, there is a wide overlap of parents and pet owners (as in, I know many many people with both children and pets), so I wouldn't say one group is more considerate than the other. In my experience, based on calls I've received, a barking dog or squawking bird is more likely to prompt an apology or change in location, most likely because that noise is as loud and obnoxious to the caller as it is to the call-ee. As you said:

Maybe it's because people get used to the sound of shrieking children if they live in an environment where there are children, so they don't realize how awful it is when magnified into a phone's earpiece?

Perhaps those with loud animals are just as annoyed by the sound of their animal as is the person on the other end of the phone. I know I'm mortified when my dog starts barking when I'm on the phone, or when sirens go blaring by my house. I always try to move to a quieter area in the house, or I'll offer to call the person back.

Again, apologies if I offended anyone. That was not the intent of my post, and I'm sorry if it appeared that it was.