I did a minor-league one this afternoon.
I hate the phone, right? I especially hate calling up people who aren't expecting a call and talking to them. Especially when it's people I don't know well.
BUT: we really, really, really need to get homebound visitation/communion going again at church. And as the fairly-new head elder, it falls to me to arrange that. Even though I hate the phone.
Our super-enthusiastic, very friendly, new interim pastor - I had suggested starting making the visits again to him - wanted to go out on the first few to meet people and to help. So he and I (and possibly his wife, if she's in town) will go out on Sunday.
But we had to call the people first. And because I knew one of the couples, and knew who the other person we were going to be visiting was (though I can't remember if I ever met him), it fell to me to call.
And I hate the phone. And I hate feeling like I might be intruding on someone's life. But I had to. So I did it this afternoon.
The first couple was easy, I knew them well before the health problems hit and they were happy and enthusiastic to get a visit. The other man, he was more difficult, because he's very hard of hearing (I warned the pastor in my e-mail message). I finally got a message to him through his daughter. (Oh. Maybe I have met him before, maybe that was before his wife died. Okay, that makes sense now, I know who he is).
But it's DONE, and both of them welcome a visit and communion. So that feels good.
This will get easier, and anyway, I won't have to do it every time - the expectation is the other elders will pick it up some times. This is an important thing to do, and I admit it's something we've been "floating" on because of various other stuff going on but mainly because I hate the phone enough that it's been hard to take the initiative to do it.
(And maybe eventually I can cultivate one of the other elders, one who likes the phone more, into being the one to do it....I don't know)
I always feel like this after doing a scary thing like this:
It also takes me a while to calm back down to be able to do something productive.
2 comments:
Young people seem to really hate the phone. As a librarian, my colleagues, all of whom are younger, eschew it; I embrace it. It's NOT all in the databases and Google. Sometimes you need a REAL HUMAN BEING.
I have a good phone personality. On the other hand cold calling is a PITA. But consider this. You are not trying to cold call sell something, you are trying to do a loving caring thing for them. And as members of your church you are nto cold calling people you don't even know.
I will say tho I walk around like a proud peacock when I do something I am not excited about when I get it done. It took me 2 years to figure out how to fix my track lighting and I swear I felt 10 ft tall for about an hr later. :D
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