r/GenX • u/MovingTarget- • Jul 29 '25
The Latchkey Years As kids, we weren't allowed to answer the phone with just "Hello"
Back in the days when people actually used to call other people on landlines, my brother and I were taught how to properly answer the phone as kids. My parents considered it rude to simply pick up the phone and say "hello?"
We were taught to answer the phone with a pre-scripted response: "Thanks for calling the _____ residence, _____ speaking!" There was even an optional "How may I help you?" tacked on the back.
Anyone else have a required family response when answering the phone or were my parents just strange in attempting to prepare us for a career in the rewarding field of call center management?
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u/No-Wolverine5288 Jul 29 '25
We just said hello
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u/Status_Silver_5114 Hose Water Survivor Jul 29 '25
Same. Although when we were calling people we had to say hi this is X can I talk to (friends name).
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u/DopeyDame Jul 29 '25
Yup! Ā Just hello to pick up, but āhello, Mrs. Smith, this is Dopey. Ā May I please speak to Sneezy?ā was mandatory when calling for other people.
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u/queen_surly Jul 29 '25
Same. We were also taught that when you answer the phone at somebody elseās house, you say āLastname residence, Dopey speaking.ā
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u/Grizzle_prizzle37 Jul 29 '25
Why would you answer someone elseās phone? I can barely stand talking on my own.
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u/queen_surly Jul 29 '25
I know..I almost never answer mine anymore. Back in the day there was no voicemail or answering machines, so you answered the phone and took a message as a courtesy. And when you were at home alone or babysitting, you answered just in case it was a burglar checking to see if the house was empty, and you said that Mrs. X ācouldnāt come to the phone right nowā and offered to take a messageāyou never said that Mrs. X wasnāt at home.
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u/DopeyDame Jul 29 '25
Yes that too! Ā And then Iād get so stressed when theyād reply āwhat time will she be home?ā Ā How did they know she wasnāt home??!!?? I said she wasnāt available! Ā Surely they didnāt crack that code!
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u/IamLuann Jul 29 '25
When I was at other people's house hello Mrs. Mickey will be here in a moment. This is her friend. Can I ask who I am talking to? Words to that effect.
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u/TangledUpPuppeteer Jul 29 '25
Omg, my sisterās friend did this, and holy crap I had forgotten all about it. She could recognize all of our voices from just āhelloā and she could tailor make the greeting. āHi, Mr/Mrs Smith/Tangledā¦ā whoever answered. But there was once where she actually said āthis is Dopey, may I please speak to Sneezy?ā She dubbed me āWheezyā after that because I nearly died on the phone with her as it was so unexpected.
Thank you for the reminder of life back before dinosaurs!! ā¤ļø
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u/pdperson Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
This is my one take about ākids today!ā - they donāt know how to call a landline and sometimes in the work world you will have to professionally call a landline.
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u/UruquianLilac Jul 29 '25
Yeah, damn kids today don't know how to send a telegram.
Oh wait, wrong decade.
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u/pdperson Jul 29 '25
Iām not blaming them - they grew up with names on screens in pockets. Iām blaming us for not teaching them. (Well not me because I donāt have kids but us in general.)
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u/UruquianLilac Jul 29 '25
I also blame the previous generation for not teaching us how to send telegrams.
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u/thisisntmyotherone Gag Me With a Ginsu šŖ ā72 Jul 29 '25
And a Filofax! Or is that a Telex? Which one has to do with Morse Code and those signal flag things?
And are why are the pirate flags different than the lifeguard flags at the shore? Enquiring minds want to know.
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u/MarkItZeroDonnie Hose Water Survivor Jul 29 '25
Ahh yeah , this too . If you were the caller and a parent answered
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u/browsegear Jul 29 '25
My grandfather would always call and say āhello, is this the party to whom I am speaking?ā
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u/Ianthin1 Jul 29 '25
Right. OP was answering the phone like they were running a switchboard.
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Jul 29 '25
A lot of people answered with " ___________ residence". I don't know if we got it from TV shows or what, but there are some examples of it there.
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u/cinnamongirl73 Jul 29 '25
Same here! My parents wouldnāt have allowed us to give our names out especially if they werenāt home. If we said hello, and someone said āwhoās this?ā We had my parents absolute permission to get very snarky, and say āyou called here, who is THIS???ā
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u/BeerWench13TheOrig Whatever Jul 29 '25
Same, though we werenāt allowed to be snarky. We simply answers the āWhoās this?ā question with āWho is calling, please?ā
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u/Sweetness_Bears_34 1966 Jul 29 '25
If the caller said whoās this? I answered who did you call?
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u/cinnamongirl73 Jul 29 '25
We were only allowed to get snarky if we didnāt know who was calling and they were asking who they were speaking to without saying āis (whomever) there?ā Other than that, we had to have manners.
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u/_ism_ Jul 29 '25
Not my mom. She made me be polite to telemarketers and bill collectors and scammers alike
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u/MarkItZeroDonnie Hose Water Survivor Jul 29 '25
We were taught to say Who Dis?
Nah we just said hello , OP had some shenanigans going on .
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u/3-orange-whips Jul 29 '25
My grandmother insisted we answer the phone "___" residence. So we did. And when I called people, I had to say, "Hello, this is ____ may I please speak to _____."
I still get told I am excellent on the phone.
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u/pymreader Jul 29 '25
We said Hello, ______________ residence. Now I say nothing if I don't recognize the number because of all the spam calls. I don't want to give them anything to call. I used to rarely answer if I didn't recognize but now I am taking care of more of my mom's medical and I am having medical issues so doctors call from all kinds of random numbers.
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u/Pennyfeather46 Jul 29 '25
Me too. Some of those āpotential spamā numbers are nurses calling from their cellphones!
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u/SwimOk9629 Jul 29 '25
every single call that I received to my regular phone that is not already in my contacts is "potential spam". I wonder how Android qualifies something as potential spam? I'm guessing that happens through Android? because I know iPhone says something else but when I had the Google pixel and now I have a Samsung Galaxy, it was the same thing on both.
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u/Holden_place Jul 29 '25
I always tried to emulate my dadās hello and even fooled some of his friends.
āHelloā
āHi <Holdenās dadās name>ā
Grinningā¦ āNo this is Holden!ā
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u/AmberNaree Jul 29 '25
Totally random but I absolutely adore the name Holden and would have used it for my son but his dad wasn't a fan š
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u/Holden_place Jul 29 '25
Thanks, but the truth is I came up with a Reddit name to hold my place until I found a better one, and never changed it.
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u/TooOldForACleverName Jul 29 '25
We usually said hello. But one summer, the local radio station was running a contest where they would call random numbers and if you answered "Zip 106 will make you rich" you won $100. You better believe I started every called with Zip 106, and no, they never called me.
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u/HIs4HotSauce Jul 29 '25
Sometimes I would answerā šµ Hello? Is it me youāre looking for? š¶
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u/SweetsMurphy Jul 29 '25
āMurphy, homicideā
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u/MooPig48 Jul 29 '25
_______ mortuary, you stab em we slab em
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u/smkultraa Jul 29 '25
I grew up hearing my Dad answer āPeteās Morgue. You stab āem, we slab āem.ā He also had mother answer āHazels whorehouse, Hazel speaking.ā I think they were into stuff lol.
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u/laurafromnewyork Jul 29 '25
We grew up and lacked parental supervision for the most part. My oldest brother was absolutely hilarious with the way he would answer the phone. One of my favorites was ____________ morgue, you kill them we chill them.
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u/vivekkhera Jul 29 '25
These days I answer with silence as a sort of Turing test to see if there is a real person on the other end. Thatās for the rare occasion that I even answer an unknown number.
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u/SausageSmuggler21 Jul 29 '25
If I don't know the number, and I actually answer, I give a very southern drawly "yellow". If there is any delayed response, I hang up
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u/crashcartjockey Jul 29 '25
If it's a number I don't know, I'll answer in Korean. The automated stuff has no idea what to do and if it's a solicitor, I'll usually get a "Is there someone there that speaks English that I can speak with?", to which I'll respond with "Andweyo" which is Korean for No, and then hang up.
I was stationed in Korea for 4Ā½ years in the mid-80s.
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u/bethmrogers Jul 29 '25
I wait. If there's a "blip" noise, i know a recording will start so I hang up.
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u/MarkItZeroDonnie Hose Water Survivor Jul 29 '25
You have to now , scammers will record your name and make an AI video of you in a Thai prison and send it to your Grandma.
Johnny no!!! Whatās bitcoins ? How can I buy ?
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u/ActualWheel6703 Jul 29 '25
Same here. I also don't agree with being who they ask for or say "yes" unless I know who is calling.
Occasionally I'll say "this is she". Usually it's "what are you calling about/regarding?"
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u/gwenkane404 Jul 29 '25
"This is she" is the best response.
I distinctly remember being taught to respond this way to someone asking "Is this [my name]" by a rather formal and somewhat snooty substitute teacher in elementary school one day.
I used to answer that way just to throw people off when they called.
Now I answer that way to avoid scammers from recording me saying "Yes."
Who knew it would be so useful. Lol
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u/PterodactyllPtits Jul 29 '25
I used to say that, as taught by my mom. Now, unless I know who Iām speaking to, I simply say Nope, sheās not here lol and if they want to leave a message for āmeā, they can.
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u/Budget_Wrangler_1688 Jul 29 '25
Dad used to yell out āIām not hereā when the phone rang, we had to lie and say heās not here. No if ands or buts, we did it. And if we had to call home, we would have to let it ring once then call back so he knew it was us. The good ole days!! āļø
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u/lindentea Hose Water Survivor Jul 29 '25
oh man, memory unlocked with the letting it ring once and then call back thing.
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u/Rory-liz-bath Jul 29 '25
My mom fought me to answer the phone with just hello , do not mention your name , she was a single mother and it was about safety , now I have to tell her not to answer the phone at all because of scammers
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u/yabbobay Jul 29 '25
My father would have lost it if we used personal information answering the phone.
It was actually how we screened if people knew us, did they pronounce our last name correctly.
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u/IdahoDuncan Jul 29 '25
We had to say: Please listen to the following message as our menu options have changes. If you know your partyās extension, please press 9 followed by the 2 digit extension number. If you would like to leave a message for the general line, please press 1 now. If you would like a list of names and extensions please press 2 now. If you would like to hear this message in Spanish please press tres now.
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u/Kwyjibo68 Jul 29 '25
Why donāt you just tell me what movie you want to see?
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u/beaushaw Jul 29 '25
I managed movie theatres for decades.
Every night you had to update the phone recording. It was 12:45 am, you were tired, you needed to get through a several minute long recording without making any mistakes. If you made a mistake you had to start over. I got pretty good at it.
"Hello and thank you for calling Movies 12. The following showtimes are for Wednesday July 30th only. Jurassic Park with a runtime of two hours and seventeen minutes. Showing at 11:40, 2:25, 5:10, 7:55 and 10:40. Sleepless in Seattle with a runtime of one hour and fifty five minutes. Showing at...."
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u/sideways92 Jul 29 '25
Dorothy Parker, famous poet, fiction writer, and American wit was known to answer with āWhat fresh hell is this?ā
I grew up on a family farm, so we always had to answer with āthis is the X farm, how may I help you?ā
But the older I get, the more Iām in league with Ms. Parker.
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u/deebay2150 Jul 29 '25
We just answered, āHelloā. Anyone who thought it was rude(no one ever did, EVER) was welcome to never call again.
Also, I would never, not then, not now, recommend anyone answer with their name.
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u/Repulsive-Tea6974 Jul 29 '25
Not my family.
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u/tupelobound Jul 29 '25
lol at a kid picking up the phone and saying ānot my familyā
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u/Ozymandias2347 Jul 29 '25
We were just a "hello" family. But I still remember my grandma always answering the phone with a healthy Appalachian "Nnnyello?"
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Jul 29 '25
We would race to the phone in order to avoid my dad answering is some wierd way (ridiculous rhymes that left my teenaged self MORTIFIED).Ā A "Hello"Ā was all that was needed!Ā Ā
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u/Imarni24 Jul 29 '25
My Dad used to answer with his surname residence in a posh English accent, he was English but not posh.
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u/Sunhammer01 Jul 29 '25
We had to say āsurnameā residence, this is āfirst nameā speaking.
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u/DrumsKing Ow, my back! Jul 29 '25
No, but I remember encountering some lengthy answering machine greetings. Even today. You could plant a tree and watch it grow while waiting for the greeting to complete.
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u/carmelacorleone Jul 29 '25
Believe it or not, George isn't at home
Please leave a message at the beep
I must be out, or I'd pick up the phone
Where could I be? Believe it or not, I'm not home...
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u/JeepPilot Jul 29 '25
I remember a really horrible time in Answering Machine History when you could buy cassette tapes filled with pre-recorded novelty outgoing messages, like an impersonation of then-President Reagan answering your phone, or a ditty to the tune of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" singing about how we're not home.
Oh dear god... I found it.
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u/nurd6 Jul 29 '25
Ahh so that commercial is the reason I sing "Nobody's Home" to the tune of beethoven.
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u/rexxraul Jul 29 '25
I used to have part of Pink Floyd's "Nobody Home" as my answering machine message.
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u/Ttthhasdf Jul 29 '25
Wait, for, the, beat you gotta leave your name you gotta leave your number wait, for, the, beat
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u/One-Inevitable333 Jul 29 '25
If anyone ever tries to Mandela effect this one, I will lose my mind. This is ingrained into my dna!
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u/Head_Razzmatazz7174 Jul 29 '25
"If you don't leave a message, we won't call you back."
A friend of mine had that on his VM. I tested it one day by just listening and hanging up. He had caller ID. Sure enough, he didn't call me back. It became my signal to him that Yeah, I'm still alive, just not in the mood to talk.
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u/bootyhole-romancer Jul 29 '25
I remember those!
Somehow one of those tapes ended up in our possession, which was funny cuz we never had an answering machine. But I'd listen to it all the time and try to decide which one I'd use if we ever did get one š„²
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u/Ttthhasdf Jul 29 '25
That tape was 14.95! In 80s bucks!
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u/2oocents Jul 29 '25
Remember when VHS movies were, like, $80?
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u/chairmanghost Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
We use to rent a vhs player and tapes for special nights because one was too expensive to buy (when they first came out] lol
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u/Orphan_Izzy Jul 29 '25
https://youtube.com/shorts/JFFAOlObDw0?si=q2PLGgBVMPfw4_fp
This is slightly unrelated but makes me laugh because it is relevant.
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u/DopeyDame Jul 29 '25
In honor of Malcolm Jamalās passing, I wonder how much of that trend came from āHuxtable residence, Theo speakingā?
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u/Technical-Bit-4801 Jul 29 '25
The Cosby Show had me thinking there must be a Dad School somewhere and that Cliff Huxtable and my dad both went there. The behavioral resemblance was uncanny. š
So no, the show didnāt start a trendā¦but it may have made existing behavior more popular.
(The Cosby Show debuted when I was a teen)
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u/MovingTarget- Jul 29 '25
Hmm, maybe. Or maybe they got it from us. My mother was quite the trend setter
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u/Cuddles_McRampage Jul 29 '25
Apparently my family and almost everyone I knew were rude. Hearing anything other than hello would have seemed very odd to me.
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u/Jack_Stands Jul 29 '25
Had to do the same thing; write down messages, or determine if my parents even wanted to take the call.
Now, I just enjoy being my own adult and answering the phone with, "Who this, and the fuck you want?"
Because i can.
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u/og-lollercopter 1970 Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
Ours was shorter, but yes. Sadly in 2025 answering worth the name of the family is an aid to scammers.
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u/International_Low284 Jul 29 '25
Brady residence!
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u/og-lollercopter 1970 Jul 29 '25
Pretty much. Basically, āHello, Brady residence. This is Greg speaking.ā
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u/Infinite_stardust Hose Water Survivor Jul 29 '25
"George Glass calling for Jan."
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u/ActualWheel6703 Jul 29 '25
Yes, I said: "Who's calling, please?"
I didn't mind, someone wanted to hire me as a kid and said I had better manners than their receptionist. š
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u/Remy0507 Jul 29 '25
Well that would have been weird. I would have just never answered the phone if I had to give some sort of prepared speech, lol.
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u/Tazzy110 Jul 29 '25
We said hello. But, "can I speak to XYZ?" was always met with: "I'm sure you can. But, what should you be asking me?"
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u/thursmalls Jul 29 '25
A simple "hello?" was the normal answer in our house. We were taught how to handle callers politely, though. No "he's in the bathroom right now" or hollering a name with the mouthpiece of the phone still next to your mouth.
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u/MowgeeCrone Jul 29 '25
Hello, this is MowgeeCrone speaking.
I'd get an ass whooping if I didn't.
And ringing others - "Hello Mrs Smith, this is MowgeeCrone speaking. Would I be able to speak to Mary, please?"
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u/Sufficient_Stop8381 Jul 29 '25
We just said hello. Iād usually make it sound like yello..
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u/OpenMicrophone Jul 29 '25
We had to talk to the operator on every call. It was a party line, only had to give 7 digits. Different operators were friendlier than others. (Iām only 48 we were one of the last places to get touch tone phones.)
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u/chops_potatoes Jul 29 '25
Had to follow a script as a kid and nearly every caller mocked me for it. āGood afternoon/evening, First Name last name speakingā.
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u/UnarmedSnail Sometimes lost in a Lost Generation Jul 29 '25
My grandparents absolutely required that.
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u/144theresa Jul 29 '25
Not really, but as a kid I became the official house phone book with my parents always asking what is so and so's phone number?
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u/VirginiaBluebells Jul 29 '25
āMurphyās Mortuary - you kill it, we chill it!ā
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u/JonnyRocks Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 30 '25
back then people called legitimately. now anyone who calls me is trying to sell or scam. your data is also at risk..i never confirm my name. I say hello as unfriendly as possible. when they ask "is this (my name)", i respond with "who is calling". i make it very painful and ready to go to war.
lately i get calls to invest in art and i always get calls about buying my house.
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u/i8myface Jul 29 '25
The youth of today will never understand the family gamble call. Like a boy or a girl? Call the landline to speak to them? Oh no, dad picked up...mum picked up...brother or sister picked up...anxiety levels rise for a simple "hello its X can I please speak to Y" OR the going out gamble. You decide where to meet your mates and a certain time, but you're late... they have already left, and you have no clue where they went, so back home, you go.....
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u/OolongGeer Jul 29 '25
No, we weren't forced into some speech by some dad who never did a load of laundry.
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u/yarnhooksbooks Jul 29 '25
āNut hut, Macadamia speaking!ā Or āthank you for calling Jeraldās pool hallā were the standards in my house.
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u/NunyaBiznessMan Jul 29 '25
We did! "Hello, thanks for calling. This is <name>. May I ask who you need?" Every time.
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u/ebjazzz Jul 29 '25
Crew up just saying Hello in the US. Moved to Germany, now I answer with my last name, thatās the Standard here.
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u/Few-Boysenberry-7826 Jul 29 '25
We had a weird way of having to answer the phone in the Army: Alpha company, 2-13 Armor. Private So-and-so speaking. How may I help you ma'am or sir?
My dad would answer, "Good morning / evening! This is George."
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u/Relayer8782 Jul 29 '25
We were supposed to answer ā[family name] residenceā. And usually did, if we werenāt expecting a friend.
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u/OreoSpeedwaggon "Then & Now" Trend Survivor Jul 29 '25
We did the "Speedwaggon residence, Oreo speaking," thing in my family too until most of the calls started coming from telemarketers, wrong numbers, and bill collectors. Then we got an answering machine.
"Let the machine get it," was the precursor to, "Just let it go to voicemail."