Don't Talk to Me

Ladies, how do you feel about making and taking personal calls from your desk phone? I've always had the weirdest, weirdest issue with it.

Mainly, I can't do it. Well, now I work from home, so it's not a problem for me anymore (that would just be really weird), but when I used to work in an office, I had this unexplainable phobia of talking to anyone who wasn't a co-worker or somehow otherwise work-related.

I could never talk to my husband, for example. I totally laid down the law about him calling me at work unless he absolutely had to. When we did talk at work, OMG, it would make me feel so uncomfortable, my voice would change and get all quiet, like I was pretending I wasn't actually talking to him and that he was just another co-worker or not even that, like a stranger! The worst was when he would say "I love you" before hanging up, and I'd just be like, "Yeah, um, OK bye."

Or, if I needed to schedule an appointment somewhere, like at the salon or at the dentist, I didn't feel comfortable doing it at my desk. Instead, I would write the number on a post-it note and then go outside to make the call on my cell phone. Isn't that so lame of me?

I don't know why this was on my mind, but I was just thinking this was a really strange pet peeve (of my own doing) that is office-related and I wanted to get your opinions. So I'm wondering, is anyone else weird about personal calls at work or is it just me? My previous co-workers seemed to think nothing of it. They'd carry on conversations with just about anyone and couldn't care less that we all could hear every single word. Cubes aren't exactly sound proof. And you can't help listening in, you know?

Maybe that's why. Maybe I was too embarrassed to have people eavesdropping on my personal conversations. I also felt like phone conversations at work should be kept to work-related stuff. Personal calls should be taken outside or during your lunch break. I know that sounds Nazi of me, but that's just the standard (if you can call it that) I held for myself. I didn't really care that much when other people had personal calls at work.

Thoughts, anyone, about "office phone etiquette"?