People are paying Mary Jane Copps $480 an hour to help them get over being afraid to talk on the phone. This isn’t about a phobia. It’s about a generational issue. Her clientele are Gen Zers and Millennials who grew up texting and now don’t know how to have a conversation on a phone. Jane started her consultancy firm The Phone Lady years ago. Now she gets calls from major companies to help their employees improve their staff’s phone skills. If $480 an hour is too rich for your blood, she also offers 30 minute webinars for only $365. She normally starts by making them call their family and friends. Many are scared to even talk to their own mothers.
This makes me chuckle, but it takes 2, 3, 4, or more calls to my younger brothers to call me back. More than half the time it’s not a call, it’s a text. I may sound like an old fuddy-duddy, but I hate getting texts. I like the personal connection of a call. To me, it means you took the time and the effort. And don’t get me started on emojis. I had an English minor in college and took honors English classes in high school. If English were breakfast with the alphabet being steak and eggs, emojis would be Fruity Pebbles.