Being forced to interact with city government, state benefits, hospital systems, courts, police, and especially probation officers, all of whom are known to block or obfuscate their number even though missing their call could cause you no end of trouble, would help disabuse you of your smug solipsism.
And most services including utilities if you want to reach a human. It fucking sucks because English is my second language, I can read and type fine but if I have to talk on the phone I’m screwed, maybe both of us could understand 70% what the other party says
When the doctor's office can't get a hold of you, now you're looking at 6 months longer until you get to see the specialist you've been waiting for.
When probation can't get a hold of you, now you're looking at an unannounced visit, violation, and/or arrest warrant. This happened DAILY when ankle monitors suddenly malfunctioned and communicated that they'd been cut off or that I was violating home confinement by leaving unannounced.
i'll corroborate GP. it's happened when i tried enrolling in WA's Apple Health and then 3 days in a row got a call from the same number who left no message; finally i made sure to be near my phone the fourth day and got to it before the voicemail.
related, i found out within the last month via mail, after-the-fact, that Progressive had canceled my car insurance due to a billing change, and so i couldn't legally drive that week. you'd think an insurance billing department of all places would leave a message if they can't get hold of you immediately, but nope. not their policy. i guess the spammers have ruined things so much that if Progressive did leave a message most people (myself included) would mistake it for a phishing attempt anyway.
