Phone Fear

For those of you that have known me for a while, you may remember my fear of calling people via the telephone. I've never had a problem talking (at least not after I know you). I've never been afraid to answer the phone. My sole fear was calling people. Ok, to be honest, my fear was also initiating any form of contact. I dreaded it. In fact I still do - at times. In general though, I'm over it, in English.

French is another story! I hate hate hate hate hate calling people here. I blame perfectionism. Unless I can do something perfectly I don't want to do it at all. This is why I often tell French people I'm timid - because I don't want to mess up language-wise, I don't talk. I admit it. I'm subconsciously afraid of what people think. I'm afraid of criticism. I guess you could call me proud and insecure. ... those two traits don't seem like they would be bed-fellows though...perhaps they are. Who knows ! I digress.

Why am I ranting about this? Well, because today I called two different companies and achieved more in 10 minutes than I have in the past two months of dealing with these people. Lesson learned: when in France, use the telephone.

Update: I've now called multiple places. I'm in my groove.