Businessperson tired of many clients calling cellphone

Dear Annie: I own a small service business. We have a business phone number, but I also have a cellphone number. The latter is on my business card, and it is obviously the way people prefer to communicate. My problem is that customers don’t hesitate to call me or text me at any hour and virtually any time over the weekend, as well. It has really gotten out of hand as of late. I find it to be intrusive. I realize they’re just getting something off their list, but they should either hold off or do it via email, in my humble opinion. My problem is how to address this with them without rubbing them the wrong way.

Professional Etiquette Paradox Dear Professional Etiquette: In recent years, cellphones have started crossing the wires between professional and personal life. I think that’s a shame. Fortunately, this technological problem also has some technological solutions. Consider using a call and text management app, such as Nextiva, GoDaddy SmartLine or Google Voice. Google Voice gives you a separate phone number that connects to multiple lines and allows you to determine where messages and calls go at different times of the day. For instance, you could set it to route any calls after 6 p.m. to the office answering machine. It can also keep all your work-related text messages contained within the Google Voice app so they’re not mixed in with your personal messages. This would require printing up new business cards and informing all your current customers that your number has changed. (Though you’d actually still be using your personal cell number, they don’t need to know that.) A small cost and a little hassle for big relief in the long run. Dear Annie: I read your column every day and want to point out a phrase that appeared in a recent letter to you that grates my nerves every time I hear or read it. The writer (apparently a man) wrote, “Five years later, my girlfriend got pregnant.”

The structure of that sentence makes it sound as if the girlfriend were mysteriously impregnated. The sentence implies the writer doesn’t think he had anything to do with this situation — as if his girlfriend just found herself in this situation or caught a disease of some sort.

People must be held accountable for their actions, and it starts with our words. It would have been far better if the man had written, “Five years later, I impregnated my girlfriend” or “Five years later, my girlfriend and I were expecting our first baby.” Or, if he wasn’t the person who participated in the commencement of the pregnancy, then he should have stated it as such. I feel sorry for this woman and their children because he is clearly someone who lacks the “personal responsibility” gene, as his many woes (debt, unsatisfying job, lack of skills) seem to stem from that weird moment when his “girlfriend got pregnant.” Thanks for letting me vent.

It Takes Two to Make Three

Dear It Takes Two: Your letter made me chuckle. Good point. I wouldn’t be too hard on this one particular person, as that phrasing is prevalent — though you make a good case for why it shouldn’t be.