Telephones, Time and Temper among other things

  It is my opinion that the time to call on the telephone, emergencies excluded, should be limited to business hours, or before 6:00PM.  That's just an opinion, not a law.
  Here in our humble home area doctors and other who are seen by appointment have a habit (assume habits are bad) of calling to remind you of an appointment.  First:  Are we really dumb enough to forget written information.  Second: Aren't we old enough to remember to read what we wrote.  Third: If it's okay for them to call why can't it be done during business hours.
  Last night I was watching the national news, starts at 6:30PM, and was interested in what was being talked about.  My wife was asleep.  The phone rang, I answered, no one said a word.  After a delay a voice reminded my wife of an appointment, and please press one if you validate the appointment.  This was on Friday night, the appointment is Tuesday - so, you see, they do trust us to remember for a limited time.  Now, if it's important to call after hours, shouldn't it be at the very least a "live" person who places the call and not a "robot"?

  Cell phones are important, we even have one at our advanced age.  Our carrier is Verizon, which seems to be the only one with a plan for "seniors".  Both U S Cellular and AT&T Wireless have an office, or multiple offices in the Bangor area.
  One of the companies has, at least locally, a HUGE advertising budget, US Cellular, has covered city buses 100 percent with ads, they were using a mobile billboard until it was declared illegal (Maine has a strict Billboard Law).  The other two advertise sporadically on TV or print ads.
  My opinion is that, not considering the "senior" plan, there isn't a whole lot of difference between the three of them.  You make calls, you pay for a pre-set number of minutes - end of discussion.  I don't text or browse the 'net on a phone, the keys are way to small for that, and I don't really know how to text anyway, so that's not a part of my discussion.