I made a phone call today and was shocked when there was neither an answer nor an answering machine at the other end. I let the phone ring over twelve times before realizing the ringing would continue until I hung up.
Oh my gosh, I thought, I'm going to have to keep calling this person back until I catch them at home. Who doesn't have an answering machine these days?
I was brought up short by the realization I was feeling inconvenienced by the prospect of having to make multiple attempts at reaching my party. Me, the guy who was dragged kicking and screaming into the cell phone era. Me, the guy who used to view the blinking light on an answering machine as an unwelcome intrusion in my schedule.
It really wasn't that many years ago that an unanswered phone was commonplace. Those same relatively few years ago, friends were appalled that I didn't run to answer my home phone when it rang.
Whoever it is can call back, I would say with a shrug.
Perhaps, instead of feeling inconvenienced, I should applaud the person with the unanswered phone. Just maybe they have taken the first important step in simplifying their life - or maybe they never allowed the world to encroach on simplicity in the first place.
No comments:
Post a Comment