Remember the old days when telephones had cords and there was excitement when it rang at home as it was a friend or relative you actually WANTED to speak with? There were certain phone ettiqette rules everybody obeyed like never calling during dinner hour, or after 8:00 PM. Do you also remember when businesses had telephone receptionists who wrote down messages and hand delivered to recipients? Voicemail was unheard of.
Fast forward 30-40 years. Home phone numbers have all but vanished as everybody has their own personal cell phone. The only people who call the house phone are solicitors, pollsters, robocallers and other assorted annoying people from school, church, or whatever you really don't want to speak with -- always during dinner hour, I might add -- wanting you to volunteer or donate money for something.
Do Not Call needs some enforcement.
I'm not sure I like this age of people expecting others to always and instantly be available 24/7. We have email, texting, Facebook, cell phones, etc., that I don't really believe are connecting humanity. Being always available is exhausting. In the long run all this hyper, superficial communication detracts from meaningful, reflective interaction, like actually going outside and talking with your neighbor instead of constantly blasting meaningless Facebook status updates to the entire free world. Nothing is separated anymore. Sometimes it's good to disconnect and recharge the batteries or allow time for uninteruppted vacations / family time.
Don't take it personally if I don't return your call or email instantly. Heaven forbid if I have a heart-to-heart talk with one of my kids and don't want to lose the momentum of getting out of them their issues and problems. Heaven forbid if I actually go on vacation for work and can't deal with your issue because you needed something yesterday. Your lack of planning does not create my emergency.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment