Let’s Talk

by Melanie on September 24, 2010

in Friendship

Here’s the thing. I hate to talk on the phone. I don’t text in my real life (yes, I carry a Blackberry for work, and I use it, but that’s different). E-mail me, and you’ll get an answer, usually fairly quickly. Phone me… not so much. About the only people’s calls I’m 100 percent guaranteed to answer are my sisters; my best friend, Pat; and my friend Mimi. In fact, I’m writing this just after spending an enjoyable 80 minutes on the phone with Pat. (We had some catching up to do.)

I don’t know for sure when it started, because when I was in junior high anyway, I was one of those girls who lived on the phone. When my ex and I were having a long-distance relationship (Lincoln/Sioux Falls, Milwaukee/Sioux Falls, Indy/Chicago, Cincy/Chicago, we’d talk for hours.

Maybe it’s all the years I spent on the phone at United Press International, talking to freelancers. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m on the phone a good share of my day today at work. Or maybe it’s the fact that I have a genetic hearing loss, undiscovered until I was fifty, which means I don’t hear low tones well. The loss isn’t bad enough–yet–to justify a hearing aid. I won’t be proud about getting one when that time comes.

But I don’t think I’ll be any more likely to answer the phone then.

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

William J Reynolds September 24, 2010 at 2:57 am

I too am not that big a fan of the telephon…ironic, since my dad spent his career working for the phone company.

It may have been Len Deighton, unless it was someone else, who said he’d rather stick a fork in his eye than initiate a phone call. I’m nowhere near that extreme, but I understand the sentiment.

Pat September 29, 2010 at 5:10 pm

Mel, my darling BFF, you and I are so much alike it’s uncanny and yet so different in many ways. I, too, am phone phobic…except with my kids, grands, and YOU. My only sister lives 400 steps from me and I rarely talk to her on the phone. Of course we e-mail 20 times a day. And I don’t text. Ever. In fact, I’ve blocked texting on my phone. So there you have it. Can’t wait until our next 80 minute phone call however!
Pat

Sister Barbara DeMoranville, MSBT October 7, 2010 at 12:12 pm

Dear Melanie,
I appreciate reading your material in Living Faith. I am missioned at Blessed Trinity Shrine Retreat, Holy Trinity, in Ft. Mitchell, AL and I wonder if you are available to give weekend retreats. I appreciate your not liking to talk on the phone, and I am happy to email you. Thank you. Sister Barbara DeMoranville, MSBT (just in case: 334-855-4474)

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