Call Me

Good afternoon, my Lovelies!

Holy crap! I've managed to put out a blog without waiting weeks between. Who AM I?

I hope everyone is doing well and that you're having the best of weeks! I'm good today. I know, I can't always say that to you and mean it. I appreciate the fact that you all allow me to share my world and whatever craptacular/spectacular thing is going on in it with you on a regular basis.

This week I wanted to share a frustration with you. Actually, it isn't really a frustration so much as an annoyance. And what is that?

Talking on the phone. (Or, not talking on the phone...)

If you're Gen X, talking on the phone isn't a big deal - been there, done that for many a year now. Millennials? Eh... They'll do it if they absolutely have to. But you know they're silently chanting, "Dear God, please don't make me talk on the phone. Hurry up. I'm dying. Are you done now? Is it over? Can I hang up?" Any generation below that and there's an instant panic attack. Anxiety overtakes them and they get lightheaded trying to figure out what they're supposed to do and say.

I come from a generation where we spent hours talking to our friends on the phone. We didn't have texting, IMs, or Discord. We would anxiously wait by the phone for a previously agreed-upon time to arrive so we would be the first to pick up the line. Then we'd spend at least the next two hours chatting about any and everything. 

You scheduled it and then waited next to the phone??? Yes. You see, we didn't want one of our parents to answer when the phone rang. Siblings were bad enough, but parents?

Awkward.

We would purchase an extra-long phone cord so we could move about the house doing our chores while still talking to those friends. When cordless phones were invented? Game changer. Speakerphone? Next level. (As long as the 'rents weren't home.)

Conversations ranged from people at school, who's got a crush on who, plans for the weekend, and homework. We would turn on MTV and watch videos together while we dissected every aspect of the song, and planned our outfits for the next day.

We talked about everything we could possibly think of for hours on end, and the next afternoon we would do it all again. And there were many nights that we would fall asleep with the phone at our ear.

Our parents would yell at us to get off the phone, and our siblings would give us death glares as they waited for us to finish so they could do the same with their friends. 

The phone was our safe haven, the transmitter of secrets, and the purveyor of knowledge and ammunition.

And as we got older, it was where we had some flirtatious fun when we weren't in the physical presence of our significant other. (Phone sex people. I'm talking about phone sex.)

I personally think relying solely on texts and IMs is a large part of the misunderstandings that happen between people nowadays. Don't get me wrong, most of the time I'm good with a text. But there are times a phone call is so much easier. Why is that?

Can you tell if I'm joking, being sarcastic, sincere, or deadly serious in a text? Not always.

You need to hear the tone of my voice when I'm telling you something. You need to hear the inflections. You need to hear the emotions. (And in my case, my Kentucky accent.) It helps you understand exactly what I'm relaying to you and you simply cannot always do that through a text or instant message.

Besides all of that, I have a great voice. (Or, so I've been told.)

I actually find it quite funny to watch the younger generation's face when you mention using their phones for their intended purpose. If you haven't paid attention, give it a try sometime. It's quite hilarious.

Until next time and as always,

Much love and generational gap awareness from me to you,

Shelly (a/k/a Dawn Love)

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