The human voice.

Although I communicate with my friends over the internet I tend to miss the human voice. One of the things I put in my "All Time Coolest Things People Can Do!" is to call someone on the phone just to say "Hi." Not to ask a favor, just a surprise phone call out of the blue. I think this is my one complaint about the internet. It has really seperated us a bit as people. Of course, we all have our full time lives. (For the Umpteenth time, I have had friends who got married, had babies, change carriers, and move to the far side of the country or to an entirely different country!) But that doesn't mean that you can't take ten minutes out of your life just to call someone.

The other day I got a phone call from a friend I haven't seen since May when I was in LA. She isn't one of my "inner circle" of friends, I know her because she is (actually "was" now) a waitress at my favorite Kareoke bar. She had just gotten back from Scotland and Ireland and wanted decided to get caught up with talking to friends she hasn't talk to in a while. It was very nice to share a few stories, which I can do online, but you miss that tone of excitement, happiness, and all those other wonderful emotions. After 20-25 minutes we had our goodbyes and said we would keep in touch online.

Just over two years ago, a few months before I moved, a different friend kept telling me that I should get a cell phone because everyone else has one (I had owned a cell phone since the late 90's. I just didn't have the cash.) That way I wouldn't have to wait to get to work or home to check my messages. He probably hounded my about this for serveral years about this. I called him twice back in May when I was in LA and didn't hear from him, nor have I heard from him since. As I said before, no matter how busy you are, if you want to keep in touch with someone you will find the time to do so.