Last Tuesday was not the day I got a phone.  I got it this Monday.  It was quite the ordeal.  I had a full day workshop, then headed over to the store with the parents to arm us all with these new devices.  We were there for two hours.  It takes awhile to upgrade from flip phone to smart phone, apparently.  But we are now fully in the 21st century.

I guess smart life is not as damaging as I thought.  I was cutting a papaya and the phone went off and I did not rush to the phone.  I kept cutting that darn papaya.  The message could wait, whoever it was.  It was an update notice.  It was not a human being wanting to get in touch with me.

And that has been the great disappointment/not disappointment.  I had this part of me that fantasized that people would find out I got the device and send me their numbers so we could easily keep in touch.  Only one person did.  One.... Single.... Person.  So much for those who told me they would keep in touch if I had a smart phone.  What about all those people who ask me for my number to keep in touch and were then told "I can't, I have a flip phone"?  Not exactly beating down my door or blowing up my Instagram feed with requests, I tell you.

And lest you think I make a mountain out of a molehill here, there was a great article on this topic that made me feel vindicated. 

Here is the article.

I would have liked to think the ease of getting in touch with me would lead to more human interaction.  It has, as of today, not at all.  Am I too impatient?  Hubby indicated that.  My response:  "But people die."  And that is the thing.  We wait and wait, and dilly dally, and procrastinate reaching out to those we claim are our friends.  Yet we never know what will happen from day to day.   Someone could die.  Less morose, people leave jobs, move, have life-changing things happen.  If we wait too long to reach out, the person we are reaching out too might not be there.  You thought they would always be there, but they are not.  Another thing - sometimes some of us get tired of waiting for responses to our attempts to reach out.  I might not move, leave my job, or die, but I might not always be there for you.  And that is why we should let people we claim to respect, love or care about know that we are thinking of them.  Sure, you might not want a long conversation or have the time to hang out, but a brief note makes one feel as if they have not been forgotten.

There's this whole thing that people are in touch with so many people just because they have a snapchat streak or liked one's photos on instagram.  Reread that article.  Where are the words of emotion and intensity that happens when people actually talk and listen to each other?  Not in a streak or a like. 

And so I look at the long list of contacts I now have in my phone - full sarcasm - and go back to the sofa, curled up with my zine and my cats. 

Thanks for keeping in touch.