2024.06.15
Was thinking about the old "If You Call Me Without First Texting To Notify That You're Calling, You're A Monster" meme, and how it does and doesn't apply for me.
I've been working up a somewhat more regular rotation for phone calls of people I'm close to and I generally try just calling - most notably my mom, but then a few other friends.
I guess that doesn't count... all those non-Mom people have all been in the category of "best friend" at some point in my life. And in some of the cases there's a typical weekly time where I'm more likely to call, so it's not out of the blue.
Of course, I kind of got the idea by based on how my friend JZ (no not that Jay-Z) started calling me. And it reminds me of how some close friendships get sparked with an act of courage (or maybe the brave person is just oblivious or come from a different cultural set of expectations?) where they suggest hanging out... almost like asking for a date, minus the romance.
And pondering on cultural differences... I remember witnessing some folks here from Russia, where just dropping by the house was more of a norm for family and close friends. It's like they're living a 90s sitcom!
Getting back to phone calls - There can be a kind of asymmetry if it's always one side who calls the other, but it's wrong to assumes the callee has less strong feelings than the caller... it can also be based on bravery or depression or cultural expectations or just timing.
As my friend Julian puts it, only half winkingly: "God blessed me by making me transsexual for the same reason God made wheat but not bread and fruit but not wine, so that humanity might share in the act of creation."
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