Yesterday, I talked with a couple who were our best friends from Columbia, MO and are now our best long distance friends.
Not really significant in and of itself, but the conversation was striking to me in a couple of ways. First, I realized what great phone etiquette WB has. Not only did he ask about us, listen earnestly, and laugh at my jokes (perhaps most important of all), he put his wife, EI on the phone to speak as well. It seemed old fashioned sort-of. Like in the black and white TV shows when the whole family huddled around the rotary phone to participate in the rare long distance call. But it was lovely, and a rarity that I could chat with both partners of a couple. In this world of caller ID and personal cell phones, I never call some one's house and talk to the members of the household. My sister, who doesn't have a landline, often talks about this. If her husband's father calls, he calls her husband, they chat and they hang up. She could go weeks without talking to him. However, if there were a landline, most times, she would pick it up, chat for a moment and then put her husband on the line. With caller ID, we NEVER talk to people we don't want to, or people who we assume are calling for other members of our household. So, I chatted with both EI and WB about their individual careers, their individual relationships with their new pets, and I enjoyed it very much.
The second thing that really struck me was how misled we are by social networking sites. EI and WB post daily to their Facebook pages, and WB maintains a very compelling blog. I feel as though I'm pretty au courant about their goings on. And yet, talking to them in person was like looking through a clearer lens. I realize how inadequate FB is. Certainly, it is a great advance in keeping tabs on friends, and will probably (thankfully) obviate the need for live high school reunions, (Will this singlehandedly kill the diet products industry?) but isn't true social interaction. It doesn't offer the richness of some one's conversation. LOL doesn't cover WB's hearty laugh, which has always been one of my favorites or EI's perfect diction and grammar (which are art form in this day and age). Social networks are certainly a well-covered topic in the media and blogosphere, but this one little incident reminds me to pick up the phone, call a friend and make an actual appointment for lunch or coffee.
And though it wasn't really my favorite part of the film, the second half of Wall-E really does present us with life dominated by social networking. Rather than devolve down that road, I'm going to look out the window, make a phone call, write a letter, and reach out to my friends in real ways. A pre-new year's resolution. Coffee, anyone?
