WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2022 - NATIONAL CALL A FRIEND DAY

 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2022 - NATIONAL CALL A FRIEND DAY

NATIONAL CALL A FRIEND DAY - December 28, 2022 - National Today

The information on this day is: “Christmas is over and New Year’s is on its way. But in the meantime, December 28 is National Call a Friend Day! Between the stress of the daily grind at work, the needs of your family, and ensuring you have a little time for yourself, our lives can get awfully hectic. National Call a Friend Day reminds us all to take a few minutes, pick up the phone, and call that friend you’ve been meaning to get back in touch with. In modern times, technology has the capacity to unite us more than ever before. The internet isn’t fazed by distance, time zones, or how much money you have in the bank. But in our day-to-day lives of whizzing from one task to the next (or even multi-tasking on all our projects at once), technology often has the opposite effect. Checking emails, answering texts, responding to Facebook notifications, and other tech-based tasks can fill up our lives and actually make us feel less connected to the people we’re spending all our time connecting with! So with the holiday season rapidly drawing to a close this year, make an effort on December 28 to reach out with a phone call and connect, voice to voice, with a good friend.”

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Okay, I am a “computer nerd”.  I have a phone for two reasons:  Just in case of an emergency, I can make a phone call (it would have to be a big emergency), and to get on the internet when I’m away from my computer.  

I am not a caller - I don’t pick up the phone and call a friend.  I might call it “calling phobia”.  I think it goes back to college when there was one phone on the floor, and long-distance calls cost money.  While ET might have “called home”, Karen White didn’t.  (I don’t remember if the phone in the hallway was a pay phone where I would have been prompted to insert coins in order to make a call).

Did you ever make collect calls and ask for some strange name and that was a hidden message for that person to call you right back?  In college, with only one phone on the floor, we would call our parents collect and maybe ask for ourselves.  They would tell the operator that that person was not home.  And, as soon as we hung up, they would call back at a much cheaper “station to station” rate.  

I was among the last to have a cell phone.  It was only when it became a “necessity”.  It was a pay-as-you-go phone.  

I have friends who are always on the phone, always calling and being called.  As I write, the last phone call I made was five days ago.  I have a saved phone call from a friend who does call his friends (of which I am one), and I’m feeling quite guilty that I need to call him back. 

My cell phone is almost always on silent.  If it is in my pocket, it will vibrate when somebody calls (which is almost always a telemarketer).  If it is in my purse or on a table, the call will go to voicemail (and if I don’t pick up), they had the option to leave a message - otherwise, I assume it is a crank call.  

I’d much rather text, post a note online, or send an email than push those buttons to actually call a friend.  

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So, today - National Call a friend day is a challenge for me.  I love seeing my friends face-to-face.  I’ll drive an hour-and-one-half to see a friend - and have lunch with her and drive home - rather than call her and talk on the phone (wow - am I bad!!!) 

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Somehow today, I will get up my courage to return JF’s call (and have to apologize for not getting back to him sooner).  I’ll set up my lunch date with MN by text - and then enjoy our face-to-face time.  I should meet up with BA, BB, CS, RF, and CA and have coffee or lunch together.  Do I need to use the phone?

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So Karen, what do you mean?  Well, one thing is for people to understand that I am not a phone caller!!! This leads me to a second thought - walk a mile in their shoes.  If I have my phobias, I bet they do too.  If they can understand that I’m not a big phone calling person (and even if they don’t understand), I need to understand what phobias and fears they face every day.  I need to love them, and “walk a mile in their shoes”.  I can’t judge them.

Love is frequently spelled “T   I   M   E”.  Love means spending time with those I love (which should be everybody).  

I can preach love wins, but I need to make that an action.  I need to reach out and be a friend, be a lover (in the agape sense of love).  Communication is a key to healthy relationships - and I might write okay (and text and email) and I might speak okay, but I need to make phone calls and keep the connections open and honest - and built on love.

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So, who are you going to call today for National Call A Friend Day?  (If you call me and I don’t answer, don’t judge me, leave your name and number - and I WILL try to get back to you - try to help me overcome this issue.

LOVE DOES WIN

LOVE DOES TRANSFORM

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, DECEMBER 28, 2022