(406) Being "disconnected"

If you have taken the boring task of reading my early articles, you might have come across one that stated that I dislike receiving distress calls, especially late at night. As a result, there is no land line in my house. I don't own a hand phone either. When there is an extra hand phone in the house, I may check it once a day or once in two days. It is amazing that I still have friends at all in this metropolitan city or anywhere at all in the world.

If you think I am antisocial, that is inaccurate! I am merely restricting access to my private time. I have some very dear friends who pull out their hair over my lack of connectivity. But life's like that. If a person desires my friendship, she has to put up with this eccentric way. Most chose to pass me by, which is precisely what I want: more time to read, to write and to reflect on what I see around me. 

Come to think of it, I have only received two such calls in my life. But it was bad enough. No more! Through one such call, I enabled a pair of students to reconnect and continue their "underground" love beyond their objecting parents. Happy to say, nine years after that fateful call, they brought their first child to visit me. I did not know they got married.

The second call resulted in a marriage saved. but sad to say, it was hardly a happy marriage. And after I saw the result of answering that call, I gradually took steps to dissociate myself from a phone line. A bit drastic, isn't it? But there is nothing wrong in other people having three hand phones in their pocketbook. A phone in my hand is not exactly a safe thing.

Now I know why all those years ago I took such a step.
1. I used to love talking on the phone, can you visualise a teen age me spending hours on the phone listening to folks so that I could analyse what they say.
2. I can not stop myself from "helping" people if they ask for my advice in a direct question. Yes, I am a busybody, unfortunately.
3. A good friend paid and transported me to a weekend course where I distinctly realized I am only a listener but not counselor material.
4. People do tell me all kinds of things. You won't believe what was said to me in airports and places where it was unlikely I would ever meet the person again. Now I tend to read or travel with companions.

It is very interesting to observe how  people react when they first hear of the fact that I have neither land line nor hand phone.