When I was young, making a long distance call was a very big deal. When any long distance phone conversation was happening people spoke loudly, with careful enunciation and everyone in the house had to be quiet. It helped if there was reverence, hands folded and no horseplay by anyone in the family during the call.
My parents would put their hand over the phone mouthpiece and say, with great seriousness, “Shhh, this is a long distance call!”
We immediately became silent. We knew something important was happening. It was not uncommon for the long distance phone caller to be my aunt informing us how much warmer the temperature was in Phoenix, especially if the call was happening during the winter months. There would always be inquiries regarding the time difference between the two locations which resulted in wonder and awe at the fact that the Earth was, indeed, rotating.
When the call was over. We would all look at each other and nod our heads in somber acknowledgement of the crucial communication event which had just occurred. Occasionally this quiet head nodding continued for an hour or two.
I’m trying to initiate this same type of solemn behavior in our household when I am sending text messages to people far away but it’s not working very well.
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