NOT Phone a Freind

 As all ye former landlubbers are aware, the nature of phones in our culture has changed considerably in recent decades.

It's changed from dialing an operator to connect with anyone, to party lines where you might be inadvertently sharing a conversation with half the town, to the Princess phone, to cordless phones, to all kinds of cellular devices.

My Mom was on the phone a lot. She had many long conversations with many people. My Dad was less enamored with it. His conversations were much shorter, even when conducting school business. Me? I was terrified of the phone. I had difficulty talking to people when I couldn't see their faces or gauge how they reacted to what I said. Even the rare times I might have a girlfriend, I talked very little on the phone with them.

The phone, now adapted to our all-purpose cellular devices, has changed in a more comfortable way for introverts. We get information about most callers and can decide whether to answer.  

Not only that, most of our communication now is in the form of texts. It is much easier to respond in writing than in a call. And my understanding is I'm not alone. Among the younger generations, texting is much preferred to calling.

Indeed, some are worried that, for the first time, we are moving towards an introvert-friendly culture. This is due to our social media culture, spurred on by the isolation of the recent pandemic.

I don't know. America is still a culture dominated by the socially aggressive, the gladhanders, and the snake oil salesman. Too many of us are attracted to the Trumpian, 

The whole introvert/extrovert thing is kinda weird. Many of us are not entirely one or the other. It's more like human sexuality - there aren't simply two points on the axis. There is a great variety of mixes on the scale between the two. Few are 100% introvert or 100% extrovert.

Society best functions when there are roles for all kinds of people. It fails when it is structured so only one or the other thrives.

So, some are worried that we are tipping too much to introverts. I don't know. That may only seem that way because this country had tilted too far to the extrovert side.

But only time will tell.

Meanwhile, I'm pretty happy with the way phones are right now. Text me, but be patient for how long it may take me to return the text.