Wednesday, March 01, 2006

All Skyped up

It's all about communication, keeping in touch, being available. Hearing another human's voice at the other end of the line thousands of miles away has always been a great fascination for me. I remember many years ago, in the 1950s, my uncle used to telephone my mother from London.
Now you might not think that was such a big deal, but in order to do this, he used to send my mother a telegram, telling her to be at her other brother's house at a certain time, on a certain day. He lived at least three miles away, across town. On the day specified, my mother would round us up, well as many as she could find, (there were seven) and catch a bus to my uncle's place to receive the phone call. We all waited eagerly for our turn, to say at least "Hello" to this person on the other end, and if you were real quick you could get in a sentence or two! Such a different age now, the magic and excitement is all but gone.

Now I have a mobile phone, a cordless phone, a phone attached to a cord, and a Skype phone attached to my computer! Ah the pleasure, or is it confusion, of choices; Who shall I call? Which phone shall I use? What do I want to talk about! I am still fascinated.....