To Call or Not to Call

I have subscribed to Skype. I tried it once and ignored it. It allows free voice communication and video between people who are subscribed anywhere in the world. Guess what? You can do the same thing on MSN Messenger or Yahoo.

What I didn’t look into was the ability to phone a regular phone from my computer. The quality is quite good and the cost is substantially less. I can phone anywhere in North America for as long as I want for $1.52 a month.

When you get a new car, you want to drive it everywhere. I get the same feeling with Skype. With this new-found freedom, I search my mind for people I can phone.

There’s the dilemma. In life we move on. Episodes often end. You move away from people and their memory fades into the background. Is there any use of calling up people from our past?

When I lived in Edmonton, there were about five or six single people who used go out on a mass date. We would get together for a function and hang out together. Many of them thrust books into my hands and told me to read them. It was sort of like Seinfeld ahead of its time.

I am tempted to call some of these people, but I ask the big question. Why? I have fond memories of these friends. We had great times together, but that chapter in my life is finished. Is there any purpose of reopening it? Sure, a phone call to say I still remember is nice, but will it be like fireworks going off, one brief flash, only to fade away quickly.

However, there is one motivation that interests me. I love hearing stories about people. I learn from them. Often they give me insights. Is that being selfish?

Perhaps some of them are going through a rough patch and a call from the distant past telling them that they are still remembered fondly might encourage them.

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. Perhaps I’ll just listen to my inner self and listen for the voice to let me know when and if it is time to contact someone.