Call Center_Noon Thoughts

Now I know what it is!

Our lives are full of compromises. We like it or not, this is what it is. Now, obviously, there are different types of compromises. Some of them should never be accepted, some others are just necessary.

When you move to a different country, some of those compromises pop up like mushrooms after a prolonged rain. I should considered myself lucky, being part of that generation of immigrants who can count on the existence of technology. This helps a lot when one of the compromises you have to accept is that, if you want/need to move, you cannot have the entire family with you.

We are lucky now because we have laptops, smartphones, what’s up, Skype, etc…

However, sometimes, because of my own nature I wonder if that is true. In another post I mentioned I hate any type of dependency. Technology is included, of course!

Some days, I have the impression my house is like a call center, a continuous noise, hubbub, all around the house. Instead of four people, we suddenly are ten. Like gremlins (do you remember?), faces are popping up everywhere. I turn around still looking for my coffee and I hear people chatting, playing, crying, laughing, and arguing about different things…but, NOBODY is physically there. Only a laptop, a tablet, a screen that thanks to the magic of technology turned into a huge face. You can actually play with that face. You can make it smaller, put it in a corner, and make it disappear. The voice is still there though!

 Don’t take me wrong, please! It is that this is who I am. Sometimes, especially when something is a little bit sad, my brain tends to turn the situation in a sort of commix. A funeral, for example! I was almost dying because of my laughs at my grandpa’s funeral. Is that funny? Not at all! My brain seems to refuse to behave!

Some days I think if you were in the same city, you wouldn’t spend so much time talking to that person. Not because of lack of love, but because I think this is part of the human nature to fear the distance. It is understandable, of course. Psychologically speaking you are aware that you cannot hug, kiss, and touch that person if you decide you want to.

 

Having said that, I remember one day I decided I didn’t want to use Skype. I was just tired. I needed to rest for one day only. I wanted to hear from my family, but not in that moment. Skype started ringing…I ignored it. What’s up started whistling the way an annoying guy would do with a beautiful girl – Hey, do you Skype today?, Are u busy?, Are you sleeping? – and you pretend to ignore it. Silence, finally!

Your house phone rings.

-          Hallo?

-          …pause…

-          Hallo?

-          (A voice as far as Mars can be) Hey! Were you sleeping? Are you going out? Can we meet today? In five minutes?

-          Suuuuureeeeeeee

It was my mom calling from Skype to my house phone because - God bless him! -  a genius invented an option that gives you the ability to call even a cell phone!

I love you Mom! I love my mom! I love all those little faces popping up from my laptop...not constantly, though! So, please nobody be offended!