I'd like to schedule an appointment....

pathetic, isn't it? Everything is always scheduled. Work schedules, appointments, phone calls, dinner, relationships, hell, sometimes I think I have to schedule in when I'm going to go to the bathroom.

I remember when I was a teenager, the phone in my house didn't ring more than two times before my sister or I answered. We didn't have caller ID---we had no idea who it was before picking it up. Now, if I even get my lazy ass up to check the caller ID , I rarely answer the phone. Oh, then theres the calls to the cell I never hear because I forget to turn the ringer back on when I get in the house. On the flip side, I can't complain, really because I call no one. Email and text messages, baby. We've come to live in such an inpersonal lifestyle and again, its pathetic.

I talked to someone yesterday who was one of my closest friends in college. He and I talked and/or saw each other every single day--actually, we probably talked to each other on the phone at least 3 times a day. College being what it is, we all eventually found our "soulmates" got married and moved away. And, along with moving away went our communication. Its been forever since I actually last saw this person and a phone conversation? Yeah, I can't even tell you. Its been that long.

Same goes with my best friend, Laura. We spent, I swear, almost every waking minute together when we were younger. The phones were attached to our ears. We get to see each other a few times a year now, but our phone conversations went from a few times a day to a few times a month. Texting and emailing has replaced a lot of that.

My excuse for no phone calls/visits (besides the fact that most of my friends live forever and a day away)? Maybe they're busy. Or sleeping. Watching a movie---no one likes being interrupted during a movie. Or maybe they're going to want to talk for like two hours. I don't have two hours to talk, so instead of telling them I can't talk that long, I just won't call at all. Then there's the "you never call" conversation, which ironically the person complaining that the other never calls, usually never picks up the phone and dials either.

Now don't get me wrong, a lot of communication can be made through an email. Sometimes its better than a phonecall----no emotions thrown in, just the cut and dry facts. But, then there's the all the stuff we're lacking in emails. The actual communication---back and forth communication. Emails doesn't usually happen in real time, so there's a time lag. Then, theres no real opinions interjected, and lets be honest, some emails, like mine, are usually so long and have questions throughout that the reader probably only remembers to answer 2 or 3 of them leaving all my others unanswered.

So while technology is great, I wonder sometimes how much better life would be without it. I think I'd be more involved in peoples lives. Maybe I wouldn't have to "schedule" a time to talk. I'd actually call friends on the phone and maybe during that conversation we'd decide last minute we were hungry and wanted to meet in 15 minutes at a diner and have a nice afternoon. But instead, 26 hours after I sent an email, someone will find out that we decided on painting the girls bedroom purple---oh, Laura, by the way, the girls bedroom is going to be purple, and the flooring in Brandon's room turned out really nice. :)