(no subject)
Oh, how technology changes our lives.
In the olden days, there used to be this game people played called phone tag. It went something like this: Sara calls Ellen, but Ellen is out at work, so Sara leaves a message on Ellen's answering machine. When Ellen gets home from work that night, she listens to Sara's message and calls her back. But, alas, Sara is out for dinner with friends. So Ellen leaves a message on Sara's answering machine. They continue on like this for days without being able to talk to each other.
The invention of cellphones, however, has changed all of that. It is now quite possible to repeat the entire sequence within the course of ten minutes. The new phone tag goes like this: Molly calls Ariel, but Ariel is in an area of bad reception, so her phone doesn't ring. Molly leaves a message on Ariel's voicemail. Within a minute, Ariel calls back, but now Molly is in a patch of bad reception, so she only gets an alert that she has missed a call. Molly calls back and gets voice mail again. Halfway through the message she gets an alert that she has missed another call from Ariel. Molly hangs up and finds out that she has recieved a voicemail message from Ariel. Molly calls her voicemail, and while she's listening to it Ariel calls again. This time she manages to answer it--her voicemail is on hold (playing Ariel's message) and she is talking to Ariel. She explains the situation and promises to hang up both lines and call Ariel back. Of course, Ariel is still in the same place, so Molly goes to Ariel's voicemail again. Halfway through leaving yet another message, she recieves another call from Ariel. Now Molly is talking to Ariel, with Ariel's voicemail on hold. Finally, Molly manages to arrange things so that she is talking to Ariel and only Ariel. No voicemail of either person is involved. "Can I come over to your room and talk to you?" she asks.
In the olden days, there used to be this game people played called phone tag. It went something like this: Sara calls Ellen, but Ellen is out at work, so Sara leaves a message on Ellen's answering machine. When Ellen gets home from work that night, she listens to Sara's message and calls her back. But, alas, Sara is out for dinner with friends. So Ellen leaves a message on Sara's answering machine. They continue on like this for days without being able to talk to each other.
The invention of cellphones, however, has changed all of that. It is now quite possible to repeat the entire sequence within the course of ten minutes. The new phone tag goes like this: Molly calls Ariel, but Ariel is in an area of bad reception, so her phone doesn't ring. Molly leaves a message on Ariel's voicemail. Within a minute, Ariel calls back, but now Molly is in a patch of bad reception, so she only gets an alert that she has missed a call. Molly calls back and gets voice mail again. Halfway through the message she gets an alert that she has missed another call from Ariel. Molly hangs up and finds out that she has recieved a voicemail message from Ariel. Molly calls her voicemail, and while she's listening to it Ariel calls again. This time she manages to answer it--her voicemail is on hold (playing Ariel's message) and she is talking to Ariel. She explains the situation and promises to hang up both lines and call Ariel back. Of course, Ariel is still in the same place, so Molly goes to Ariel's voicemail again. Halfway through leaving yet another message, she recieves another call from Ariel. Now Molly is talking to Ariel, with Ariel's voicemail on hold. Finally, Molly manages to arrange things so that she is talking to Ariel and only Ariel. No voicemail of either person is involved. "Can I come over to your room and talk to you?" she asks.