Today my phone rang. Which is not unusual. But when I said "Hello?" I couldn't hear anyone. Which is. 

 

I was unsure whether the caller could hear me, or not. I tried hanging up and calling back but nothing improved. During the course of the day I got four more calls, which is a lot of volume for my standards, but each time there was silence on the other end. It was like answering the door and finding no one there. 

 

I do not ask a lot of my phone. I mean there are people who use theirs for money transactions, tracking their sleep patterns, counting their steps, and ordering groceries. A friend has an app to let her keep abreast of her daughter's developmental goals. Last week was that moment in time when she was prime to learn about object permanence. 

 

But I just want to hear the person's voice on the other end.

 

John is looking into it for me. In the meantime I am relying on the land line. Which means I actually have to, get this, punch in the numbers. 

 

The other day I was having a conversation. In my head. No one else was in the room so it was up to me to provide both sides of the dialogue. No problem. I fabricated my pithy remarks, and the other person's lame rebuttal. I added a few more statements to drive the point home, and it was done. I won. 

 

I hope that I can turn up the volume of what other people have to say. It really is more interesting than this one sided soliloquy.