Trying To Communicate, Somehow

WHEN IN ROME..or, Paris, or, for that matter, America, do as the natives do. Thomas Jefferson, while in Paris, loved the culture, but never felt at home, and longed for his native Virginia, which he grew to appreciate all the more by being away from it. So, he stayed at his hotel a lot, while Paris bustled all around him. Benjamin Franklin, meanwhile, just threw caution to the wind, threw himself into Parisian life, got out a lot, and let all the flirtatious French ladies sit on his lap. He didn't worry about whether he fit in, or how well he spoke French - and had a lot more fun than Jefferson. Cultural immersion, that's the answer. Embrace it, wherever, whenever you happen to be. There comes a time, for instance, in America, a time to to get a smart phone. Surrender to American culture, embrace it. Watch the Kardashians, vote Trump, and, by all means, get a smart phone. (hint:that doesn't mean you have to use it all the time, you can just look at it every few minutes, and that oughta do the trick of fitting in) Mobile internet, texting, everything, including the kitchen sink. If you go trac phone, you can buy a smart phone for twenty dollars, then pay about seven dollars a month, for very limited minutes, which can accumulate through the months via roll over. Just don't use it, not at all at first, then increasingly less sparingly, as the months roll by, and the minutes accumulate. Before you know it, you're back in the gabbing business, with hundreds of accumulated minutes, and low expense. Nobody ever calls me on the phone, ever. When I try to call someone, like one of my long time high school friends, nobody ever answers, so I leave a voice message. Nobody ever calls back. So, why have a regular phone, at regular price? Voice to voice communication seems to be dying out, being replaced with texting. It must have something to do with ease of expression, devoid of amenities and long waiting periods, and a fundamental fear of close, genuine, human contact. We Americans stay away from each other a lot, because, as my good friend from Shanghai said: "you Americans care more about your dogs and cats than you do each other." Nobody ever said it better. (Sometimes its amazing how these foreigners can see right through us.) People often say to me: "I tried to text you", without bothering to find out whether I "do" text messaging. I tell them: "just keep on trying." But, with a smart phone, I can just let 'em text, and if I choose, ignore it.