Phone-Book

Last week, I finally made the switch from Verizon to AT&T. This decision was not a result of my personal choice but rather a necessity, given the wireless carriers of my current friend circle. Having battled with my minutes usage for past 3 years, I finally relieved myself of the hideous contract structure and shifted to AT&T. Due to false advertisements (my own perception), I was under the impression that AT&T had great phone deals. One visit to the store later, I realised that I might have to settle for something ordinary if I didn't want to dent my wallet. Luckily, a resourceful colleague at work hooked me up with one of his connections and I ended up getting a $50 value of phone for free.

Having carried an almost unrecognisable 814 area code for last 4 years, I finally got a more known 281 area code. Although I am still kicking myself for not making use of the opportunity to obtain a 310 area code, I am satisfied to carry the 281 code for the rest of my life. Atleast it belongs to a big city and not some small county. For the unaware, 310 is the area code for West LA, Beverly Hills, Malibu and all those fancy places along the Los Angeles coastline. It definitely would have given some sort of pride and bragging rights to have the same area code as those of Cameron Diaz, David Beckham & Tom Cruise.

Changing phone numbers is never an easy procedure. Unaware that a single message cc-ed to 15 recipients is equivalent of 15 text messages, I gleefully texted all and sundry. After having sent such an announcement to 120+ recipients, a thoughtful friend reminded me of my ignorance. Pheww...there goes my $50 savings!! Added to this, there were some really old contacts who messaged back "Who is this?". At first I was ashamed that I was already erased from phonebooks of some of my old friends, but I soon regained common sense not to message these folks back. If I am not important enough that you would retain me in your phone-book over the years, then sorry, you are not important enough for me to keep you informed of my new number!

Later that night I spent some time sifting through my contacts in order to trim it. As I paid careful attention, I came across several of whom I had know well in the past, but have had no contact in a long long time. I wondered if these people still had me in their phone-book and whether I should still have them in my phone-book? Even if I erased them from the phone-book, they would still be in my memory. But the wiping of the physical address seemed symbolic of a lost time and hence I thought twice before proceeding with any action.

On a different note, it is always amusing when a friend with whom you don't have a close contact calls you after a really long time. In such instances, my first feeling is always that this person must be in my town. As you nervously pick up the phone and speak to this friend, you always keep thinking in the back of your mind "Why is this person calling me?". This thought blocks a free flow of converstation as you exchange in a few formal greetings and wait for the person to state the real reason why he is calling. A few months ago, I had a friend call me, probably, after 2 years. My gut feeling was proved right when after exchanging a few pleasantries, my friend said, "Dude I am in LA this weekend. I am going to the club Vanguard in Hollywood for a party. Do you wanna join?" I said, "I wish I could, unfortunately I now live 1500 miles away."