An early morning call isn't so good
My cellphone rang, waking me up much earlier than I would prefer to be awake. When you work nights, you tend to only retain friends who know this. And, just to be clear, my phone didn't beep, flash or pulse — it rang, just like an oldtime telephone.
I begrudgingly rolled over and picked it up.
I didn't recognize the number, which is not particularly unusual. I probably wouldn't recognize my wife or daughter's cellphone numbers, at least not by the numerals. Maybe I have gotten lazy, or too reliant on technology. Whatever the case, I expect to be notified who is calling either by a picture or name. Alas, this had neither. However, it was local, which was far less suspect.
But technology is not your friend. Case in point, my caller ID no longer seems to function. I don't know why, but it just stopped working. Reluctantly, I answered the call.
It was a friend who I had just spent much of the day with two days prior.
Two years ago, if you told someone that you recently had COVID they would put some distance between the two of you. Now, people just shrug.
“Hey, Jeff, sorry to bug you so early in the morning. But I just tested positive for COVID,” he said. “Just thought you should know.”
I'm sure it was an awkward call to make, because it certainly was an awkward call to receive. But what's necessary is sometimes uncomfortable, especially when communication is involved. Want to get nothing done? Try being overly polite all the time. Just like the two chipmunk cartoon characters, just getting through a doorway was painful.
I appreciated the call. I have had COVID twice — both mild cases, but I, too, have had to make a few phone calls like that. It's no one's fault really, things are just going to happen. I know that in one case, two people I came into contact with contracted COVID. One was pretty sick and the other had a pretty mild time of it. It wasn't abundantly clear whether I gave it to them or if they gave it to me. But when you are in bed with a fever and a headache it doesn't really matter, does it?
Two years ago, if you told someone that you recently had COVID they would put some distance between the two of you. Now, people just shrug.
Last year, it was a different thing. By then, you probably had tested positive for COVID at least once — especially