Random thoughts Stray memories

Tuesday, January 06, 2004

On phone conversations, voice mails and voices.

The shortest phone conversations I have had are with my mum while the longest sustainable ones are with my best friend. My mum and I don't talk on phones; instead, we behave like men and grunt. A typical call could have my mum asking "Not home for dinner?" and me replying "ah", and we'll instinctively hang up just like that. If I miss her call, my mum will hang on just to leave curt imperious voice mails like a simple "oy". She is the only person who never introduces herself on my voice mails and also the only person who doesn't need to leave voice mails since I call back anyway. I guess we just have some weird uncomfortable relationship on the phone.

Though it's true that I'll recognise my mum's voice without her having to explain who she is, I regretfully admit that I've forgotten my dad's voice after all these years. I can picture his face vividly.. it's just that it's like a silent film footage without any soundtrack. You know there are songs you know so well you can pace their exact beats and inflections, and lipsynch amazingly to? My dad has become a song with lyrics I'm familiar with but have forgotten how to sing. In fact, my dad passed away before I even owned a mobile phone. So I don't know how phone conversations with him would have gone, or what kind of voice mails he would have left. You have no idea how sad this is.

The longest phone conversations I have nowadays aren't that long or often either. I sms more than I phone, and when I do phone, it's probably to my best friend while I walk that stretch home from the MRT station. These are the brief intervals I catch up with his life and he with mine, and as we grow older, nearly every conversation nowadays revolves round work. There are times when I'll stop walking to avoid ending the conversation once I reach home, and I'll stand still, hovering near my home while listening to some interesting theory he has. lol.

I still prefer face-to-face conversations though.

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