To Call or Not to Call

One of the Many Quirks of Dr. Crazy is that she doesn't call any but those in her most intimate circle on the phone. She calls her mother and stepdad. She calls her BFF here, and then also the BFFs from grad school, from college, and from high school. Once in a blue moon she calls her First Love. (I never planned to be this sort of a caller or non-caller - more like I only have so much room on my list of to-be-calleds, and I really don't like calling people with whom I'm not completely familiar on the phone - see my issue with calling to order pizza. So it's a thing I have.)

But it has recently been brought to Dr. Crazy's attention, ahem, that what she does do is to send off a little email that apparently is a "prompt" for the other person to call her.

Let's admit it: this didn't come as a total surprise when it was brought to her attention. Dr. Crazy isn't totally un-self-aware. But what did come as a surprise was a) that somebody caught on to her really subtle "technique" and b) that this person called her out on what really is, Crazy thinks, quite a charming little habit of hers. I mean, it's like a little way of saying, "hey, I'm available for phone-talking, and I think you might enjoy talking to me" without putting the other person on the spot by actually, you know, calling the person.

But then what to do once one has been called out on not-calling behavior? Should Crazy now become a Caller? Should she stubbornly cling to her Not-Caller status? And not just with this person who so boldly articulated this little quirk, but also with others who have said such things as, "give me a call" or, "you know, you CAN call me sometimes"?

(On the last, I think I'll continue not to be a caller. On the second, chances are probably about 70/30 in favor of calling, but that's partly because I doubt the person is someone whom I'll actually keep on the list of to-be-calleds after one or two phone calls. On the first, a.k.a. He Who Challenged Crazy, I do have kind of a perverse desire never to call just to be difficult, I must admit, though on the other hand, I feel like that might be bad form. But is HWCC really worthy of being added to the list of to-be-calleds? And yes, these are the things I'm spending my time thinking about in my world post-Manuscript. I promise to have better things to discuss after my brain has recovered for a few days.)