... it rings for a ride.
A ringing phone (if it's not a cellular at a concert or a play) usually
generates a good feeling: somebody wants to talk with us. And knowing that
somebody wants to talk with you may well be a wonderful reason for leaving
the phone open, no matter how much you want to surf over to your favorite
movie site and check up on a film. It would be nice to be able to report
that each time the phone rings it's another friend asking what's new and
how we're feeling, but the truth isn't quite as encouraging. More often
than not it's someone looking for a ride to Tel Aviv the next morning,
and I'm hardly asked "how are you" before the real point of the phone call
is revealed.
Occasionally there have been work-related calls I've been expecting,
and if Tzippi is driving home at night by herself I'll also leave the phone
open in case she encounters car trouble. Still, on the whole, had I engaged
the phone by being online I wouldn't have missed many destiny-changing
calls. And though I often teach people to send e-mail to themselves in
order learn how to use it, I've never really felt the need to phone
myself.