Reach Out and Touch Someone
For those of us, growing up in the 70s, who remember when long distance calls were an expensive luxury, “Reach Out and Touch Someone” was a successful commercial jingle of the old Bell telephone companies to promote long distance telephone calls. The beauty of the commercial is that it invoked an emotion and sold a feeling, and had nothing to do with the physical transaction of a telephone call. It reminded me of a dinner with a friend where I suggested sharing a desert. “I’m not hungry”, he declined. “Michael,” I replied. “It’s desert...it has nothing to do with being hungry.”
Today, long distance cell phone calls are virtually free, yet we still can't find the time to reach out and touch someone. As deserts have nothing to do with being hungry, reaching out and touching someone, has nothing to do with the need to have a conversation. It doesn’t matter whether you have anything to say; if you think it doesn’t make any difference to the one you touch; or if you assume that you are intruding - make the call. When was the last time you called someone for no reason, and they did not appreciate it? Even if they cannot talk to you just then, you still touched someone.
I am very fortunate: I have a large number of names in my phone directory whom I would call friends. But out of that list of 100 or more, only three people call me. That’s okay, because I don’t hesitate to initiate a phone call or social meeting when I want one which comes partly from a career in sales and partly from acceptance of my lowbrow demeanor. And yet, when someone calls me for no particular reason, or to set-up a get together, it’s like Christmas in July.
Look, I get it. Life is busy. I have dogs to walk, errands to run, family to support, and laundry to fold. I know how thoughts of, “I should call so-and-so” come to mind, only to evaporate away in distractions. That’s why I try to make a habit of digitizing those thoughts as reminders on my smartphone. As I get older, the idea of “oh, I’ll remember that,” becomes more of a joke punchline than a reality.
Thankfully, the Covid curve is flattening and the vaccination rates are increasing. In time, we will be able to reach out more in person, than in the cloud. But until then, out of sight is out of mind, and it is important to make the extra effort to stay in touch.
So, if you will excuse me...I have a call to make.