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ABC - Always Be Contactable

This will most likely be a generalization, but recently I've come to observe that as a group, the older generation are more responsible in the area of being contactable as compared to the younger ones.

With the advancement of technology and the multiple forms of communication available to the masses, are we in danger of losing common courtesy of picking up the phone or returning calls?

I had the privilege of having spent more than half my life without a cellphone. One could be excused for not being at home or for being occupied if he doesn't answer a call. Moreover, you will never be able to know who called and therefore will not be able to return the call. The only way a contact can be made is if the caller calls again.

But things have changed since then, haven't it? We have our cellphones with us most of the time and the portability means that we can have it with us wherever we are. And then there's the caller ID to identify who called. Even if your phone was turned off, the service providers nowadays will send you an SMS to inform you that someone called. What excuse is there now?

It all boils down to responsibility, a responsibility to respond. If we are in the middle of something and we receive a call, why don't we pick it up and say that we'll call them back? That takes only a couple of seconds, doesn't it? I'm sure the caller will understand. If we don't, how on earth will the caller know we are in the middle of something? Of course, we've got to be sure to return the call when we can.

This is a matter of phone ethics which I'm very much aware of at this stage of my life. At the end of the day, we have to remember the Golden Rule.

"Do unto others what you want others to do unto you"

If all this doesn't make any sense, the next time you try to contact someone for an urgent matter and he doesn't answer repeatedly, then maybe it will.