When a Stranger Calls

I like talking to friends on the phone. Even when YM, MSN, and IM came about I still preferred yakking it up til my ears became sore. And with ears like mine that could take a while.

Why? Maybe it's because my favorite people to converse with, while great to talk to, are notoriously bad with the "follow-up IM," which is when they'd reply to my first text message but not to any follow up IMs, or maybe they don't reply at all. Frankly that's a pain in the butt. You can also chalk it up to my being a cheapskate. I should say that I like talking to friends on a landline. It's old school, but free old school.

In a related subject, last night I was again scoring a zero batting average getting in touch w/ friends on the phone. Last night it was 5 straight calls, and with the 4 of 'em the party was not at home. The fifth one was busy (writing). If I believed in such things I'd think fate was telling me to give it up and head for the showers. But like a Deal or No Deal contestant on his last throes of the game (Hey, I could still win 50 bucks!), I made another call. Success! She was supposed to watch Sex and the City on DVD but we managed to chat for quite a while.

Our conversation was interrupted by an IM from one of the persons I tried to contact earlier. She apologized for her brusqueness earlier and asked that I call her at home. This was the girl my bank manager wanted to fix me up with. All I had was cell number, so I was surprised that she texted me her home number.

Afterwards I called her. All I knew was she's 26 and works at ChinaBank. The conversation quickly turned Small World After All when it turned out that she's a batchmate to a Beijinoy from ICA. Soon she was asking me what fellow ICAn's been doing ("School, I think...") and why I didn't make any moves on her ("I don't think I'm her type"). Well, that's one thing in common, I guess. And she watches House, w/c can't be a bad thing.

I asked if she'd like to meet up tomorrow (today), since it was a holiday and neither of us had any pressing matters to attend to. Yeah, yeah, too soon some might say, but I say life's short. She was of the former opinion, and politely declined the invite. Understandable. So, final assessement: English not her first language, likes to read, not a big TV person, likes going out w/ friends. Watches House and Grey's Anatomy. Nice enough, at least on the phone. Still awaiting a picture. ;)