Phones

So the phone, being one of our more ancient forms of communication, is pretty familiar to everyone, and pretty straight-forward to use, right? You pick up the phone, you dial the number, you chit-chat away. Except, during my adult years, I’ve rarely found it to be that easy (and I don’t think it’s just because I’m that stupid). Between landlines, mobile phones, Skype, satellite phones, calling cards, and who knows what else, it’s impossible to figure out what works for what type of calls and which option is the cheapest.

For example, a 19min call from my mobile to Ben’s mobile cost $12. I know – how insane is that!?! So a call to the US should cost a ton, right? No. A 25min call to my parents’ home phone was just $6. I don’t get it.

Then add to that our exceptional ability to evade phones (e.g., being stationed at some remote field location that has no landlines and doesn’t get reception, or being hidden away in the lab), and there’s the added difficulty of figuring out when who will be by which phone.

I know I shouldn’t complain, since international communication is so much easier than it used to be, but I feel like you need a graduate degree in Phones to figure it all out.