Back at the end of the last century there was a short time when the world was devoid of cell phones and computers. Communications between distant countries was a chore. While in Bangkok I would hire a tuk-tuk for the short trip from the Malaysia Hotel to the Bangkok GPO on Charoen Krung Road. The main building was dedicated to mail. Many travelers used this PO’s post restante as their address. I picked up several letters at the desk each time through Bangkok, however my main purpose at the GPO was to call home from their telephone center.

One minute to the USA was 50 baht.

International calls were possible from a phone box, although most of them sucked coins without connecting to your caller. Only the GPO telephone service was secure and even better they offered collect calls from AT&T. The office was air-conditioned for comfort of the callers. A luxury in the sweltering heat of Bangkok.

I would sit in the little glassed-in cubicle and dial that AT&T number with great pleasure.

I loved speaking with the operator. Mostly they lived in the Midwest. Their flat-accented voices soothed the home-sick heart and they were eager to forward your call to a loved one.

My parents in most cases.

Friends sometimes.

No one ever refused the charge.

We’d speak for several minutes. I respect their acceptance of this expensive call and said my piece fast. Once I hung up, I’d head out into the torrid heat, not knowing when I might next make a phone call to the USA or Europe. The world had distance to it. Places were unknown. Destination were a mystery.

Nowadays everyone around the world is reachable via a cellphone or an email. I can google every place for a hotel. The world is a much smaller place. I can’t recall the last time I made a collect call and I suppose my friends and family are happy to not be hit for an extravagant charge on their telephone bill.

Strangely no one ever picks up their phone in the USA.

Here too. People look at caller ID and decide whether or not to answer the call. Many times they do not. Conversation is dead. Too much phone accomplished the impossible. It shut up mankind, proving the closer we are the farther we grow apart.

This story is an excuse for my silence of the last couple of days. I had no internet service and I enjoyed that freedom from the constant barrage of information while at the same time suffered the jones from cold turkey.

I’m back online again, although tomorrow I’ll be flying back to the States from Thailand. Work and winter. That’s what I have waiting for me in New York.

And I was expecting nothing less.