with, the single most important person to you on the face of the
planet. Now do you want to answer the phone?
Well, sure, of course, except that... you are at work, and
you’re awfully busy, right in the middle of something important,
on deadline, and, well, truth to tell, you wish you could know what
the conversation was to be about before you committed to getting
into it, right? Even caller ID can’t help you there.
But through the magic of the hypothetical case, I’m going to
tell you exactly what your SO wants to talk about and then let you
decide whether to pick up that phone or let it ring through. SO is a
male in this case, but, obviously, it works either way.
- Case A. SO is calling to tell you that he seems to have lost all
feeling on the left side of his face, and he feels as if he might
pass out any minute. - Case B. Your SO just got off the phone after a long talk with
his sister, Carol, out in Oregon. She’s having a terrible time
with her oldest, Bobby, who just got expelled from school for
getting caught with marijuana in his locker. Carol’s upset, and
so’s your SO, who doesn’t know what he can do to help. He
wants to talk to you about it. - Case C. He wants to talk about your relationship. You had a
fight last night, and you were both still upset when you went to
work this morning. Some things need ironing out right now. - Case D. Nothing special. He just wants to chat.
So, are you going to pick up that phone? It’s your call (literally).
I promise there’ll be no repercussions; your SO will never know if
you choose to duck him.
No question about Case A, right? You’ll not only take the call,
but you’ll drop whatever you had going at work and race home to
take him to the emergency room. Although it’s a frightening and
potentially horrible situation, it’s also an easy decision to make.
Given the circumstances, Case D might be a fairly easy call,
too. You’ll talk later.
I S I T R E A L LY I M P O R TA N T --- O R M E R E LY U R G E N T?