Monday, 4/26

 So...just what IS the protocol for removing dead people from your contacts?

I'm curious because I had to add a couple of new numbers to my phone over the weekend, and it made me think about that question. Actually, it made me think about a couple of things, the other being that heaven forbid I—we, actually—have to remember phone numbers these days, right? I mean, the only phone numbers I know without having to look them up are Loraine, both my parents, and the Q107 transmitter, which I have to call every time something goes wrong.

Can you guess which one I wish I didn't know by heart?

Anyway, as I was adding the new numbers in I noticed my phone contained the numbers of three people who, sad to say, have passed away in the past couple of years. They were individuals Loraine and I had met in the course of her World War II research, and people who had become cherished friends in the process. Sadly, they were also all in the 80s or 90s when we met, and sadly, like many people in their 80s and 90s, they're now gone.

So when I saw I still have their numbers, I found myself in a bit of a quandary. After all, I don't need them any more. They're dead. But, for whatever reason, it didn't feel right deleting their info. I don't know why. The rational, logical part of me knows I don't need the numbers any more. But to the rest of me it just didn't seem right to get rid of the info. It's a dichotomy I can't explain. It's not like by deleting the numbers I'm removing them from my life. That happened when they passed away. And it's not like I'm ever gonna use the numbers again. Knowing my luck, I'd accidentally touch of the entries and call the number, only to have whoever picked it up when it was reassigned by the phone company answer the call and wonder what's going on.

Just what is one to do? Is there a proper etiquette for dealing with a situation like this?

In the end, the logical, rational, and practical side of me won out, and the numbers are gone. I know I don't need them, and I know there's absolutely no reason for me to digitally carry them around with me. So there—I guess we can now consider that the proper etiquette for dealing with a situation such as this.

Still, it just seems strange not having them in my phone. Now, if I could only do that with the number for our transmitter...

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)