• by Lisa , May 1, 2011

Two of my really good friends live in Indianapolis. I, on the other hand, am confined to the land of Ball State University. Another one of my friends lives in Evansville where she now works as a nurse (I guess that’s what I get for befriending people older than myself.) At this point I’d give just about anything to be out of Muncie. I wish that I could visit these friends more often, but money doesn’t always allow for that. They visit when their work schedules allow, and my friend and I visit them on weekends when we can.

These friends all have a bond I do not have, however. They all have computers with webcams. And that means Skype. I know I could easily purchase an external webcam and join them, but I’d prefer to be more patient. I have broken so many laptops (unintentionally, I swear!) that I have chosen to live by the saying “Beggars can’t be choosers,” as a means of not pressing my luck. I’m too paranoid to invest in one, to be completely honest.

As I wait, though, I am constantly told that I need Skype. My friends watch movies together, discuss late nights of drunkenness upon returning home, and are far more connected than I am because they can see each other while they talk. Skype gives them the ability to be with each other while not being with each other. I knew people used it to contact people who live far away. My roommate, for example, was once dating a guy that lived in another country. They Skyped to keep in contact every so often. That made sense to me, yet for some reason, I failed to realize that people also use Skype on a daily basis. I was under the impression that people only used it sporadically. I had no idea people used it on a daily basis. But it makes sense, in our age of constantly evolving technology and media.

Now it’s just too bad I won’t be joining my friends in their Skyping habits anytime soon. But that might not be a bad thing. It’s probably for the best that my addictions remain strictly in the realm of guilty pleasure reality television. I may be behind the times when it comes to my technology and devices, but at least that means I’m likely far less distracted than those Skype-addicts I call friends.