On contacting people

Why is it that when I want to open a chat in Skype with someone, I am stressing over whether or not I am bothering the person unduly (much like calling them on the phone), but when I send them a private message in IRC this does not bother me at all? That is true even if it is the same person.

Is it just that Skype windows have a more compelling presence on the screen than Xchat tabs?

Every once in a while I have a feeling that I am always contacting everyone and nobody is ever contacting me. This is not exactly the case: some people contact me sometimes, and a lot of other people would if I did not call them first, and also a lot of people don't really feel the need to because they see me in IRC every day. I am just "faster on the draw" than most people. (And thanks to Heli and Ville and Leena and Anya and Tiina and occasionally Kristiina - did I forget anyone? - for often being faster than myself. But I like those of you who are slower too.)

Hrrrm, this entry sounds like a whine for invitations. I didn't really mean it that way. I am just expressing my insecurities. I kind of know that most people I hang out with like me even if they don't call or write.

Still, I wonder about some people. Old Aspekti people almost never call, and yet seem quite happy when I call them. Don't seem to call each other very often, either. Gotta have a party for them sometime this summer, because I have a feeling that if I won't nobody will.

New people are also difficult: how do I know whether they don't contact me because they don't like me or just because they don't bother to contact me? Scary.

Apropos new people: Tanya once told me (after we'd been friends for years) that the first 20 or so times that we talked I called her; she did not call me. I hadn't even noticed that back then.

I almost feel like adding a few lines here about my parents' contact habits and the stuff they taught me, but my mom has this URL and I'll be in trouble. And don't even let me start on the grandma.