Signs-O-The-Times

I've had a couple of "Can you hear me now?" laughs lately, but not because of dropped cell-phone service; Rather, because of perceived dropped service because the receiver took a nanosecond too long to respond and the speaker immediately was all, "Hello? Are you there? Can you hear me?" Which made the receiver think the speaker couldn't hear them and was all, "Can you hear me? Hello?" This went on for several minutes when both parties could hear just fine. It's a sign of our times. Gone are the days when you can ask someone a question and feel comfortable with a pregnant pause on the other end while the receiver prepares a thoughtful answer. We want immediate feedback. I think we've been burned too many times when we monologue on and on then finally stop and expect a reply and find silence on the other end. "Can you hear me? Are you there?"