sdelmonte | Ready, AIM, Fire

As most of you know, I am a very early riser. I get up, I check my mail and the news and some favorite websites and LJ, and sometimes I ping a friend or two if I see anyone online. I am often not quite awake enough to do more than say hi, or to engage in just some light and rather slow-paced conversation.

Today, about twenty minutes before I was going to log off and go to morning services at synagogue - which is part of the reason I am up early - I get pinged by an old friend I hear from maybe once a year. And then he starts tryng to catch up with me all at once. No sooner have I replied than the "typing a message" appears again and there's another question. It was, for that hour of the day, overwhelming. And very unlike my friend. The speed, the type of question, it seems like he wasn't himself.

Well, he wasn't. His wife was using their shared account. And his wife - an even older friend who I've known since 1989 - was IMing me in exactly the same style she talks. I really should have figured it out sooner. Thing is, most of us don't communicate by IM in the same voice we use to talk, or even to write. She does. And I never expected it. I also never found out why she was up so early.

As a result of trying to keep up with my friend's rapid fire IMing, I forced my brain to jump fully awake a little early. And now I am feeling rather wiped. This is a reminder that, as much of a morning person as I am, sometimes even I need time to get all the engines going.

I was glad to hear from her, BTW. This is one of those friendships that endures even though we aren't all that close anymore. I just hope next time, I hear from her later in the day.