A couple years ago, if my cell phone rang, I would pull it out of my pocket with urgency/concern and immediately answer, “Hello?!”

Back in those days, aside from my wife and parents, I simply didn’t receive a lot of phone calls. Most of the communication on my cell transpired via text message. If a call came through with an unknown number, semi-panic would hit as I assumed it must be the kids’ school calling or some other emergency-type situation.

These days, my phone seems to ring off the hook. Unfortunately—and annoyingly—it isn’t because I am a popular person or I have won a large cash prize. Instead, spammers and salespeople are blowing up my phone.

Getting a phone call from a solicitor is the worst.

Ever since buying a house and later re-financing it, I receive calls seemingly non-stop from mortgage folks and real estate gurus wanting me to “make a big move.” My phone is also going off constantly thanks to my profession. Marketing salespeople have my personal number and don’t hesitate to call it at all hours of the day. Then of course I also receive a heavy dose of hang-ups and spam/prank calls.

These people use all the tactics. They call 2-3 times in succession. They call from a 509 (Spokane) or 843 (Myrtle Beach) area code. They call from numbers that closely mirror my loved ones.

Thanks to my phone’s feature of mostly identifying bothersome calls as spam and my own common sense, I have trained myself not to pick up when appropriate. However, one of the unfortunate consequences of being much more selective is that sometimes I ignore legitimate calls. And that sucks.

I am not really asking for help because I know the advice I will receive: tell the person on the other end to remove my number from their call list (just like my parents would tell telemarketers 25 years ago when they called our landline during dinner). So I guess I am just airing my frustrations and wishing I didn’t hear my ringtone as much as I do.

Have you ever turned a bothersome call into something great or missed a really important call because you thought it was garbage? Let me know! Don’t Blink.

On Saturday, I came across the below Blondie comic while reading the paper…

This “Blondie” comic touches on something that is very prevalent in American society today.

It stood out to me because I was shamed recently at a McDonald’s drive-thru for not rounding up for whatever good cause they were pushing at the time. Lucky for me, the shame didn’t come from the cars behind me (could you imagine the honking and jeers?) but just from the McDonald’s employee who was taking the drive-thru orders. To be fair, this particular employee was being trained and probably didn’t know that hassling customers to round up beyond the standard initial solicitation isn’t a best practice.

But perhaps I deserved it? After all, literally giving cents would seem like the absolute least a person could do to give back. However, and this probably isn’t a good excuse, but I feel like I am experiencing “round up” fatigue. From every transaction we make at the grocery store to every Domino’s pizza we purchase and absolutely everything else in-between we get asked to round up to the nearest dollar.

Then again, I might need to get over this “fatigue.” Because as I think about the round up practice—which has become just as common as every person in America asking for a 20% gratuity—I have to admit that it is probably the quickest, least invasive, and non-cost prohibitive way of raising money for charities and worthy initiatives. How hard is it to round up a $19.43 bill to $20?

Obviously for me it is a conundrum and that should probably be a wake up call that I need to be more generous. But I think that wake up call needs to come from my own personal conscience and not at the urging/shame of another person.

Do you have thoughts, practices, or philosophies when it comes to rounding up your bill? Don’t Blink.

Today is Thursday and tradition calls for a Thursday Rundown. But it is also September 11. Obviously, tradition be damned. However, since there is a logical and respectful way to make it work, I thought I would write tonight’s post in a rundown format that would focus on 9/11. So, sorry, no weird sodas I saw at Grocery Outlet or cute photos of my kids at community events tonight.

From Inside the Towers – This week I watched a documentary that covered a perspective I had never really considered before. The film focused on telephone calls made from inside the World Trade Center towers as the attack happened (thousands were made). Many calls to 911 and loved ones were recorded and then shared during the documentary. Some people who phoned their loved ones knew death was imminent and conducted themselves with so much bravery and calm. Others who called 911, especially those in some of the upper floors above the impact zone, didn’t know the extent of the damage. The documentary said it was a rare instance when people on the outside could assess the severity of the situation better than those on the inside.

From the Planes – While many people in the Twin Towers didn’t know right away how bad things were, those innocent victims on the planes did. Back in 2017, I took a moment to reflect on a voicemail a passenger on United Airlines Flight 175 left for his wife. I won’t write it out here because you can read it below, but as a relatively new husband and father at the time, it touched me to an incredible degree. To be on a flight from hell and have the composure to leave such a loving and thoughtful message will always stick with me. If Brian could communicate in such a graceful way under unspeakable conditions, there is no excuse for me to not do the same during my everyday life conditions.

Composure, courage, and love. May God bless Brian Sweeney.

Speaking to My Kids – In 2023, Sloan asked me about 9/11 for the first time. Last year, she brought up the topic again. When we first chatted about it, she said, “I wish only the bad people who took the planes died and not all the good people.” I thought it would become easier to watch 9/11 footage and talk about it as the years went by, but it has actually become harder for me. However, despite the difficulty, I still need to speak to Sloan about it (at a level she can understand). After all, in 2019 I wrote that we must never forget but always educate.

Putting Faces to the Victims – The thousands of people who died during the 9/11 attacks came from all walks of life and all had unique stories. However, it is easy for the faces and stories of victims to be minimized when a mass killing event transpires. While watching a 9/11 remembrance ceremony in 2021, I started to jot down the names of victims who were announced. I then started Googling them and eventually wrote about five of them.

Perspective – The tragedy of 9/11 should be remembered 365 days per year—not just on the anniversary. If we do this, I think it helps us put life in better perspective. Back in 2018 I was stressing over a hurricane that had potential to make landfall near Myrtle Beach. After thinking about all the ways it could impact our property, home, and lives, I decided to reflect on the cruel and instantaneous fate that met the thousands who died on 9/11. The hurricane was a forecasted event and my family had plenty of time to evacuate…unlike those who perished on September 11. That put an end to my “woe is me” thinking.

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Take time tonight to reflect on 9/11. I know it isn’t the most soothing thing to think about while trying to fall asleep but I think it is necessary. May we pray for the souls of those who lost their lives and the loved ones who still cope with the pain every single day. Don’t Blink.

Throughout the weekend and even today I have entertained thoughts about general consciousness that have entered my head. I thought I would document the three most prominent ones:

– My children are now in third grade and kindergarten. I have pretty vivid memories from both years. I have flashes of remembrance from preschool, but kindergarten is where solid memories started to build. This is important because I can now more easily put myself in the situation of my kids and relate.

– I am exactly one month away from my 39th birthday. However, more significantly (and also more depressingly), I am 13 months away from my 40th birthday.

– Speaking of being 38 and Sloan being in third grade, here is something for you: My parents were both 38 when I was in third grade. I remember my mom volunteering in the class and my dad coming to school to eat lunch with me a couple times that third grade year.

Sloan and I at a high school football game this past Friday night. My goal is to give her memories during her third grade year.

Okay, those are my three deep thoughts for this Monday. Hope everyone had a great start to their weeks. Don’t Blink.