# Do you think it's ever justified to "drop off the face of the Earth"? How do you handle it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 23, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-its-ever-justified-to-drop-off-the-face-of-the-earth-how-do-you-handle-it/693847 "2014-07-23T16:39:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![csy\_mckenzie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed8c4c/32.png) [@csy\_mckenzie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/csy_mckenzie)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-its-ever-justified-to-drop-off-the-face-of-the-earth-how-do-you-handle-it/693847/61 "2021-12-16T16:37:05Z")
…i think it is kind of hilarious (and please don’t take this the wrong way), but we are all ( including myself) posting back and forth about the subject… when this could be time spend replying to the person who sent you a text, email or phone call. Kudos to Digs. Also, I actually have to work…so I do get it that one doesn’t always have the time right here and then to respond. Lol. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-its-ever-justified-to-drop-off-the-face-of-the-earth-how-do-you-handle-it/693847/62 "2021-12-16T16:45:46Z")
You are assuming that there always _is_ a reason - part of my point is that there often isn’t a specific reason and it just happens. If my best friend from grade school was to contact me and ask me why I lost touch with her , I wouldn’t be able to answer the question. And if I asked her, she most likely wouldn’t be able to answer either because certainly on my side and probably on her side it wasn’t an intentional act with a specific reason. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-its-ever-justified-to-drop-off-the-face-of-the-earth-how-do-you-handle-it/693847/63 "2021-12-16T17:18:10Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Your posts inspired me to drop a quick text to a couple of close friends that I haven’t kept in touch with during Covid. I said that I’ve really been enjoying being a hermit and doing artwork with no one around: “So don’t feel special, I’ve been ignoring EVERYONE :~)” I got responses that they’ve been hermits as well, and we should get together maybe after the holidays. > > Whew! I hadn’t damaged any relationships. > [@csy\_mckenzie](#): > > Lol. I love this!!! Glad I could be an inspiration to someone… anyone lol. Note, however, that digs’ friends weren’t angry at the long pause with no contact; they appear to have considered that entirely normal behavior. > [@csy\_mckenzie](#): > > I have probably always thought a bit different than others. I have the knack for being able to see the other side of things and not just mine. It actually seems to me in this thread that you’re having a great deal of trouble in seeing other people’s perspectives. > [@csy\_mckenzie](#): > > You know 7 billion people…well, look at you that’s a big feet. You’re the one who said we’re talking about “everyone.” It is just plain not possible to talk about reasonable expectations for frequency of contact as if those were the same for all possible relationships. Because they are not the same for all possible relationships. > [@csy\_mckenzie](#): > > …i think it is kind of hilarious (and please don’t take this the wrong way), bit we are all ( including myself) posting back and forth about the subject… when this could be time spend replying to the person who sent you a text, email or phone call. How is this form of communication different and automatically of less importance than replying to a text, email, or phone call? ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-its-ever-justified-to-drop-off-the-face-of-the-earth-how-do-you-handle-it/693847/64 "2021-12-21T19:04:11Z")
People have fallen in and out of my life all the time. It never occurred to me that they owed me any information. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-its-ever-justified-to-drop-off-the-face-of-the-earth-how-do-you-handle-it/693847/65 "2021-12-22T21:11:33Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > [@csy\_mckenzie](#): > > > > You know 7 billion people…well, look at you that’s a big feet. > > You’re the one who said we’re talking about “everyone.” But thinking they mean every single person on earth is disingenuous. > [@](#): > > > [@csy\_mckenzie](#): > > > > …i think it is kind of hilarious (and please don’t take this the wrong way), bit we are all ( including myself) posting back and forth about the subject… when this could be time spend replying to the person who sent you a text, email or phone call. > > How is this form of communication different and automatically of less importance than replying to a text, email, or phone call? The obvious answer is that we’re just strangers discussing a topic, not people who are in any form of relationship with each other. In fact, you don’t seem to particularly like them. I’d actually argue that a lot of this conversation is based on a generational gap. We’ve have discussions before on how we tend to see texts as optional to respond to, while youngest generations don’t. We now live in a more connected world, so it makes sense there may be more expectation that we keep in touch in all our relationships. I also suspect there’s an introvert/extravert dichotomy going on here. Introverts tend to be more okay with not talking with friends for a more extended period of time than extraverts. I’ve noticed before that it’s easier to casually fall out of a friendship with an extravert, as they seem to expect more contact than I am willing to give. In my mind, we’ll still be decently close, while they will have moved on. Don’t get me wrong. I suspect @csy_mckenzie is pushing the boundaries on this too far. They likely have a specific person they are upset with, and are likely quite young, where that sort of thing is a much bigger deal even without the generational divide. (Teens of all generations put way more emphasis on social contact.) But I don’t think what they are saying is without merit. I know I could do well to not just drift out of contact. I know that it’s silly for me to be upset that someone hasn’t contacted me when I also haven’t contacted them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-its-ever-justified-to-drop-off-the-face-of-the-earth-how-do-you-handle-it/693847.md?page=3)