#320 When your friend calls to tell you they got home safe

Neil Pasricha

Say goodbye.

Watch your high school pal slowly fade into the foggy shadows at the park after a long night catching up on the swings. Close the cab door on Grandma after the smoky bingo parlor clears out and watch her swerve down wet-slicked roads out of sight. Flick on the porch lights as your late-night college chat dissolves into dawn and your friends throw their hoodies on to shiver and slide their way home.

Brush your teeth, wash your face, check your watch … and wonder. You’re ready for bed but that feeling in your head makes you suddenly stop before slumber. You stare at the night, you flip on the light, and you worry with fright until —

The phone rings.

AWESOME!

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40 thoughts to “#320 When your friend calls to tell you they got home safe”

  1. after getting my licence in september, i still message my fiance every time i get home from work. :)

    1. Thanks for referencing #615, Laura! That saved me some time because I knew this post had a familiar air about it :) These friends rock. I call it “having the mom gene” when you want to make sure your friends are ok.

      1. I was thinking the same thing! I fear I’m starting to measure time by when Neil posted an awesomething!

        I’m constantly walking home at night by myself, so its nice knowing someone knows where I’m going and if I take too long to get home, will call me just to make sure! And it great being on the otherside to :)

    2. #615 is one of my favorites, by far. I always feel well-looked-after when my friends take a few seconds to make sure I make it in the door.

      Regarding this post – I always text my dad whenever I land at the airport, so he knows I made to back to terra firma safe and sound. :)

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  5. This is VERY important to me when my husband is down from the mountain after snowmobiling!
    Also similar to telepathy between 2 friends, across miles/countries even, when they need a comfort call…this morning it happened and just now again, when I read this post, I phoned friend of over 30 years and over 300 miles away, here she was driving spooked in a thicket of fog, and we talked “on blue tooth” until she was safely in the door!
    This one really got me…really!
    It is so important to call, y’all!

  6. There was one time when I invited my friends to go to my place for fiesta. That day we had so much fun eating, talking, and taking pictures that we lost track of time. My house was an hour and a half away so they had to ride the jeepney before six pm because after that, there would be no transportation left. It was raining so hard in the afternoon that I worried if my friends weren’t still able to get a ride at the terminal. 30 minutes later, my friend texted me that their on their way home and they thanked me for the fun times that we shared that day.

  7. This is such a universal feeling. When I was in school , my parents made me call back if I went somewhere. Sometime in college, it was lost. Even years later, whenever I come back from a visit to home, I have to call my parents when I reach back safely. Just nice knowing that someone out there is looking out for you.

  9. Every time I finish the long nighttime highway drive home from my boyfriend’s I text him to let him know i’m home safe, as he does with me. Starting each drive with an “I love you” its important to know that they got home safe and sound and aren’t upside-down in the ditch of the highway.

  10. No matter your age or station in life, calling “home” is always a happy choice. I’m glad that I called my mom to check in – even in my forties. Now I’m wishing that my adult children would sometimes do the same! It’s another way to say “I love you!”

  11. agreed! another great thing about friends like this is when you’re walking home alone in a creepy area, you have someone you can call and talk to. it’s always reassuring that someone knows where you are in case something bad happens.

    since i’m living in europe right now, i still call/email my parents whenever i reach a destination in my travels. i know it makes my mom’s day to know that i’m safe :)

  13. When I first moved out of my moms house, just about everyone had me call them when I got home or to work everyday. Nowadays just my hubby and bff have me do it and I make them as well but we dont call…. We text these days. lol

    1. Now that the geektween is starting to go places / come home from school on her own, the “I got home” text is the new routine. If she doesn’t text me, then I’ll start calling and interupt her after-school watching of ST:NG.

      1. “But MOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!! Geordi just programmed Professor Moriarty into the Holodeck and he’s going to kill Data!”

        That interuption will teach her to remember to text you when she gets home!

  14. ***PLEASE READ***
    Music is another life-line~one of the best!
    “Come on people now…” by the Young Bloods, is a great 60’s song!
    AND…
    there’s a youngn’ over on 1000babysteps, who needs everyone to “put a little love in your heart…”Nick-names,” is the art of the day,
    so “come on people now”, climb aboard another life-line/peace train and spread the love!!!

  15. Thanks for this blog, Neil. I really needed a boost just now and reading your posts plus the great comments never fails to brighten my day.

  16. How do you come up with these little situations in life we never really appreciate enough? I mean everyday you post something… that means you need internet connection 7 days a week, 365 days a year…
    You could post an entry explaining how these stories pop up in your head and how this is just awesome :D

  18. I’m a bit of a worry wart so I always like to know when friends and family have arrived home safe and sound!
    I do the same for others.
    Claire

  24. I do this with my male friends and my wife thinks that’s it’s weird. But I still think it’s awesome.

  27. This is really funny to me because when I dated my ex boyfriend (we’re still good friends — THATS ANOTHER AWESOME!) he would get really worried for when I would go out, and forget to call due to being too drunk. Good times.

  28. I love this post. I meet up with one of my high school friends every year for our school’s annual football rivalry game. It’s a weekend of awesome. It’s so sad when it’s over but we always text each other when we arrive safely back in our respective states. It’s bittersweet.

  30. This one means a lot to me as well – I’m always the one who offers to drive, and waits until my friends are safely in the house with a light on. It makes me feel loved by my friends when after I do right by them, they insist on a text message that I get home safely as well :) xxx

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