Call or knock?

One part that struck me in the Matsuda article was the discussion on reducing chance encounters with people through telephones and later through mobile phones.

Matsuda says:
“Before the advent of the telephone, visitors used to show up at homes unannounced, but after the wide adoption of the telephone, it became impolite to make a visit without advanced notice. Through keitai, in a similar fashion, one fixes appointments and reduces chance encounters and spontaneous gatherings. Now people must always make conscious choices of whom to call and meet.” (p 134)

I thought this was very relevant to my own life. My mom always tells me that I should just walk to my best friend’s house unannounced, knock on the door, and ask her if she wants to hang out. My best friend from home lives less than a mile away and I see her almost every day in the summer and over breaks. We have been friends since gradeschool and so if there were anyone that I would just pop in on, it would probably be her. However, I would never just show up without calling first. I would consider that to be rude.

My mom doesn’t understand this. She always says that when she was a kid, they would always go to people’s houses unannounced. I think this shows an interesting change that has happened within the last thirty to forty years. I suppose my mom’s generation was one that grew up with telephones being relatively new in being widespread. There had not yet been the social change of calling before going to someone’s house. My generation seems to have been taught by society, not by our parents, that it is rude to just show up without previous plans.