Dear LPG,

I read an article on your page about how we watch television, but the comment that caught my eye was the one about how much time we spend on our phones.  

I have moved in with my aunt, who must be elderly because although she is well into her eighties, I am no spring chicken.  I wouldn’t call myself her carer because, at the moment, she is well able to care for herself, but although I can still change light bulbs and reach the top shelves in the higher kitchen cupboards better than she can, they are gradually becoming a bit of a challenge for me too. 

We are both still very busy with our own lives, but we appreciate the fact that we come together, giving each of us someone to share the respective highlights of our days with each evening.  I am very aware that having someone to share meals with, get out and about with, watch a good television programme with, and discuss the world with is a luxury that many older people don’t have. 

BJ has a point when she says that the longer, darker nights keep us at home for a much greater part of each day. While I spend a lot of the time emailing my friends, my aunt always goes back to basics, using a phone to her ear.  

It’s a big house, so we each pursue our own interests a lot of the time, but we make a point of catching up with each other frequently.  I hope that our neighbours are not too upset when the easiest way of finding out where the other one is involves a bit of loud name shouting.  

It can’t always be the case, but whenever I go to find out what she is up to after not having seen her for an hour or two, I am nearly always interrupting a telephone call she is making, and don’t ask how long they last.   They have been known to last well into the second hour, even though, in most cases, the two speakers will have spoken for just as long as they did yesterday.  It is now quite normal for many of our family members and her friends to hear me in the background adding a ‘Hello’ to their conversations as I interrupt to bring her the post or find out what she fancies for dinner.  Please don’t ask how many times I answer our landline phone to a call intended for her, only to take the phone to her and find her busy talking to someone else on her mobile.  

It’s a good thing we have a telephone package where we pay for all our telephone calls in advance. I don’t think we would be able to afford the bill otherwise.  

When I mentioned this to her recently, she reminded me that I have joined the ‘appear to be talking to yourself brigade,’ and she has a point, now that I come to think of it.  I must admit that I spend a lot of time with my earbuds in, having conversations on the go while cooking, shopping, tidying up, on a bus or train, walking down the street, and trying to make the garden look a bit better.  And she says that when she tries to interrupt me, she often has to do more than talk or shout.  I am getting used to a tap on the shoulder or a nudge in the ribs by way of a wake-up call.   

I have come to the conclusion that, despite our two-decade age difference, we are as similar as can be, but BJ’s comments leave me wondering just how common our telephone habits are among British people of our respective ages…   

GC, Charlton