It had been months since we last knowingly heard from Bruce, an obviously troubled man who had been desperately reaching out for his old friend. I say “knowingly” because we no longer have caller ID, so Bruce may be also responsible for some recent hang-up calls. We know he called today because he left a protracted message on our machine. This scenario reminds me of a quote from the immortal Einstein—
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.