Opinion

The Strange Prestige of Being Hard to Reach

Somewhere along the way, being unavailable stopped looking like a scheduling problem and started looking like a personality with excellent taste.

BY Amal · Nov 09, 2026

A woman in red sunglasses holds a white telephone receiver away from herself while standing on a rotary phone on an outdoor court. — Just out of reach. Illustrative photograph; pictured person is not an article subject. · Christian Agbede / Unsplash (Unsplash License) · Photo source

There is a certain kind of person who announces they are terrible at texting with the satisfaction of someone revealing they summer in the south of France.

● FREE MEMBER ACCESS

Keep reading for free

Create an Arcwize account to read the full story and join the conversation.

🔒 Private email · Return to this story