why don’t my parents call me? (don’t tell me to call them first.)

Ask for what you want. Let them know that it means a lot to you to have them call you, and you would like them them to do so. You could even recommend a schedule (Sundays at 7 PM for example.)

They love you but are not sure if you want the calls. They trust your abilities + management.

Could very well be. Making it clear to them that you value their calls and welcome them could make them feel more secure about picking up the phone.

The Answer Wall Story

Hi. I’m the Answer Wall. In the material world, I’m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O’Neill Library at Boston College. In the online world, I live in this blog. You might say I have multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren’t into deities of knowledge, like a ghost in the machine.

I have some human ~~acolytes~~ assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O’Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to research tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.

If you’d like a quicker answer to your question and don’t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they have been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are hidden, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just like me, The Answer Wall.