I just got off the phone with Robinder from Mumbai, India. We just had a 30 minute cross-cultural phone experience. I wished him and his family the best.

I had originally started out calling Earthlink to talk about my account. Then, after business, I started with, "So are you in the north or south of India?

I told him I didn't know where Mumbai is but he didn't know where Seattle Washington is either.

"It's north of California." 

"Oh. I know the Beach Boys!"

Anyway, did you know in a couple of months it will be monsoon season and then it's winter after that? We talked about seasons (they only recognize 3, no autumn) and flowers. Religion too. He's Catholic, which surprised me. 

So, I guess I'm weird like that. Anytime someone calls to sell me direct TV, I'm totally psyched. I usually end up talking politics and religion with the Indian fellow on the other end of the line for 30 minutes. My longest such call was well over an hour.

On every such call, they usually ask when I am coming to India to visit and I find that completely cool.

So if you have the time and the inclination but just never thought of it - the next time Robinder calls you with a sweet deal on DirecTV, take some time to say "hello" from America.

Here's the number I called for Earthlink 1-888-327-8454