The Filler Call

~25yrs ago, my sister was in college and called my late father at work in the middle of the day. When he answered she said something along the lines of “Oh, I’m just walking to class,” and hopped off the call 10min later once she’d arrived. 60min later, she called him again - “Oh, I’m just walking home from class,” - and my dad chuckled, then replied “Ah, so I’m filler,” and the Filler Call® was born.

The Filler Call is quick and has no agenda. The Filler Call is usually spontaneous, but can come with a pre-text like, “Wanna be my Filler in 5m?” Related: it’s required to identify the Filler Call as such upon answering. A close friend and I have a routine where, if we miss a call from the other and we only have a few minutes, we’ll text “Filler?” so we don’t miss an opportunity for a quick catch-up. That said, there’s no guilt involved if you can’t take a Filler Call; it’s always optional.

The Filler Call is for a specific circle of friend or family: those with whom we can go deep but don’t always need to, partly because a regular cadence of Filler Calls can keep you pretty well caught up. And, if nothing else, hearing someone’s voice and popping into a few minutes of their day every so often is a special little treat on its own.