One time I sent a message and had to wait an unexpectedly long time for a reply was when I contacted one of my university classmates, named Leo. We had been assigned to work together on a presentation, and I was responsible for¹ designing the slides while he was supposed to collect some background information. About a week before the deadline, I sent him a fairly detailed message² asking whether he had found the sources and whether we could meet online to divide up the remaining tasks. Since he usually replied quite quickly in our group chat, I assumed I would hear back that day. However, a day passed, then several more days, and there was still complete silence³. At first, I was simply confused. I kept checking my phone and wondering whether my message had failed to send. As the deadline got closer, though, I became increasingly worried and slightly annoyed, because I couldn’t finish my part properly without his research. I eventually decided to look for some materials myself, just in case⁴ he had forgotten about the project. Fortunately, he finally replied after nearly a week. He apologized sincerely and explained that his phone had been damaged after he dropped it in the rain. He had only just managed to log into his account on a new device. In the end, we worked intensively over the weekend and completed the presentation on time. Looking back⁵, I felt relieved when I received his explanation, although the experience taught me not to depend entirely on one person for an important task. It also reminded me that a short message can sometimes prevent a lot of unnecessary stress.