Last June, I sent my friend in China a voice text while I was back in the US for a visit. I ranted about annoying people in my home state. (I was on a short kayaking trip, and while transporting a kayak someone intentionally ran over my paddle that fell onto the street.)
My message rambled into talk about living in China, and in the process I mentioned Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet.
Surprise, surprise — it never went through. And the “resend” button that usually appears if it’s a network issue never popped up either. I checked with my friend when I returned to Beijing and even looked at his side of the thread on his phone. Nothing had ever appeared on his end.
On my end, the message just pulsed ominously. Almost two years later, it’s still doing the same thing.