Always reply to voice messages and emails

Nothing has made me angrier in recent years than "friends" who don't take the time to answer an email or voice message.   It is one thing if you get a call from someone you always talk to and her message says, "hi, I'm just in the car and thought I would kill time".  In that situation, you don't need to call back.  But if you get a call from someone who you consider to be a "good friend" and they say "I was calling about....please call me back", then you should call back.  If you are super busy, maybe sending a text back saying, "got your voice message but I don't have time to talk now...can I call you back in the a.m.? "  Or if someone sends an email to you and it is not a forward, but meant just for you, then at least write back something.  An acquaintance recently said that she wanted to purchase something that I had bought a year earlier.  I went home and did all the research for her and sent her the links by email.  That acquaintance immediate shot back an email saying, "thanks for all the work you did."  That response took her a few seconds.   She might never act on the information I sent to her, but at least she acknowledged my effort.  But I'll bet we all have a friend who never returns your call or hits "reply" to an email that is addressed just to her.  That person makes me feel like our friendship is not that important to her.  My life lesson here is that you should always "respect" the other person enough to return the call or the email.  If you don't want to talk, start with, "I only have a few minutes, but I wanted to get back with you as soon as I could".  Let your friends know that they are important and you value their friendship.