If you know me, you know I like to call.

And call.

And call.

The ring of a telephone is a sound that’s been ingrained in our society. It’s in every sitcom. It’s a sound everyone can recognize. You hear it every day. A familiar:

Ringggg Ringggg

Or

Buzz Buzz.

Talking on the phone has long been a staple of life in our world. But even before I got my first phone, I had already fallen in love with it.

In middle school, instead of a phone, I got a personal computer. And for this PC, I bought a red Blue Yeti microphone. 

Now, these things aren’t too pricey, I think mine was around $130. But for an eighth grader, that’s quite a pretty penny. 

Now, I’ve got this whole microphone, and you better believe I used it. 

I used, 

and used,

and used it until it started to scratch. 

I would sing, test out the different features and most importantly, would chit-chat with my friends.

It became normal. After I got home from Trailridge, I would plant myself in my office chair and talk with everyone. 

And I’m not joking when I say that. 

I would sit and go through my Discord contacts until I found someone who would pick up. And this transferred over to today’s habits. 

If you miss a call from me, you probably aren’t the only one I’ve called or will call. 

For me, calling people is a whole event. I will go through my entire contacts list (well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but you know what I mean) and call everyone of interest. 

But every day, I still get text notifications on my phone.

Texting never made sense to me. Sure I could text my friends on Discord, but I just didn’t understand it.

Why would anyone choose to text over call? 

One of my biggest problems with texting is conveying meaning. When someone texts, it is very difficult to relay tone. 

Tone of voice is a big part of how I communicate with people. The more I’m around someone, the more I know what they normally sound like. I’m good at looking at the different ways people say things. But when I get that: 

“ding ding”

of a text notification, the tone is just a big blank slate.

Unless someone uses a word that obviously has a negative connotation, it’s unlikely I will get the picture. If someone texts me that they are seriously mad about something, I’ll come back with a joke. 

Obviously not the right response. 

These things happen all the time when someone texts me, and it gets frustrating.

So, all things considered, I’ll remain a caller. I hope there aren’t any hard feelings with my hardcore texting friends, but it’s just so much better.

So if you ever just want to chat for a while, give me a call.