We all know I have a tendency to err on the side of the anxious every now and again and with that in mind, not many people understand why I like to talk on the phone. Truth is quite a lot of my stresses and anxieties stem from things I can’t control and the paranoia of the unknown - talking on the phone helps me tick off a few of those boxes that stress me out so much, so that I don’t need to worry. If this doesn’t make sense stick with me, because hopefully it’ll all become a little clearer.
If a person is talking to me on the phone, it’s because they want to dedicate that time to me and they care about what I think enough to call to ask about it or to hash out some of life's many mysteries.
If a person is talking to me on the phone and they’ve called me, rather than vice versa, it means to me that they care. The idea that this person, who’s name is flashing on my own phone screen, wants to talk to me is reassuring as hell. If they’re calling me back, then they care enough to call back, rather than just respond with a “You Called?” text message.
I like talking on the phone because it’s so much more sincere and reassuring even if you’re talking nonsense. Hearing someone laugh is chicken soup for the soul. Just because they’ve typed out “Hahahaha, that’s so funny…” it doesn’t mean anything made them laugh at all; hearing someone’s actual laugh rumble in their chest is so reassuring because you know it’s real, you know they’re amused by something you said and enjoying your company.
I like talking on the phone because it’s a much nicer way to get to know someone; ten text messages in as many hours tells me nothing, except that you’ve been busy today but not REALLY busy. A ten minute phone call at the end of the day speaks volumes. I’d much prefer that.
It tells me that you want to talk to me before you go to sleep, maybe you’d just like to hear my voice, or simply just tell me something funny that happened to you that day because it’ll come across so much more effectively if you call rather than try and explain a had-to-be-there moment in a quickly tapped-out text of 140 characters.
Sometimes, I need someone’s opinion on something and I need it now, people can’t always wait for them to get to a break in their scheduled TV watching for the night, check their phone and then get back to me.
Someone who I love talking on the phone to, although we need to talk far more, is Sarah White. Sarah is so bubbly all the time that her excitement for life rubs off on me when we talk on the phone and we find ourselves gushing with laughter and sentences that run over each others because we’re happy just to be talking to each other and filling each other in with various new developments of our lives.
I like talking to my colleagues at work on the phone because we all know each other well enough that by putting a different tone of voice on, an otherwise normal phrase, it means something entirely different. It’s not always appropriate to say what you really mean in a crowded office/busy shop floor. That sentiment makes sense to me, but it’s quite hard to describe. I hope you know what I mean.
I’ve learned from talking to my Dad on the phone what it sounds like when someone’s stepped out to have a cigarette and call you at the same time. There’s a very distinctive sound of a long drag on a cigarette, followed by a “Mm-yeah…” a quick forced exhale and then the rest of their carefully chosen sentence. I want to learn little things like that about more people.
I want to talk to people on the phone so much more, because I’ll know them so much better after. I’ll know what they sound like after a rough day at work, after they’ve been crying, or after they’ve just had some amazing news that they can’t wait to share. I want to hear them settling down onto the sofa with a glass of wine, or crawling into bed because I know they don’t mind winding down their day by talking the time away with me.
If this whole idea seems entirely crazy to you, and calling someone seems a little behind on the times, then I do kind of understand. Why pick up the phone to call someone when you could have a speedy support session via text?
Obviously a phone call isn’t always appropriate - but when it is, call.
