Call Someone Today.
My parents might not have the best marriage, but something that I’ve always admired about their relationship is the frequency with which those two talk on the phone. For context, my dad is a truck driver, who is the absolute worst with any type of technology. He’s the definition of “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, that is unless he finds conspiracy videos on Youtube. Somehow he’s willing to learn about flat earther logic, but not how to use the family desktop he bought. It took him months to learn where the on button was. Therefore, his selective learning limits him to communicate via phone calls.
My mom on the other hand is more tech-savvy, but she believes conversations shouldn’t occur over text. She used to rant to my dad about her sister:
“Why won’t she pick up the phone and CALL ME instead of having a whole conversation over text?!???!! That’s what the phone is for!”
I think besides being frustrated over the way in which my aunt used her cellular, deep down she has always understood something that took years for me to figure out. Texting is impersonal. Texting possesses no indication of someone's tone, and it’s up to the receiver to decipher what the vibe is, essentially. I think I accidentally adopted my mother’s reasoning, and quite frankly, I don’t like it anymore, in fact I hate it, and I hate the variations of it. Text, Snapchat, DMs. Forget it.
“What about Facetime, Taylor? It’s the same thing as calling but more interactive, Taylor.”
No.
I’ll admit, I got really into Facetime throughout high school, but now I have reduced the people I video chat with to a handful. Personally, I think when you Facetime someone, you are somewhat obligated to give them a visual. The added aspect of seeing the other person then forces both people to present things to the other. “Oh God it’s getting quiet, I’m boring them, let me show them this random toy that my little sister hasn’t somehow taken out of my room yet, so they can ask me why I still have it” I cannot tell you how many times this has happened to me. I’m not saying all Facetimes are bad, I have some examples of warranted calls:
The time when you’re hanging out with a guy, and he forces you to slow dance to Prince. Yet, he extends his arms all the way out, holding your ribs instead of hips, and he leaves two feet of space between you and him. He’ll then blame the high school you went to as to why you’re so stiff instead of recognizing how uncomfortable he made you at the beginning of hanging out. [What did he do???] He tried to convince you that he was half-siblings with Ja Morant. He was lying, of course, and said it was an April Fool’s Day joke. It was April 16th. Talk about belated . . .
Outfit options for a girl's night
A fond memory of how you got fed up with a girl in middle school who kept poking you, so you hit her on the shoulder three times AFTER you told her annoying @$$ to stop! Apparently, she went to the nurse for it??? I didn’t even hit her that hard, but she made it sound like I . . .
***you didn’t even hit her that hard, but she made it sound like you slapped the $#*% out of her. And now on the extremely rare occasions it’s brought up, your friends remember you beating her senseless for no good reason. Don’t worry, you know the truth.
I actually became friends with this girl later down the line, and she’s a sweet soul, deserves the world. She just struck a chord with me that day, to say the least.
The platform loafers you got on a sketchy website [Lattlier] but the true scam is that the shoes are two sizes too small due to the Chinese sizing difference. This is a good time to mention that I am selling size 8 platform white loafers
The new hairstyle that you sat in a chair six hours for, and you absolutely hate it since you’re insecure about your head shape.
A down-the-hall neighbor that quickly went from an attractive twenty-something to a “woodpecker” when being kissed. To those reading, use your imagination to figure out this one, since this one is not my story to tell. To the person whose story this is, drop that man expeditiously. He’s a weirdo to the third degree.
Did you notice how all of those require a visual and a story? Without a presentation and “Oh my god, you won’t believe what happened to me today!”, facetime sessions are a lot of staring and silence which puts both parties under the pressure of figuring out what to do, show and say. Unless you are Aja, my immediate family, or Sawyer, I don’t even prefer Facetime anymore.
Calling someone, though, an acquaintance, close friend, or a family member on the phone is special. I guarantee you if you call someone out of the blue it will make their day. Honestly, the person who inspired this post was my friend Jacob. He called me randomly the other day and seeing his name flash across my screen, with a button to slide to answer, filled me with joy. It was so easy to catch up with him because I wasn’t trying to type out every little detail, and there was no obligation to show him something I had done since you can only hear each other’s voices. It’s the perfect happy medium.
With that being said, go call someone today. I mean, that’s what the phone is for, after all.
Thank you for reading :)
P.S. Here are those platform loafers, with shoe size comparisons. Perhaps they fit more like a seven. I wouldn’t know, my feet are freakishly large.
