The Phone

Perhaps the phone never was the best means of communication.


Sure, I like the phone. One night this year I talked to my brother (who often goes by the name of Anonymous) for over 4 hours on it. It can be a good way to connect. And it is a good way to relay information quickly. But I can be rather shy when it comes to using the phone and I don't mind that there are a number of other means of communication now that we can use in place of the phone.


Perhaps things started off badly for me with the phone when one of the first calls I made was to a wrong number. That shook me up. But it's not just that. When you phone someone, you don't know if they or someone else will answer, if they're busy or want to talk. I think that call display is useful in that you know when someone who has it answers, they do want to talk to you at least briefly. On the phone though, you must come up with responses quickly. There's little time to reflect. If you are at all nervous anyways about who you're talking to, these factors can make things worse.

I like texting. I like messages of various kinds on Facebook. And the method of communication I like best of all is face to face. I like sitting down with someone and really listening and really talking. I can see a person's body language, their expression, what they're wearing. I can get more information from these things than I can from a voice on the phone.

I will keep calling and I will keep answering but I will not be sad that the phone is not as popular as it once was.

JAHD