Phone-Loathing

I hate phones. I always have. With the exception of talking to family on the phone (hubby included), I try to avoid calling people at all costs. I think that it has gotten worse with age. After I finished university, I find that I am less apt to just call someone up on the phone for some mindless chit-chat.

Honestly, I've got so many things on the go these days, that I just don't have time to sit down and have a nice long chat on the phone with friends while I'm home. I'd rather meet up with friends for dinner or a coffee or something to chat in person than chat over the phone. When I'm home I just get annoyed when people call me, because I can think of a million other things I'd rather be doing than talking on the phone.

So yeah, I hate phones. Which is why it's so nice to be living in a world of text messages, instant messaging, and online communities.

If I want to talk to a friend, I can just log onto IM. I don't have to give him/her my undivided attention because more often than not, I'll be multi-tasking, and most likely, so will my friend. Awkward silences are a thing of the past, because if I take a long time to respond to a question, the other person will just assume that I got pulled away into something or other.

Text messaging is even better, because it's portable. People can reach me to ask a simple question, and I can reply via text message. It's on my phone, but I don't need to make a phone call to send a text message! Brilliant!

And finally, the online community. This is great for people with whom you want to keep in touch, but who aren't necessarily considered to be close friends. You can send them a "Hey, how's it going?" message on Facebook, and they'll reply a week later, and that's perfectly okay. At the same time, if they're active users, you get to see what they've been up to without actually having to engage them in mindless smalltalk. Win-win for everyone.

Ah, the life of an introvert!