I know what you are all probably thinking. Who actually calls people on the phone anymore? Isn’t it easier to just text someone what you are thinking? Most people today believe that texting is the way to go for communication. You don’t have to face the awkwardness of not knowing what to say in the moment, you have time to perfectly craft your words, and you get to use so many fun emojis. Up until this year, I had these beliefs. I loathed talking to people on the phone more than anything else. Phone calls used to stress me out. After this year, I have started to love talking to my friends and family on the phone.

With a phone call, you get an immediate response from someone. I have had conversations last for hours via text messaging in the past, but these conversations would be very short. This is because sometimes it literally takes people hours to respond to a text. People get busy. They may see a text that you sent them, but then busy themselves with some other task and soon forget that you texted them until later that night or even the next day. This can be extremely frustrating if you are trying to get a response to a pressing question. On the other hand, a person can get an immediate response with a phone call. Unless a person is physically unable to answer their phone, you will get a direct answer right away. They can't just ignore what you are telling them either.

With phone calls, you get to hear the emotions of people’s words. Whether it is the excitement of a family member receiving good news, or the sarcastic tone of a friend when they are teasing you, hearing vocal inflections are extremely important. Words can have different meanings depending on the tone of voice someone uses. For example, think of the phrase “I hate you.” This phrase could either be said in a straight, angry tone and literally mean that the person uttering the phrase literally hates the person, or the phrase could be said sarcastically and mean that the person actually loves the person. With a text, you do not get this type of knowledge, so texts can be misinterpreted very easily. However, there is no chance to make this mistake with a phone call.

I think that there is also something with just being able to hear someone’s voice that makes a phone call so special. I have been away from home for long periods of time due to going to college in a different part of the United States. This means that I don’t get to talk to my family or my hometown friends in person very often. I could just text them and see what they are up to, but that’s not the same as actually talking to the person. A phone call is as close as I can get as to talking to loved ones in person, and I appreciate that. Just hearing their voice telling me about their day makes me feel like I am there in person, experiencing life with them. All of you college students studying away from home, you should seriously take the time to call your parents every once and a while. Both you and they will be happy you did so.

This gets me thinking about why prisoners in jail are given one last phone call before they are sentenced. The police these days could easily give criminals one last text or snapchat on their cellphone, but they make prisoners call one person on a regular phone. I think that this is so prisoners can hear the voice and emotions of a loved one before they are cut off from contacting them for a very long time. Everyone, please use the privilege that you have and do not snapchat, text, or instant message, but call your mother while you still can.