What ever happened to good old fashioned conversation? Remember when people used to get coffee and talk for hours, or when hanging out with friends didn't involve someone asking for a phone charger? I decided that good conversation is a lot better than a couple words and an emoji typed with your thumbs. So, here goes my rant.
How many times has your friend invited you over to hangout, but ends up laughing at the picture of the cute pig on twitter for an hour instead? How many times have you been telling your friend what you thought was an exhilarating story only to look over and see that she's been texting the whole time and didn't hear a word you said? I can not even count the amount of times this has happened to me. A friendship over text can be easily changed to an amazing friendship in person if we just put down our phones.
Here is some advice to the people who can't look up for a minute because their boyfriends just texted them something irrelevant. Try having an actual conversation with him instead.
My boyfriend and I have a lot of dates at the library; silent behind our books and the computers. When I drive him back to his apartment after studying at the library, we end up sitting in the car for an hour, just talking. Every time we have one of those conversations, both of us are amazed at how fast the time flies and how much we enjoyed just talking.
One of my favorite things to do is meet up with friends and have a cup of coffee, or a long lunch, and just hear about their lives. You'd be surprised at how many amazing stories people have to share, and how much you have in common with someone you never thought you'd be friends with. A good conversation can brighten your mood, and make your outlook on the day more positive. Do you want to look back on the day and remember all of the tweets you liked and all of the texts you sent, or would you rather look back and remember the great stories your friend told you about her trip to Italy?
As the weather gets nicer, ask a friend to take a walk, or sit on your porch with your roommate and people watch. Leave your phone inside, or in your pocket, and really embrace the conversation and what's happening around you.
Try it. I promise you'll like it. The cute Instagram picture you were about to post can wait, and really, you don't need to answer an emoji with another emoji. Talk in person, be sociable, be human, and really embrace life.