I’d much prefer a simple text or phone call I’m a simple man and I value direct communication. But I’m not a big texter and I find voice notes hard work. My family and friends know that if you want to reach me, you can pick up the phone and call as I nearly always answer.
My girlfriend Elena is the opposite. She’s super chatty and she loves texting and leaving a lot of voice notes. Sometimes she sends voice notes to ask a quick question that could be a text, like “What’s for dinner later?
Shall I pick something up?” Or to check in when we’ve spent time apart. It’s cute, but also a bit annoying as I would nearly always rather have a call. Sometimes Elena infers a lot of meaning from texts in a way that isn’t healthy.
I’ve had to talk her down off a ledge after she’s read something into messages from friends that she thinks are mean or horrible. She will see a full stop or a lack of emojis and say: “They hate me. What have I done wrong?” If I’m blunt with her in a text, she will think I’m mad at her.
I’m just a bit less smiley on text and don’t want to send voice notes. I also don’t have time for analysing messages or to listen to a 10-minute voice note. Elena’s longest voice note to me was 12 minutes.
I just find they require so much more brain power than a phone call, where you can receive and process information in real time. By the time I’ve finished listening to one, I sometimes can’t remember what was said at the start, especially because Elena’s are quite rambling. If I’m on a work trip, I can’t store any more info in my brain and I sometimes forget to reply.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
