I’ve never been good talking on the phone. I once had a girl lose interest in me because I couldn’t converse well enough on the phone, or so I was told by her best friend. Of all the things to get rejected by! According to her, it sounded like I was bored and in a hurry and therefore meant that I didn’t really care what she was saying. Yeah I was bored but I guess I could have faked it better. Hah!

On the contrary I have been told that I’m a good listener. But the big difference? It’s usually when I’m face to face with the person. I work better when I can see the other person’s facial expressions and body language and can hear the tone of voice clearly. I know what to say next, when to nod, when to laugh and when to give a slight touch to show that I am really paying attention.

It may seem like I love stringing words together in wonderful sentences in the written form, but I prefer the stop and start, the back and forth and the unpredictability of a real live conversation. Instant messaging may come close but not quite because again, I can’t see the face and the body and I can’t hear the tone of voice. I don’t know how to make adjustments on the fly because I can’t see your reaction to what I’m saying.

Modern technology has given a shitty phone talker like me more options to get in touch with someone but I still love me some face time. So yeah, I may sound bored and in a hurry when I’m on the phone with you but that’s only because I want to get it over with, so that I can see you for real.