Why I Prefer to Avoid Phone Calls

When I was a child, I thought my mom was an incredibly intelligent woman. She could discuss anything with such wit that I had no doubt: there couldn’t be a wiser or more understanding person in the world. But that myth shattered when I turned 15 or 16. I became an unwilling witness to her long phone conversations with her friends, which happened almost every day. Men, the latest gossip — all of it merged into one endless conversation with no clear beginning or end.

Every time she picked up the phone, time seemed to slow down. These conversations resembled an out-of-tune music box, repeating the same old notes. Mom filled her stories with vivid details, but ultimately, I realized they lacked any real substance. Men, gossip, emptiness. Sometimes it seemed like even she didn’t understand what she was talking about.

Since then, I’ve come to hate phone calls — though I can still tolerate those. But unannounced video calls irritate me even more, as if someone is trying to intrude into my life uninvited. Only one call brings me joy — when my 83-year-old grandmother calls. This call means more to me than all the long conversations I’ve ever overheard. If she calls, it means she’s still alive. I eagerly wait to hear about her health and her little world.

Text messages in messengers have become my refuge. They give me the ability to control communication without wasting time on meaningless chatter. Long phone conversations, especially when they lead nowhere, frustrate me. They drain my time and energy, leaving only a feeling of emptiness at the end of the day.

I understand that communication is important, but in a world overflowing with nonsense and gossip, I prefer silence. Mom might have understood this if she hadn’t been so absorbed in her trivial conversations. But maybe that’s what brought her happiness. And me? I just want to leave my voice on the pages, not in the telephone receiver.

The image was created by the author in the Canva app