Kalila Holt

Are they?

Five minutes of rustling?

Okay, plus, have you ever tried to get off the phone with someone and they keep dragging it out?

It's a whole song and dance of going, okay, in a way that's supposed to sound final while the other person completely ignores the hint and launches into a detailed anecdote about new cereals on offer at their grocery store.

Texts, on the other hand, end whenever you want them to.

You just stop responding.

Beautiful.

And you don't have to play phone tag trying to get an answer.

Just send your question and the other person responds when they can.

Ideal.

There's also the matter of being in public.

Someone calls to chat and any random stranger can listen in on my conversation.

I would like to be able to tell my mom about how I cried over accidentally ordering the wrong breakfast burrito without broadcasting it to the world.

It is simply not the world's business.

And speaking of being in public, we've all been trapped near someone on a loud phone call.

It's a nightmare.

Texting is silent.

It is the considerate choice.

And here's something phone calls can never give you, a written record.

I can search my texts, find that address someone sent me three months ago, and double-check what time we said we'd meet.