Everybody texts to make plans, tell stories, inquire about feelings, break up, get back together, propose, announce newborn babies and send reminders about the grocery list. In a world where text has gained a serious competitive edge on verbal communication, it’s important to remember why we used to talk face to face (or at least phone to phone), especially when it comes to romantic relationships.

If you want the next woman you date, or the woman you’re already dating, to feel even more cared for by you, why not give her a call once in a while? (In addition to plenty of in-person meetings, of course, but hopefully that still goes unsaid.) She’ll be sure to appreciate it for these reasons:

1. Texts don’t convey tone.

Yes, emojis can “spell out” angry or jubilant or bemused or eggplant, but they can’t necessarily convey the subtler forms of sarcasm.

2. You’ll stand out if you call.

Everyone texts in this day and age. Be the guy who isn’t afraid to talk — or listen — in real time.

3. Conversations can happen more efficiently over the phone.

Texts are good for instructing a person to meet you at a specific place at a specific time. Unfortunately, people infrequently have a specific place and time in their heads before making plans via text. Skip the back and forth and deliberate together.

4. Deciding things verbally will bring you closer together.

Whether you’re figuring out where to go on your date or how to classify your relationship, sorting these things out in real time will help you get to know the real her (and vice versa), not the polished, prepared version that comes out over text.

5. Text fighting is cruel and unusual.

Between the long pauses and how much more biting a two-word insult can be in text, arguing in this medium is an unnecessarily excruciating process that will put both you and her in a dark, dark, horrible mood that’s hard to recover from.

6. People can pretend to be someone else over text.

Everyone has the ability to sound wittier when they have more time to prepare what they’re going to say, but you can go so far as to basically catfish your personality if a big part of your relationship with someone happens via texts.

7. Winky faces from guys women don’t know well always look sinister.

I promise you, she’ll be more creeped out than turned on if you throw her a “it was nice to meet you ;)” when you get home after exchanging numbers with her earlier that day.

8. It’s easy to text a message to the wrong person.

How often do your fingers slip because you’re in a hurry while texting and your mom gets the message meant for your best dude friend. Now, imagine if that same message winds up in your potential girlfriend’s inbox… not a pretty picture. No one conveys a message to the wrong person when they take the time to dial a number and say “hello” before jumping into a conversation.

9. Not much sounds romantic over text.

“i luv u” isn’t exactly the climax to a love story, you know?

10. Autocorrect.

“You ate my favorite person ever.” (“Are” somehow always turns into “ate.”)

11. Autocorrect.

“I can’t stop thinking about killing you.” (Same for “kissing” and “killing,” for some strange reason.)

12. And autocorrect…

If you’re not quite at the kissing level yet, your smartphone will definitely decide to let you insinuate an even closer relationship…
“Wanna bang tonight?” (Yeah, we know, you meant “hang,” but the phrase is still glaring at her from her phone.)

13. Apologizing for these awkward texts is 10 million times more humiliating than the awkward texts themselves.

“I’m sorry, I meant hang! I would never ask you that yet. I mean, NEVER!!!”

14. Waiting indefinitely for responses will make you sweat.

It will make you both sweat, and if you know you’re the type to stress while waiting for a reply, why put yourself in that uncomfortable position?

15. The person on the other end can see when you’re typing.

If you take a really long time to compose an artful text, she’ll potentially be watching every moment of you agonizing over the right words…

16. Texts exist forever.

If you say something stupid and hurtful you don’t mean while in a verbal argument, it drifts off into space, the memory of its sting fading with time. You can always scroll back to that text, and even if you delete it, it still exists somewhere in your digital history as a written record of the true asshole you sometimes are.