The Day Voice Notes Betrayed Me
If you’ve known me long enough, you probably noticed I prefer voice notes over texts. If we’re not face-to-face or on the phone. That habit started when I got my first iPhone, but the learning curve was hilarious.
Calvin Croxton
4/22/20262 min read
I had only been back in Baltimore for about a year when an old friend hit me up and said she was moving back too. I froze. I didn’t know how to carry it. We used to be cool back in the day. Started as coworkers, hung out outside of work here and there. She had been in my room, I had tried her cooking. It was all casual, even if some people thought otherwise.
She was never unattractive, but back then my head just wasn’t there.
Fast forward, though? She was undeniably beautiful. On top of that, I had a much deeper appreciation for who she was. Her character, her habits, even the little things people used to joke about, like how she’d water down her drinks. Somehow, those details had become part of what made her even more attractive to me.
And now we were older. Grown-er.
I didn’t know what life had handed her, but I’d seen enough by then to know that getting my friend back would’ve meant a lot. But how do you play that?
Would it be weird to ask her out?
Wait... am I crushing right now?
While I’m spiraling through all this, I notice the voice note feature and think, Perfect. No overthinking texts, no worrying about tone.just say it naturally.So I hit record.
And immediately stumble over my words.
Nope.
Cancel.
Try again.
Still awkward.
Cancel.
Again.
Still not smooth enough.
And every time I canceled, the message disappeared. So I thought I was in the clear.
Each time I figured I could sound cooler. More confident. More relaxed. Every attempt felt like I was getting closer.
Then finally...
A response came through. And with it, a wave of absolute embarrassment. That was the moment I learned that when the voice note “disappeared,” it didn’t mean it was deleted. It meant it was sent. I had just flooded her phone with every awkward, nervous, half-formed attempt at trying to sound smooth.
Who knows how many versions of me trying to “get it right” she had just listened to.
I felt so ridiculous I never sent another message after that. But I did keep using voice notes. And now? It feels as natural as sitting down and having a real conversation. So I guess my first iPhone taught me two things:
1. Voice notes are great.
2. Humiliation is one heck of a teacher.