Don't talk on the phone, talk in person

I detest talking on the phone almost as much as I hate texting. Texting leaves too much room for people to misinterpret words and then you have to worry about diffusing unnecessary arguments. That's why people include smiley faces everywhere, beware of using the winking face though, that one's creepy.
While tiptoeing around words ruins texting, cautious pauses ruin talking on the phone. I can attest to the fact that 90 percent of the time that I'm on the phone with someone, I ultimately interrupt them because I thought they were done. As for the other 10 percent of the time, I wait too long and the conversation enters the realm of awkward. Luckily for me, I'm blessed with a family that is just as socially inept at phone conversations as I am.
Last week was my little brother's spring break and as a sophomore in high school I foresaw him hanging out with his friends and playing ball. That was wishful thinking. Living with him all my life, I know playing games has evolved into something bigger than an ordinary addiction for him. Therefore it was no surprise when my dad affirmed my belief that he had confined himself to his room playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
My brother and I have an "extreme" sibling dynamic. One minute we can be expressing our mutual love for one another by hugging, talking about sneakers and reliving past memories. Then the next, we're verbally assaulting each other, using every curse word you can think of and even making some up. This usually escalates to physically inflicting harm on each other, which I still get yelled at for doing. There is no middle ground for us. We're either bonding or fighting. The rest of the time we don't acknowledge each other's presence.
I figured I would call him at home and make sure he ate something. When he's in the zone he won't conjure up the energy to even go get a bowl of cereal. Naturally, he only picked up after I started yelling on the answering machine. I proceeded to interrogate him with the usual "Did you eat? What did you eat? Have you started your homework?" Even though it only lasted a minute, we proceeded to talk over each other and get the gist of what we were saying without a hitch.
I know I'm not alone in my feelings about talking on the phone. It's awkward. Don't you hate that the other person is purely going off of what you're saying, and not in accordance with your reactions (don't start arguing for the use of inflection and tone of voice conveying your reactions, it's not the same)? It's severing an important connection, which is why I would rather talk in person.
If you happen to be a content phone talker and you have the ability to go and see the person you need to talk to, try talking in person. You never know, you may build a stronger relationship.