Fighting With Text Messaging

This morning I got a text message from a friend asking me how I was. I thought about replying and then I decided against it. I think the text messaging era is out of control.

People are calling each other less and less. I can't tell you how many text messages I receive asking "how I am" because the person is too busy or lazy to pick up the phone.

I was talking to my 17 year old babysitter about this whole text messaging explosion. I asked her if she thought it was a generational thing? Are teenagers texting more than adults? She said that she spends all night texting with her friends. Her dad asked her why she doesn't bother to call her buddies, she says it's faster to text.

I suppose this texting all night is the equivalent of when I used to stay up all night talking on the phone with my high school boyfriend.

But the crazy thing is that people don't spend all night on the phone with one another anymore. This practice is antiquated.

And forget real life interactions. Seeing someone face to face? Are you kidding me? Who has time for that?

I have to admit, I have done things over text messaging that I am ashamed of. I have had actual FIGHTS over text messaging. I believe this is partly to do with the fact that I am in an inter-generational relationship. Wil is 25 and I am 30. I am of the phone generation, he is of the text generation. I had to compromise.

But I have a love hate relationship with texting. I like that it is easy to do. You can communicate a point simply, directly. However, with the advent of texting people have stopped talking to each other.

And now I present to you Old School/New School Mom's List of Inappropriate and Appropriate uses of text messaging:

I'm sure I'm guilty of everything on these lists.

Inappropriate Uses of Text Messaging
1. Fighting - Fighting over text messaging usually ends in disaster. Tone does not exist in text messaging land. So whatever you type to someone will most likely be misconstrued.
2. Advice- If you ask me for advice via text message, I am so long-winded, that I cannot possibly condense my brilliance into a text message.
3. Forwards- Please stop sending me "Send this to 10 people that you love or something terrible will happen."
4. "How are you?" Just call me.

This being said, I am an extremely inappropriate text messager, and have been known to send this very text message "I'm pregnant!"

Appropriate of Uses of Text Messaging
1. Quiet Public Institutions- When you are in a place that is noticeably silent and need to communicate an important message- a doctor's office, the library, essentially a place where if you made a call people would look at you funny.
2. Meeting Up- Example "I'm on the corner of 23rd and 3rd, where are you?" "I'm running late!"
3. When it may be too early/late to call- You're not sure if the person is awake. "Can I call you?"

What do you think? Have you or someone you know fought over text messaging? Are you a texter or a talker?

Internet Emotions or Lack Thereof

What I'm about to write may sound hypocritical. It makes me sad that we, as people, express our ourselves and our emotions primarily through the internet and text messaging.

Now I know what you're thinking, "You're a blogger!" Yes, I am. And I love blogging! But I also relish in expressing myself in "real life."

I love to express myself, verbally. I could talk about how I feel constantly. I could talk about how you feel all the time. I love talking about feelings. What can I say? I'm a feeler.

But, honestly, I would rather talk about feelings in person, not on the internet or via text message. Unfortunately, this is where the world is at emotionally. As individuals, many people are timid to express themselves in person and hide behind technology to express "real" emotions.

My boyfriend is the complete opposite of me. He does not express himself "in person." He feels more comfortable expressing himself through writing, whether it's in a letter, an email or a text message. I, on the other hand, would rather sit down for a cup of coffee and talk.

But it's not just Wilhelm, I see many people engaged in technological emotional expression. And I have a thought about this:

Let's make a change. Let's express ourselves face to face. See how much realer you feel. You don't have to send an emotionally charged email to get it out. You can meet a friend for lunch and talk it over!

Let's be real.

Ari's Desktop Design

Apparently, I underestimated my toddler's technology smarts. He was able to successfully change the desktop background on my computer. When I caught him, he had climbed up onto the computer chair, and was furiously clicking the mouse. He managed, in this process, to change the desktop background to this picture:

Amazing! All I could do was laugh.