I’m going to let you in on a little secret if you promise not to make fun of me. Well, okay, you can make fun of me, just not to my face.
I’m terrible at texting.
You know, texting. That thing people do all the time to communicate with one another because they are too lazy to pick up the phone and dial. Or perhaps because they don’t really want to talk to you, just at you, and the easiest way to do that is by texting.
What I love is when I get a really long text from someone, so long that they have to start a new text to complete their thought which means I really receive two texts from them. But I have to read the one that appears second on my phone list, because technically it was the first to come through so it really doesn’t make sense to read
“Which do you prefer?”
before reading
“When is baby Ryan coming home? We are thinking of coming and seeing him on Saturday but weren’t sure if we should come to the hospital or to your house.”
(And btw, to the person who usually sends me a text somewhat similar to this, I am not picking on you, just making an example!! I love you dearly, and the fact that you visit.)
And because I’m really bad at texting my answer is usually something like
Call me
OR
Yes
Because for me to text, “I’m not really sure when he is coming home because he is day to day and right now he has a fever so we are waiting for the doctor to make a decision on if we can leave or not” takes way too much time. So much time that sometimes I am all the way to the end of typing that big long explanation when my phone rings, or I get the second part of the message from the same person and my phone ERASES my entire text. So after having taken a full five minutes to type out my long text I try again with the one or two word answer.
And please don’t tell me how easy it is to text when you have a full keypad. I have the cheapest phone Samsung makes because I’m not sure if you noticed, but I have three small children who steal borrow my phone and have been known to drop it on the concrete, in the dirt, and in the toilet when I’m not looking. I refuse to pay a lot for a phone that will get worn out before grown out of, so to speak. So, I don’t have a keypad.
I do, however, have T9 Words, which does make it a little easier except when the word I’m looking for doesn’t exist in the dictionary – like AINSLEY or something like that. Or, when I’m concentrating on where all the letters I need are on the number pad and forget to look at what I’m typing only to look up and see that I typed
Call in in the morning
instead of
Call me in the morning
since ‘in’ and ‘me’ use the same numbers and you have to scroll to get the word me.
So then I have to back up and erase my message almost entirely and have been known to push the back button too many times and end up at the main screen which only makes me start wailing and gnashing my teeth.
I mean, really people, can I just call you? I’m really good at short conversations. Really, I am.
And I do admit that sometimes I am so done with the whole texting thing that I just might leave my message the way it is and make you figure out I want you to call ME in the morning instead of what it really says… I mean, let’s go with the context here, for goodness sakes!
And please, please, don’t get me started on Twitter. It texting on steroids. About nothing. Nothing at all. I really don’t want to know you just stepped in dog poop or you saw the Goodyear Blimp fly by or you are standing in the freezing cold at the Macy’s Day parade with your stupid family (your words, not mine). Because for real, if I really wanted to know all those things about you, I can just log on to Facebook!
(c) 2016 Leighann Marquiss
Comments (11)
for a while my mom could only figure out how to text what was preset into her phone. so her response was always “yes”, “no” or “i will be late for our meeting”. hehe
Not a fan of it either. And I rarely have any idea where my cell phone is, so it is even worse when I find it and then realize I have like 4 texts. oops. They should have called or email, and I let them know that. LOL.
Amen.
love your post! I was once like you too..then the teenagers came, and they don’t call – they text. Only. I have watched our teens carry one a twenty minute “conversation” via text that probably included 30 messages each – seems to me it would have been easier to call. Both my DH & I have had to learn to text out of self defense with them – it’s hte only way they “talk” to us unless they are in the room with us!
i used to feel the exact same way you did… until college. do you know how easy it is to pass notes electronically??? and i used to do the same thing and have the same frustration until i got a phone with a full keyboard. i’m not saying you should do that i’m just saying that i am SO down with texting now and i can’t imagine how i lived without it before. well, that might be an exaggeration 🙂 my favorite thing recently is the texts i get from mom at like one in the morning. hee hee
katie
Ha, my cousin and I were just having this conversation yesterday…if you really want to talk to me call me. I’m guilty though of texting when I really just want to relay some info but really don’t want to talk:(
I agree! I understand that for some people, texting, tweeting, and using facebook may seem like conveniences. But I think that they’ve made our society even more narcissistic and our relationships very superficial. Now, I’ll step down from my soapbox:).
Well you know, based on our recent conversation, that texting and I don’t mix well 🙂 I prefer good old fashioned emailing!
Heidi
texting , twitting, facebooking.. Don’t do any of it! 🙂
I like good ol email and the phone but I really like face to face talking.. 🙂
texting with a full keyboard has changed my life – and I am old. However, like anything else, it can be used to excess. I was a slow convert, and the full keyboard did make a huge difference. That said, your points are well taken. It’s just another method of communication – there are people who don’t read a blog until someone prints it on paper.
Too funny 🙂