The Lost Art of Conversation

Alright. Let's discuss texting for a minute, shall we? Because that's honestly about all the time it will take for me to give my opinion on the subject.

I despise it. Loathe it. I think it is becoming the bane of many people - teenagers and adults alike.

I mean, I know that you can type "LOL" or "LMAO" or "JK" or some other stupid acronym at the end of a sentence, and hope to gawd that the person is actually laughing at what you typed. But can you really, truly effect the context of what you are saying within a text message? Lots of times I don't think so.

I know that personally, I've gone back and read something that I hastily typed and pushed 'send' - to a very important someone at that - and I was horrified after the re-read at how it might have been interpreted. Initially, when my thumbs were feverishly punching away at my micro-keypad, I had a point I was trying to get across. It sounded great in my head. But once it was recorded in a tiny bubble on my 2"x3" screen and shot off into cyberspace, it became a whole different story. I sent it. And there was no way to get it back. And composing and sending another message, to try and explain my first pile of random garble, would make me look nothing short of ka-razy. And so on. So then I didn't sleep that night, because I didn't get a response, and I was sure that the person thought I was a total crack-head and probably deleted my contact info from their phone. And round and round it goes.

Now, had the interaction been verbal, my statement could have been made, questions could have been asked, and the opportunity to clarify myself would have been a no-brainer. A nice, somewhat humor-filled conversation likely would have ensued, and I would not have been left tossing and turning that night and checking my phone a hundred times the next day for a reply.

In my mind the answer is simple: We need to bring back talking! Good ol' chatting. Whether it be face-to-face or even on the phone.... Actually speaking to someone is a bazillion times better than any cyber interaction will ever be. Especially if you are trying to establish some sort of relationship with another person.

Okay, that was possibly more than a minute's worth of ranting... and I concede that texting definitely has its place - for instance, I like to text jokes to my friends, to lighten up their day, or I will send a quick text when I am leaving my house enroute to pick one of them up, etc.. But for the real important stuff, I will choose meeting for coffee or dinner or even just dialing their phone number so I can hear their voice, over a text message any day.

Cheers.