I Hate Texting

I was the proverbial fly on the wall during a discussion this evening and it has caused me to consider my thoughts about texting. Before tonight I was firm in my hatred for the method of communication. You can chalk it up to all the bozos I see driving around, texting, and not paying attention to anyone else on the road. You can also chalk it up to an experience I had where my company was paying a consultant large sums of money only to have him spend all of his time texing and not doing any work for us.

Unfortunately I am old, compared to my kids, and I was informed that is how the current generation communicates. The question came up about what upper limit to the number of text messages should be set for a teenager. A father asked if 5,000 was the right number and a teen responded that it seemed high. So I asked the teen how many text messages he sent. "About a thousand," was his response. I was amazed. I only send and receive about 50 in any given month. But then look at the first sentence of this paragraph. Once again, I am old.

I guess I don't understand this new generation's infatuation with texting. I would much rather call someone and get an immediate answer to my question. Sure, I'll send a text if I am in the middle of something and need to get back to a person. However, if it takes more than two messages, it is time to pick up the phone. After all, isn't that why we all carry phones in the first place?