Much of my disdain for the electronic notes stems from the fact that it takes me so long to reply to someone. I can’t zip across my telephone number pad like the younger generation. I swear they can send a text message faster than Roger Clemmons could throw his fastball to home plate. On the other hand, I text at a rate of about one letter per 15 minutes. By the time I respond to a text, the person who sent me the message has forgotten what they had asked me.
Another thing that irritates me about “texting” is that the messages are usually saturated with one-letter abbreviations for words that I can’t even begin to translate. I don’t have any young people at my house to help me translate “text messages” so when I receive one I’m clueless as to what it says. Until our dog, Hershey, the youngest mammal in the house, learns how to decipher my “texts” it’s useless to send them to me.
I don’t understand the younger generations’ fascination with texting. Some of them send out several thousand each month. If they’re not careful, they’re going to wear out they’re thumbs before they reach their twenties. I’m sure that their parents wished their kids were as eager to type out their term papers.
Texting also bothers me because the messages are just too informal. For instance, most skilled “texters” know how to send out a mass text, which is one message that can go out to hundreds, or even thousands of people. I’d be willing to wager that most of them can’t even remember, or don’t even know, a lot of the people who receive their texts. Those particular messages are nothing but an electronic version of junk mail. Who needs more junk mail?
I look forward to personal letters, cards, and, yes, even emails at Christmas. Hey, at least I can reply to an email. My wife and I line our mantel with all the Christmas cards we receive each year just to remind us how many good friends we have. When’s the last time you tried to line your mantel with text messages?
I’m not a lawbreaker, but a text message did cause me to violate one of North Carolina’s new ordinances last week. I was driving to work when I heard my cell phone ring. I answered the call and there was no one on the line. I glanced at the phone and noticed the word “text message” written across the screen. Before I realized what I was doing, I had hit the “received” button on the phone and was reading the message as I was driving down the road. Thank goodness, there wasn’t a police officer around who was anxious to enforce the new “no texting while driving” law. There’s nothing like a “texting ticket” to ruin the Holiday Season. I’ll admit that’s the one thing that actually may be worse than receiving a text message for Christmas.
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