This is going to be a post that some will agree with and some won't. I don't text. I love words and conversation. I enjoy the surprise, when someone emails me with news. I love being able to say, "Hello, how are you?" I've always loved phone conversations with women friends. Sometimes long newsy chats with a cup of tea. Women have always loved to communicate with each other. We connect, relate and share our lives this way. Communication is a way of forming a lasting bond.
I can remember conversations into the night with a friend whose mother had just passed. Conversations with another about her ailing husband. Talking with one about our grand kids and their accomplishments. Talking with my husband when he was on a fishing trip.Talking to a relative in the hospital. Cheering up an old person with a phone call. The first phone conversation with a baby. Talking with Joe when he's on the way home. These are all the things that I would miss with a text.
People don't make eye contact anymore when they are talking.
Phone conversations are more important as we age. We look forward to someone calling us....especially a family member and not a telemarketer :)
I've noticed lately that some women I used to email with are still emailing, but with one or two word sentences. No punctuation just abbreviations. I had a very stern teacher for college prep English in high school. She was a great teacher and taught me so much. She would be appalled at the way the English language is being slaughtered today. The emails I receive have no salutation. No friendly "Hello, or even Hi" and no ending either. Just stopping not saying "Goodbye, Love you, or even Later."
I write a blog post almost everyday. I enjoy writing...enjoy putting words down on this blog that will make someone else happy or relate something serious or funny. I play with words......finding new words and trying them out in my conversations and writing. I play word games...like the 8 yr online scrabble game with my daughter.
Thank Heavens my kids don't text me. I would miss their wonderful voices and hearing their reactions to things I tell them. A conversation with a child.....precious words are lost in texting.
I don't know....maybe I'm old fashioned, but when I get an email from a dear old friend that says her message in three words....it gives me pause and I might not feel the way I used to with her. Maybe words aren't as important in this fast world.....but a world without words is not for me.
Balisha
I feel the same way, Balisha. My kids do text me. I don't like it but it's one way I hear from them. My older son does call about once a week. And my younger son calls a couple to three times a month. My daughter, who lives nearby, seldom calls. She texts sometimes and e-mails occasionally. But I see her on Sunday at church. And when I attend the Peace Colloquy, she goes too and drives. She's just very busy. She is on call with her job every other weekend.
ReplyDeleteTexting is good in certain circumstances. I always type out all the words. No single letters for 'are,' 'you,' etc.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, I even text little 'I love you' messages to my hubby during the day. I can't call him because he's at work, but he can get the message when he takes a break. He like them.
For real meaning though, it's always best to talk.
Love your posts each day!
Dear Balisha ~ I don't have a cell phone to do texting with. :-) I keep thinking of getting one for emergencies but haven't signed up for it yet. We had that when DH was here but when he became ill, I didn't keep up with minutes, etc. and let the thing lapse. I just haven't felt like going through the motions yet. It's free so there are no bells and whistles, but that's fine with me as I'm not a phone person anyway, never have been. DH wasn't either. We did have two times where I had to call him when I was out, one because of an overheated radiator, and the other because for the first time in my life I locked myself out of my car. It was when he was ill and I was distraught to say the least. I hated calling him, and he told me he'd be right there and hoped he could make it. He did and he was my knight in blue jeans. When he pulled up I couldn't quit crying and he hugged me and told me it was ok, then he headed on back home and I continued doing errands.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoy writing, but only one person in both of our families is really a like-minded person and that is DH's dear aunt, who became a widow before me and we have kept in contact. She's a dear soul and we always enjoyed hearing what she and our dear uncle were up to. She's had it rough since becoming a widow, by making wrong choices and she keeps encouraging me in her letters to keep doing what I'm doing and telling me NOT to do what she's done.
I have a couple of friends where we email regularly.
I get bugged too by no salutation or ending. It's common courtesy. Lives are being lived much too fast these days. Lack of real communication leads to all sorts of problems at home and all over the world.
Anyway, that's my humble 2 cents worth.
Enjoy your week ~ FlowerLady
It looks like we are all wanting better communication these days. I know that texting is so convenient....and that it does come in handy sometimes....I was just speaking about some who "only" text and are starting to even shorten their speaking to one or two word answers. Just afraid that people will get in the habit of instant everything and forget to take time to enjoy life.
ReplyDeleteit's a whole new language out there where all the words are shortened : UR right :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you; I like longer messages that share more. I write letters via snail mail to people and love getting notes back. Sometimes the cards are so pretty that I save them. I saved 5 garden angel cards that my aunt sent me, before she died at the age of 80. They are pinned up on my bedroom wall. Who would save a text that way? LOL
ReplyDelete