“I told him that he had better not appear at the dinner table still wearing that dirty T-shirt,” my friend said after pressing send.
“Wow,” I sighed. “In my day we used our mom voices for stuff like that.”
“Oh, I use all caps in my texts,” my friend smiled. “Believe me, they know I am serious!”
What?
“That approach cannot possibly take the place of the infamous mean mom face,” I said. “There’s just no way that a text can have the same impact.”
“Well, my kids have grown up with texting,” she said.
“Funny, mine grew up with serious, face-to-face talks about grades and life choices,” I thought. “And while I was raising my son, we actually heard each other laugh out loud. We didn’t have to add that stupid little “lol” at the end of a sentence on a phone.”
“Oh, I have even grounded my kids through text messaging,” my friend boasted. “And through texting they whine at me about being grounded.”
Weird.
A couple of days ago I was minding my own business, waiting for an oil change. A young couple entered the waiting area, sat down together and began to wildly text on their phones.
Frequently, they looked up from their phones long enough to smile at each other.
“Good grief,” I muttered under my breath. “They are seated elbow to elbow and yet they are texting each other! What is happening to the world?”
By the way, I was dragged into the world of texting.
My child told me that if I just learned to text, I would hear from him more often.
I don’t understand that logic. But I learned how to text, anyway, hoping to figure it out later.
My son and I do frequently text.
And I live with that.
His schedule is crazy and so is mine.
But text messages can never replace how much I cherish the sound of his voice on the phone.
Too often the intended message of a text and the tone of a text can be misunderstood. I have heard many stories about misinterpreted texts that led to ground wars between the genders.
What in the world happened to the concept of actually speaking to each other?
In crowded restaurants, where people are waiting for tables, the majority of heads are bowed, enthralled by whatever is on their phones.
Apparently, people don’t find much value anymore in simply conversing with friends or making small talk with other patrons.
I am also learning that I have to completely change the way I once identified people.
It is a waste of time to look for a person’s face.
Nowadays, I have to know people by how they part their hair.
Since I only see the top of heads, I send a text stating, “I’m here!” and wait for a head to pop up and look for me.