Etiquette

I hate text messaging. I think it's lame. Sorry! Neither Mark or I have text messaging service so we both get irritated with superfluous texts telling us about some killer stock we have to buy, or a mass text informing us of the next conspiracy in gas prices. Fortunately, our friends call us instead of texting, knowing our absolute loathing of the trendy technology.

I don't have a problem with the, what I will call, "private text," where you text someone briefly with a piece of important information as long as it doesn't interrupt the normal flow of the day. What I take issue with is what I'll call "conversational texting," where instead of speaking with the person on the phone, you're texting them back and forth, often in the presence of someone you're supposed to be having a conversation with. Seriously, this is right up there with listening to your iPod at the grocery store or talking on your cell at the dinner table.

Without much previous reflection on the matter, in my opinion texting should never be used to ask someone for a favor, to thank them for a favor done, or as an invitation to an event.

It's hard to believe that I graduated from college only three years ago and never had a cell phone or sent a single text. Times are a-changing.