I've been a reluctant texter for a while now.
While I do it (and do it well, I might add), I much prefer speaking on the phone or simply talking face to face. You know, like humans used to do.
But I still do it.
Let me explain.
I don't mind a quick text or two to solidify plans or ask your partner/spouse/roommate/accountant to pick up an extra gallon of milk while they're out.
What I don't really care for is having a full blown conversation through text message when you could easily, and more efficiently, have that conversation speaking into the receiver.
There are, naturally, a butt-load of exceptions to this rule. For example, you could be stuck in a boring meeting, watching your favorite show or perhaps you just had dental surgery and are unable to speak without drooling and frightening small children.
I could go on.
The one thing, however, for which there is no excuse, is the mass text.*
I hate the mass text.
I receive these mostly during major holidays, such as Thanksgiving or New Year's Eve.
All this really says to me is that not only do you not like me well enough to call me, but you also have such little regard for me that you can't even send me my own personal text message.
Rarely do you look at a text the way you do a card and exclaim, "How thoughtful!"
I have recently become acquainted with someone who uses the mass text with wild abandon.
The first time he did this, I didn't realize that's what he had done. I assumed he had contacted me personally with his desire to get out of the house and request for assistance in this matter. I like to be a good friend, and I would hope a good friend would do the same for me were I in such need, so I cleared my schedule for the evening and we got some dinner.
Somewhere during the course of the evening, as he was recounting the unfortunate events leading up to his itch to leave his apartment (recent break-up), he mentioned how he was going nuts so he just "texted everyone" he knew.
How flattering.
About a week later, I received a similar text from the same guy expressing the same need.
Given that I am such a good friend, I decided to let him work this one out on his own.
Does anyone else get judgmental badger face like I do regarding the mass text?
*I'm sure there is a valid reason for the mass text, but this is my rant and I'm choosing to pretend no such reason exists at the moment.
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18 comments:
Before the time of texting was the mass email... yeah it really sucks and is hugely impersonal...
Lemon, you're so right about the mass texts.
The only thing worse than the mass text is the text chain letter. SEND THIS TEXT TO 10 PEOPLE OR ELSE YOU WILL DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH IMMEDIATELY.
I'll take my chances.
Mass texts do suck. Maybe if there were some major emergency or something. I don't know.
i don't like mass texts either. the more technology that arrives on the scene, the less and less people like to talk to each other. and by mass texting, then they don't have to go out of their way to hang out with someone because surely someone will come to them. lame.
Hate hate hate the mass text. One New Year's, I got a mass text from the guy I liked and I thought it was for me personally... bad news.
I think they are dumb. A friend of mine sent one out on Thanksgiving saying how thankful she was to have a good friend like me in her life. It meant so much to me knowing that she sent it to everyone in her phone. *eye roll*
I don't do mass texts. Don't send em and only occasionally get em. What irritates me is that this one that was really sweet (i thought) was a mass text. Here I thought I was getting a major compliment out of the blue. I felt like I was screwed for some reason.
Fortunately (and perhaps embarrassingly) I know not how to mass text. I am a dork.
I text mostly b/c phone conversations are difficult with two screaming children in the background. Although mostly I just email, or I use the phone after the kids have gone to bed. But texting is convenient for little things throughout the day. I never use it for a whole conversation. And NEVER while driving.
Oh man. I haven't had a mass text yet... Or maybe I have! What if I have been the unknowing victim of a mass texter?? Dang. It can happen to anyone.
YES. I AM A HATER OF THE MASS TEXT.
We have this one friend who insists on telling everyone his plans for the weekend. And then he's all, "come out and join me!" And we're all, no and you suck. Because one time we did actually respond to him, thinking that he was texting us only, but then we found out it was a mass text and felt like idiots for responding all personal-like.
I don't text, myself. (I know. That makes me "older" or more "crotchety" than some people that are, like, older than I am.)
However, I think I used to a little (back in the day—when the phones were still Zach Morris-sized), and I think I used to get those texts. You know what? I'm pretty sure I got charged 25 cents for that crap, too. This is why I shut that bizness off.
Also, it was because it was just as annoying as it would probably be to get a bunch of paper cuts . . . while making love on a pile of money.
I believe we have very similar texting philosophies. When it comes to mass texts, they're like candy-grams: I don't send them, I just get them.
I'm a horrible texter so I don't do it often. Most of the time my friends get irritated with waiting forever for my texts so they end up calling to make sure I haven't died mid-text.
Mass texting blooowwwss. "Happy Turkey Day, Gobble Gobble" doesn't make me like you- nor does it make me feel warm and tingly inside- so shove it, pal! Right? I'm obviously not very happy about it either- I should go drink some chamomile tea.
Glad you like my kitten! Hobbes is the best, and he acts just like a tiger. Pouncing my toes at every opportunity.
Is your semester almost over?
Not a fan of mass texts. Or of text message conversations. Especially not of text message arguments.
Basically, although I am a compulsive texter, I think texting is the devil.
SO not a fan of mass texting, or text messaging at all, for that matter. I'm with you on the quick, "Hey, we need milk," or "Running late, be there soon," so your friend isn't waiting....and waiting...by herself with a bottle of wine while everyone else is wondering if she's just drinking by herself. I mean, because I appreciate those kinds of texts. But conversations?! Holiday greetings?! Every once in a while, I get a mass text that says something like "Happy Mother's Day!" and then I feel incredibly guilty that I didn't send the 100 moms on my contact list a mass text that says, "Happy Mother's Day." And then I remember: mass texting sucks. AND don't use a mass text to make all the other mothers feel guilty for not sending a mass text first.
;)
SO not a fan of mass texting, or text messaging at all, for that matter. I'm with you on the quick, "Hey, we need milk," or "Running late, be there soon," so your friend isn't waiting....and waiting...by herself with a bottle of wine while everyone else is wondering if she's just drinking by herself. I mean, because I appreciate those kinds of texts. But conversations?! Holiday greetings?! Every once in a while, I get a mass text that says something like "Happy Mother's Day!" and then I feel incredibly guilty that I didn't send the 100 moms on my contact list a mass text that says, "Happy Mother's Day." And then I remember: mass texting sucks. AND don't use a mass text to make all the other mothers feel guilty for not sending a mass text first.
;)
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