Friday, October 01, 2010

Text Troubles

Is anyone else disturbed by the "Virgin Mobile" commercials? There were a couple of parts in particular that were kind of frightening. The first one showed a man and woman getting married. Instead of saying, "I do.", they both texted it. Then there was the one showing a congregation of people at church. The Pastor says, "Let us pray.", and everyone bows their heads and starts texting. What disturbs me about these commercials is that I think they are hitting too close to the truth! Our church leaders lately have expressed concern that our youth are using texting as their method of social interaction, and aren't learning how to actually interact in person.

I don't text. I don't own a cell phone. I don't like to talk on the phone, and I'm not interested in texting. Maybe I'm behind the times, but I enjoy the peace and quiet. I'm not saying texting is bad for others, I'm just not interested. But can we at least agree to use correct English? A person didn't "text" you. They "texted" you. I think people think they are saying "texed", and that it is the past tense of "text". Not to mention the bad spelling people learn by texting. My teacher friends can't believe how kids are spelling in their homework!
I"m not saying we should all stop texting. I'm saying make sure it isn't the only form of communication, and that it doesn't replace normal human interaction. And when you are driving, do me a favor and put down the phone!
Rant over.
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2 comments:

Ramana Rajgopaul said...

I recently had a father bring in his daughter for a bit of counseling. She was unable to be without texting in between our conversation and I was quite upset. Seeing this, her father took the phone away from her and asked her to concentrate on the discussion at hand. The rest of the session was a total flop. Her father apologized and left crest fallen.

I go for a walk every evening at our local joggers' park and after the walk sit with my friends at the side of the track. The number of people constantly talking on their mobile phones while walking, is not funny!

I do use a mobile phone and at need text too. Within reason and essentials, it is certainly a great help but what scenario you talk about can happen and it is frightening.

8:21 AM
Looney said...

Are you sure it was a typo? Isn't 'texed' what they do to people who move to Texas and are having trouble fitting in?

We cancelled/blocked the texting on our cell phones to save a few dollars a month. The iPhone, however, is rapidly causing me to pick up other bad habits, like checking my email.

Then there is church. I can also follow the Bible verses using the iPhone, but so far have refused to do this in church since it leaves the teacher/pastor wondering if people are paying attention or surfing the web.

7:55 PM

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