MY LIFE EXPLAINED: "Jason, why don't you ever answer your phone?"Now don't get me wrong, I do answer my phone. But sometimes I will admit I don't pick it up and instead reply back with a text. And over time, this has sort of built up as a trend, and I know some of you have gotten pissed. A few replies I've heard to this are as follows:
"Jason, you're the only one who has a text only plan for your cell phone."
"I'm sick of calling you only to get a text in return. Why don't you be cool and call me back?"
"Texting is for losers."
Alright so here's the rub...or my rules for texting in response: (in most cases)
1. Public places - bars / restaurants / coffee / the bus: I'm not a big fan when people are in the Starbucks line in front of me yelling into their iphone something annoying like: "Hey man what's up? What are you doing? Nothing. You? Getting coffee." OR "I'm soooo hungover...Ozzies was crazy last night...Phi Beta Sigz were in da house!" OR "What? What? I can't hear y...you...you're breaking up" Or any other needless banter. I can't tell you how many times I've ridden the bus with that one person who thinks it is cool to use their cell phone, interrupting the peace of all other riders. To those guilty of this: Do you or don't you realize that everyone else on the bus now knows about the appointment you're making to check out that rash, how your boss has you down and you hate your job, or how your ailing grandma is doing? Spare me! So at least I'll consider YOU when I talk...hence my rule here.
2. When call involves quick coordination - Anything that involves a one or two word response to such things as: What time to meet up for happy hour? Who's coming? What's the address? Doesn't require a call. Because it takes more time to dial, connect, and talk than for my text message to hit your handheld. And if the individual you're trying to contact follows Rule #1, well, then we have a problem, don't we?
3. When you want to avoid getting cancer - Ha! But seriously, doctors are beginning to warn the public about this, although the Cell Phone Business Association of America doesn't think anything is wrong with putting a microwave emitting device up to your ear for prolonged periods of time. Whatever. Well I don't want my ear to start looking like John McCain's cheek.
* If you are texting while doing any of the following YOU'RE A MORON: (article and poll from today on msnbc.com)
Anything at the Gym
Driving (unless of course you're in the state of Washington, where you can't talk while driving so texting a bit more discreet, although illegal as well)
Walking
Running
Rollerblading
Riding a bicycle
Riding a unicycle
Riding a horse
Riding a lawn mower
Tennis
Putting on makeup
Cooking
Karate
Shaving
Sex
2 comments:
BEST-BLOG-YET!!! interesting, nothing about soccer/fubol, funny, well written, reference to sex. good job my good man!
Yay, you read the article! Okay, so get this: its also illegal to talk on your cell in California which I keep spacing out about everytime I drive across state lines.This has also regulated my parents and sister to a cyborg looking blue tooth which is not illegal, but nerdy as hell. However, texting is not currently against the law in CA....WTF? Like, OMG!That means I can't dial your #, but I can surf the net, check my email, and text away--yeah, that makes sense. However, I agree with the law, it should just actually encompass all things phone related. I saw a seemingly energy conscious citizen toodling around on a Vespa the other day (I'm seeing more and more of these on the road), BUT she was making a turn one-handed AND talking on her cell phone--I'd be so pissed if I was the one who ended up clipping her, because its gonna happen. Additionally,working with adolescents who are just shy of driving age scares the crap out of me. I know how bad of a driver I was with little to no experience, but you throw cell phones into the mix and its much scarier. I don't want to channel Dennis Miller and get off on a rant here (okay maybe I do), but the other piece is brain research. Our pre-frontal cortex doesn't fully develop until we are 25 years old. This is the oh-so-important chunk that processes cause and effect and assesses risk. Why do you think State Farm doesn't lower your insurance rate until we reach 25? But how scary is it that we know this, and yet still throw these non-capable-of-risk-assessing-no-sense-of-consequences teens behind a 1/2 ton of steel barreling down the freeway and texting on their phone? Nucking Futs!
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