Too Young to Feel This Old
At 24, I exist in an interesting gray zone of the technological takeover. I’ve never had a landline, I consider Facebook a main source of social interaction, and I check my Gmail at least ten times a day. However, Twitter eludes me and while I use text messages, I get overwhelmed when a simple text communication turns into a conversation.
Just last week, my friend got a text message around fifty lines long from the guy she was dating. (Don’t text messages have character limits?) This text monologue outlined his feelings about their relationship. Dumbfounded, I wondered not only how he managed to text this while at a bar in Las Vegas, but also when this “we need to talk” type text became socially acceptable. Shouldn’t he at least call her if not meet her in person (gasp!)?
I know these views make me sound old. I am the texting equivalent of my dad poking away at the computer keyboard with his index fingers. I can only text with one thumb. My phone doesn’t even have a QWERTY keyboard. I average about eight words per minute.
And when I spot some 14-year-old, two-thumber texting at a gazillion wpm, I feel ancient. Older because I don’t envy the dexterity; I’m perfectly happy with my T9. ttyl
(Photo from macinate via Flickr)