Nick - This Whole "Text Messaging" Thing

It was maybe two months ago now, I think, that I got a new phone to replace my crappy $20 one. And not just any phone, mind you; one with a keyboard. Needless to say, I am fascinated by this strange and alien technology now in my hands. How long has this clandestine web of discreet communications been winding under my feet without my knowledge? I realize that I'm a little late to the party on this one, but hear me out; from an outsider's perspective, this whole thing is astounding.

Text messaging, or "texting," if you will, frightens and fascinates me. It's like a whole other facet of your relationship with someone. It's a way to get a quick word in with someone who you might not see for awhile. If I really want to tell somebody a story, or apologize for something slight, or ask a trivial question, I pull out my phone, type what I want to say, and wait eagerly for this mysterious contraption to shudder and vibrate, signaling the arrival of a reply. Now even if I haven't seen a person in awhile I don't feel estranged from them.

Some crazy things that I've noticed so far:

-I'm a little bit alarmed when I hear people complain about not receiving a reply quickly enough. I've got stuff to do, y'know?

-I'm always secretly a little bit disappointed when a get a text message from somebody I get text messages from all the time. When I feel my phone sputter and buzz, my mind is immediately filled with the image of a person whom I only slightly know revealing some dark secret to me. But then it's just my mom. This process leads me to be slightly disappointed by about 90% of the text messages I receive.

-I tend to read text messages in their most serious possible intended connotations. For example, when Conor texted me earlier today "Note to self: never talk about music around Nick," I immediately assumed he was angry, even though it was obviously a joke. Actually, he probably was, a little bit.

-If I never get a reply to an initial text (And I don't mean if they stop texting me back and forth, I mean if they just never answer my first text) I tend to worry that the person is annoyed with me, even when I know they aren't. There's kind of a bitter taste in my mouth until I see or hear from that person again.

-The amount of punctuation and capitalization in text messages is directly proportional to the coolness of the author. Actually, that's probably just what I want to think because I type with perfect grammar.

-Texting is minuscule compared to interacting in person or on the phone. As soon as I talk to a person face-to-face the worry that they might have been angry about a text message or annoyed and didn't answer me just vanishes. It's hard to explain, but you know what I mean.

-There's a very very slight difference in how I feel when I'm alone. I went on a bike ride today and hung out at my place in the park, and then biked through Terra Hills and a few other places. But while I usually feel totally secluded for awhile, there's now this nagging feeling that anybody could talk to me, they just aren't right now. I'm not sure yet if I like that feeling or not.

The last thing I want to mention is that I'm worried I'm going to get in trouble at work. But it's not the getting in trouble I'm worried about, I just don't want to be that guy who texts while he's supposed to be working all the time. It was my little holdout, my one untouchable reason for why I was the best employee. And now I'm just a slacker.

So I'm going to have to work on when I can and can't be checking my phone. When I'm bored at home texting is great to have, when I'm at work or on a bike ride is not so great a time, and when I'm alone in the park I'm still not sure about.

I don't know why I'm choosing to write about something you all (I assume there are maybe seven or eight of you) clearly know more about than me. I hope it's interesting to get a different perspective on something you probably take for granted.

Anyway, I'm going on a long car trip to Missouri this morning and I expect you all to entertain me via text message.

-Nick.