LOL, OMG, IDK, STFU, and BRB!!!

As my daughter would put it during an IM session, "Wow, Mom - really?!" I was just thinking after I got done with a little online chat with Sen - a chat where we were both in the SAME house; just in different rooms - how literally absurd it was to even be engaging in online chat when we're both in the SAME HOUSE! So in the enlightening words of my daughter, "Wow, Sen - really?!" Are we really becoming that disconnected as individuals, as a family and dare I say. . . as a society?

Has this type of communication trumped all others in the grand scheme of things? According to a 2009 article about texting statistics, approximately 72% of cell phone users had a texting plan in early 2009 - which equates to about 203 million Americans - plus the article noted that on a monthly average, texts are leading phone calls by a count of 357 texts to 204 calls - WOW!! Hell, there has to be an obvious reason why the government has to ENACT A LAW banning people from texting!! What about the teens supposedly getting carpal tunnel from texting so much?? Do we still not get it??

It's becoming too easy to hide behind our screens, texts, etc. and keep ourselves hidden. "Yeah but I'm so busy, I don't have time to get into long phone conversations". . . blah, blah, blah! Sure - I've used that one too. ;) I understand being on the go and an occasional text, email, etc. isn't that harmless. But what I'm talking about is the intent. Are you texting to just say a quick blurp and get them off your back? Are you too much of a coward to tell the person you're with that it's not working out - so you text that the relationship is over? And are you saying something online that you would never dream of saying to a person's face? That is when the whole realm of texting, IM'ing, etc. becomes a compromise to overall relationships and how we deal with people. It may be a bit far fetched, but if we keep up at this rate, we won't even know how to carry on a basic conversation. :-0

Maybe I'm old fashioned - though I'm really not much of a phone person myself - but I like to see someone's eyes, their smile, and hear the tone in their voice when I'm talking to them. It makes the conversation that much more understandable, deflects some conflicts since we can more readily get the gist of the tone in the message, and is overall a more intimate way to interact with someone.
So though I'm cheap for the time being and don't have a texting plan anymore, I hope that when the time comes for me to re-up into a text plan. . . . I use it wisely :)