ramblings, random musings, fascinations, rants, raves and revelations

I remember the first cell phone commercial that promoted the idea of texting. I had the same reaction to that commercial that I had to the Apple ad before promoting personal computers to be used at home. That idea will never fly.

Good thing no one consults me for the technological future.

To me, texting equalled a retreat into darkness. Telephones made people not present, present, through the ease of talking, voice, intonation and all that stuff that makes it feel like you have the person right with you. The only thing missing were visuals, which the Jetsons and Bell telephone assured us were just around the corner.

So what happened to the video phone?

It tumbled into outer "failed idea" darkness and instead, text messaging crawled from the murky depths... the next link in technological evolution.

But the middle aged among us all ask: why would someone go to the trouble of typing on tiny keys [with inscrutable letters], navigating the triple alphabet per button to convey what could be expressed in ten seconds directly, without waiting for a reply?
Apparently the answer to that question is: safe distance.

A Sunday Service at Makati Baptist Church before, tackled that this generation of freshmen is less confrontational than any they can remember. These kids avoid conflict and refuse to express what they need/want in person, directly, eye-to-eye. They've been raised in an era of diversity and tolerance and know that people with character ought not to judge. They know this not as a Sunday school lesson, but as the essential social rule that they must obey, or at least appear to obey.

Instant Messaging [first] and texting after it led to a way to communicate hard things: gossip, insults, praise, flirting, I love you, racism, homophobia, want to go out? and more. You could appear to be courteous, friendly, "not interested" and tolerant in person, but unleash that other side of self through typing. Somehow the dark side of each person's soul had an outlet... an accepted one that didn't tarnish your public reputation.

Addtionally, flirting became a much lower risk endeavor. Saving face, much easier.

Texting also led to communicating with lots of people at once. No more were you forced to keep going with one person on the other end of the phone, enduring the awkward silence, deciphering what that long pause meant. If the IM conversation with one person peetered out, you had four more cooking along to replace it. If the texter suddenly had to climb into that orthodontist's chair, three more conversations were still demanding your attention.

I still remember two disgruntled dorm mates who sat directly across from each other in the same room texting angry messages over roommate problems until the landlady shouted: Stop! and required them to put down their phones and learn how to communicate what was bugging them in words, eye-to-eye. That's where it's gone. No one wants to appear angry in person. So they resort to texting instead. JB, my ex is really very good in texting and fights me like a soldier using his cellphone but cannot do so infront of my face. Unfortunately, I'm not the texter type.

I do respect that people at times plunge into texting like in a marathon. What I don't get is when people tend to send you all the quotes, group texts, watevas all at a time or every now and then. My cousin Grace texts me everyday in dozens! Forwarded messages of quotations, simple rants, simple expressions like sighs, boredoms, *he he he, hellos and all craps. I love the idea that she remembers me but she was doing that without considering if I might be sleeping or specially if I'm at work. I kept it to myself, just trying to understand her incessant texting but one day, I just exploded. I advised her not to include me na lang on her group texts muna kse bawal sa office or minsan natutulog ako. Nagalit siya. See? I don't turn off my phone because I don't wanna miss important messages or maybe if there's an emergency. Pero, yong tadtarin ka ng mga messages na di naman talaga sila gumawa at not really meant to converse? Come on.
Siguro wala kang magawa, bored, o mahilig lang talaga magtext pero hello! ako nagtatrabaho sa gabi, tulog sa araw... And you're texting like that? Consideration naman. Magigising ako pag natutulog or magtatago sa table kapag just to check my message pero ang laman eh "may 2 lalake, ilan ang paa?" *Grrrr... or "ei! who's awake? lolz, im outta here.." *Duh!

In our house, the only place you have "Globe" signal is outside or at our window, so imagine how many cellphones sit by the window. Tapos tutunog cellphone mo, babangon ka sa pagkakahiga, pag-check mo joke pala galing kay Mami Chu, after few minutes, toot toot, bangon ka ulit, "happy fekfek day" okay..., toot toot ulit, "Anak: tay, bakit po naririnig ko umuungol kagabi si Inday? Tatay: kase anak, kinain ko siya... " oh my siguro binangungot na kase di na alam kung natutulog pa siya or gising sa dami ng texts na puro jokes lang pala or forwarded *he he he. I love Mami Chu and I do appreciate the fact that when I asked her na tanggalin ako sa group messages eh naintinduhan niya. Pero yong pinsan ko? Well, may newborn baby siya at siguro nga bored diba? Haaayyyy....
Sana lang kasabay ng pagpindot sa keypads yong bilis ng ikot ng utak para naiintindihan naman nila kalagayan ng ibang tao no?

There are rules in texting. When I asked a friend to call me and closed with a period, she thought I was angry. I thought I was using proper punctuation. According to Johannah, periods mean you're bugged. Jb is also guilty on this. He doesn't know how punctuations are used.
A greeting without an exclamation point means that you're in a blue mood. All caps mean you're shouting.

Typing with misspellings has fallen into disrepute among upperclassmen in high school and college students. Abbreviations like "u r" and "LOL" are shunned because they're so junior high. These "near adults" pride themselves on spelling properly [and all the English teachers cheered!].

College kids will not answer their phones even when they hear them ring and have nothing else to do, but will text you back in the middle of class, a date, during a movie or while driving[!].
And those camera phones! DJ sends me photos when she shops for clothes to get my advice. Luke sends me photos of things that make him laugh. I send photos of the kids to Luke because he lives away.

I'm about the laziest text-er to ever inhabit a modern society. But I'm committed. The best thing about texting that I can see is that it's instant and brief. If I need that moment-by-moment touch but haven't got time for a long conversation, texting fills the bill.

Texting and camera phones. If you invested way back then, I'll bet you're rich. Next time you need technological foresight, ask me what I think, and do the opposite.