I. Hate. Texting.

I need to vent.

I'm 36 which means I grew up in the age where people still actually spoke to each other. We weren't glued to our phones, and we didn't hide behind words on a screen as an alternative to having a real conversation. When we had something to say to someone, we found a time to talk, and then discussed it. Why has that fallen by the wayside? What's happened to the art of genuine human communication?

It's slipping away in an agonizingly slow painful bleed to oblivion.

I remember when texting came out; it was originally called SMS - which stood for Short Message Service.  The keyword there-- short.

I remember sending little texts to people I was meeting up with...

Running late, be right there.

Want me to bring anything?

Stuff like that.

For some reason, though, now it's exploded into this form of communication where people have entire conversations over texts, without hearing anyone's voice.  This opens the flood gates of misinterpretation, which for me is extremely frustrating. I always choose my words carefully and intentionally, and have often been praised for communicating in a clear and concise way when I speak with people. There's a reason for that; because I want to be understood. Then again, don't we all? I don't want to leave anything up to misinterpretation, and I expect those with whom I'm speaking to mention if they need something clarified, and I will gladly do so. That's how conversations work; at least, that's how I think they're supposed to work.

The biggest flaw of this form of communication, is that it completely eliminates the human element; it's just a collection of words, instead of a true conversation. Text-based messages going back and forth is not the same thing. It's just letters that happen to elucidate a message from one person to another. The actual intent of the message, and the meaning behind it, it's inflection, etc... are left up to the reader for interpretation, or in most cases, misinterpretation.

Now, I'll admit, in most cases, this isn't that big of a deal. In the "Running late" example, it really doesn't need any interpretation. It's a factual message. The person sending it will not be arriving at their destination on time, so they will be late. Asking what time a show starts, or the address of a meeting place, etc. You get the idea; these are fact-based answers.The problem lies with asking questions that deal in feelings, and not -fact-based information. There is a major benefit to hearing someone's voice, and having that genuine human connection. You can hear inflections and tone, and whether or not many realize it, these can drastically change how something is coming across. Things like these are what keep conversations human.

Dying or not, I'll always be someone who prefers to talk than to text. I'll gladly exchange texts if need be, but I'm most likely to turn the conversation toward when we can find a time to talk on the phone and have a real conversation. Human interaction doesn't have to die in the name of convenience. Yes, texts may be more convenient, but let's not forget about keeping human interactions...human.