Texting.

I admit it. I cannot text. Well this is not totally true.  The reality is that I have a phone plan which does not allow me to text. The reason it does not is mainly that  I will not pay for the plan to have texting facilities. I am too mean. My companion gives me a hard time about this.

When she does sometimes I get worried. She can be a tough woman sometimes. All around me there are people texting away like their lives depended on it. I was out eating with my companion and her son the other night for her birthday. They both had to text during our meal. I took out my stone age phone with its non texting package and pretended to text too. Just to make them feel okay. To give them credit we all had a good laugh. Just now I am in a coffee shop and a small boy about 5 years old is texting. Jesus Christ.

Here are some of my worries. Where do people who are texting all the time get all the people to text to. How many friends can you have.  Has texting created more friends. It would seem to me to result in less friends. Having to listen to them all the time. Do these people who are always getting texts not get brain and psychological damage from so many pieces of incoming information? Then there is the issue of just the time to read all the texts. It is a full time job. Then the other thing. What happened before there was texting? How did people keep in touch? Then the other thing. What kind of an overload of communication if any is there going on? And another thing, has texting resulted in an increase in what people feel important enough to have to share with somebody. I am beginning to sweat here. I feel a panic attack coming on. If only I had that texting plan I could text somebody about it.

But then there is the other thing. My finger tips are too big for the wee buttons. Life is not easy. In fact it is a swine. This modern technology is not easy. If capitalism does not destroy the planet will the human species evolve with smaller finger tips for texting. Could take a while but.....

A final thought the texts fly up into the sky and hone into the message box of the targeted number. I remember when I was a kid and read a few comics about native Americans and they claimed that Native Americans sent smoke signals. Back in Ireland there are still remnants of old stone circles where fires were lit to warn the more inland inhabitants that invaders were coming from the sea. Those vikings were tough. Diplomacy was not their strong point.  I hope this is not some derogatory story about native Americans and Vikings.  I know the stone circle are true as I have visited them many times. So what I am wondering is was smoke signalling the first and more primitive for of texting?

Now do not be texting me. I will not get it. And you will be only thinking I am ignoring you. There is a whole host of complications that come with this texting.

Having said all this I am probably like the old ones who when the phone first arrived claimed it would destroy civilization and the craic. I will probably have to drag myself into the modern world. But I will kick and scream a bit just in case this modern world is not all positive and a bit of kicking and screaming would do it the world of good.

Sean.