Bryan W. Alaspa 1A texting world
August 31st 2009 13:37
It amazes me that they have to pass laws against driving and texting at the same time. Then again, I was amazed when they started putting televisions into moving vehicles. I always wanted that when I was a kid, but when I grew up I understood that watching television and driving was a bad idea. Sure, in general, the TVs are in the back seats to entertain the kiddies, but it still seems dangerous to me.
Texting has rapidly become the dominant form of communication these days. I am the King of the Texters. My friends know this and, for some, it drives them crazy. For me a cell phone is really just a portable texting device. I have friends who will call me and leave me a voicemail and I will then text them a response. What can I say, I am a writer and I enjoy communicating to the world via a keyboard.
But one thing I make a very serious effort to do is put away the keyboard when I am driving. I have done everything I can to make texting safe. I have a full QWERTY keyboard and everything and even I know that trying to text and drive at the same time is like poking out both of my eyes and then trying to drive an obstacle course. It just doesn’t work.
You see people all the time doing it, though. Mostly you see it at stoplights. Now, with me, when I am at a stoplight I am basically pretending I am a drag racer waiting for the light to go green so I can peel away. Most people treat stoplights as if it were some casual four-way stop rather than something that they need to get through quickly because, dammit, I have places to be. They sit there and finish their texting, then yawn and stretch and try to come alive and then slowly pull out into the intersection. Me, I would be four blocks away by the time they actually step on the gas.
There is nothing worse than being behind someone who is texting. You can see them doing it. Their heads are bent over their cell phone as they try to peck out some message. Texting has given us a whole new way to speak and I think it is helping to destroy spelling in this country and, possibly, the world. You have to love the messages that are just the first letter of every word
A message like “Hey, don’t forgive to meet me at the bar at 7 ok? Love you becomes: H d f t m m @ t b a 7 k? l u
Before too long no one will know how to spell anything and I already see it happening to me. For example, I often feel the need to tell people I am laughing out loud rather than just doing it. How often have you typed that you were doing that when, in fact, you had just barely smiled at whatever the other person had said. I know I do it all the time. LOL has just become, “Hey, I found that to be amusing.”
Friends seem to think I should be able to text while driving. I will sometimes send a quick text to someone and tell them I am driving. I am very surprised when they keep sending text messages to me even after I let them know that. Of course, with my fancy new phone I can also chat, send e-mails, Twitter and update my Facebook page.
God help us all!
Texting has rapidly become the dominant form of communication these days. I am the King of the Texters. My friends know this and, for some, it drives them crazy. For me a cell phone is really just a portable texting device. I have friends who will call me and leave me a voicemail and I will then text them a response. What can I say, I am a writer and I enjoy communicating to the world via a keyboard.
But one thing I make a very serious effort to do is put away the keyboard when I am driving. I have done everything I can to make texting safe. I have a full QWERTY keyboard and everything and even I know that trying to text and drive at the same time is like poking out both of my eyes and then trying to drive an obstacle course. It just doesn’t work.
You see people all the time doing it, though. Mostly you see it at stoplights. Now, with me, when I am at a stoplight I am basically pretending I am a drag racer waiting for the light to go green so I can peel away. Most people treat stoplights as if it were some casual four-way stop rather than something that they need to get through quickly because, dammit, I have places to be. They sit there and finish their texting, then yawn and stretch and try to come alive and then slowly pull out into the intersection. Me, I would be four blocks away by the time they actually step on the gas.
There is nothing worse than being behind someone who is texting. You can see them doing it. Their heads are bent over their cell phone as they try to peck out some message. Texting has given us a whole new way to speak and I think it is helping to destroy spelling in this country and, possibly, the world. You have to love the messages that are just the first letter of every word
A message like “Hey, don’t forgive to meet me at the bar at 7 ok? Love you becomes: H d f t m m @ t b a 7 k? l u
Before too long no one will know how to spell anything and I already see it happening to me. For example, I often feel the need to tell people I am laughing out loud rather than just doing it. How often have you typed that you were doing that when, in fact, you had just barely smiled at whatever the other person had said. I know I do it all the time. LOL has just become, “Hey, I found that to be amusing.”
Friends seem to think I should be able to text while driving. I will sometimes send a quick text to someone and tell them I am driving. I am very surprised when they keep sending text messages to me even after I let them know that. Of course, with my fancy new phone I can also chat, send e-mails, Twitter and update my Facebook page.
God help us all!
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