So, our good friend the Internet has done us several favors and made life faster, more convenient and information more accessible.
But like all good things, it has it’s vices.
Let’s take communication for example. At the touch of a button, you can see someone across the globe. Pretty rad. You can use the same sort of thing to take college courses. And with texting/messaging, no need to place a call and take time to remove yourself from a noisy room, just message them right from where you are.
Now this is where it gets weird.
For those of us born in the early eighties and before, we still remember vividly the old shit. The rotary dial phones. The first in home computers. Pagers, (ugh, horrible idea), the first cell phones; and all of the rules that came with it. Oh yeah, we sent shit in the mail too…
Now, communication is totally different and the rules have changed. For those of us stuck on that fine line of old and new, we get confused. We don’t know quite how to play the game. We get offended when we shouldn’t and come off like we don’t give a shit when we do.
Now when I started dating, nobody had cell phones. Well a few rich kids did and don’t forget the drug dealers.
In high-school you relied on phone calls to your house, handwritten notes and maybe, maybe an email. Instant message wasn’t even up and going then really.
You’d have to call and if they didn’t pick up; leave a message on that wretched machine or with their parents and wait by the phone. Hell, you wouldn’t want to leave your house.
But when they did call, you talked. No abbreviated shit. Not BTW’s, no LOL, no IDK. You had to use your words. If you liked someone you had to get the balls to tell them or obsessively think about it to yourself.
Now, there’s texting and wireless messaging. You can message anybody, anytime and usually get an immediate response. Because everybody has one of these fucking things, we assume that they see it right away and want immediate gratification. Because that’s what it’s come down to.
Who remembers the 3 day rule? Nobody called anyone for 3 days after a date? I don’t know how I lasted back then! After being conditioned to this new shit, that concept seems borderline cruel. Now after a date, it’s a matter of hours or even minutes that one of the parties messages the other saying they had a good time or whatever. If you don’t get this immediate response, you just figure they think you suck.
So technology has sped everything up and to make us even more crazy, some messenger applications even tell you when your message has been read. So if the person doesn’t respond and you see they’ve read it, you start making that “WTF” laundry list of shit that went wrong, of why they’re not responding. Now we did that shit when there were only phone calls too, but still.
Do I really need to know when the mother fucker read it? No. I’d rather not start coming up with ideas of why the person hasn’t sent anything back.
Then let’s get real. Especially in busier cities like New York, we’re all doing shit a million miles per minute and don’t have time to respond right away. If it’s not a simple one off answer, it has to wait.
If I’m in the middle of something, I wait until I have time to formulate a decent response. This may be hours later and even longer if I get caught up in something. Patience with communication has gone out the window and it’s made us all a little batty.
There’s new loose rules and as sensitive creatures, we take all of it to heart. When really it’s usually just technicalities. And for those of us stuck in the middle era, were just straight fucked and confused.
So I guess I’ll just keep updating my iPhone and attempt to keep up. Not freak out when my shit goes unanswered and not equate the stopping of replies to getting hung up on. Realize not getting a direct response doesn’t mean the other person thinks I’m a stinking sack of carcass, but is probably just busy.
We forget people are busy and we’ve become more self absorbed. So I’ll keep up and keep out of my head. No need to get all bat-shit.
Buy Hi, Have You Met Me? on Amazon today! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B009W1M
Check out the blog on it's home site @
www.hihaveyoumetme.com for previous writings and more.
Don’t forget to stalk me further at https://twitter.com/#!/hihaveyoumetme orhttp://www.facebook.com/authorkatemonahan
But like all good things, it has it’s vices.
Let’s take communication for example. At the touch of a button, you can see someone across the globe. Pretty rad. You can use the same sort of thing to take college courses. And with texting/messaging, no need to place a call and take time to remove yourself from a noisy room, just message them right from where you are.
Now this is where it gets weird.
For those of us born in the early eighties and before, we still remember vividly the old shit. The rotary dial phones. The first in home computers. Pagers, (ugh, horrible idea), the first cell phones; and all of the rules that came with it. Oh yeah, we sent shit in the mail too…
Now, communication is totally different and the rules have changed. For those of us stuck on that fine line of old and new, we get confused. We don’t know quite how to play the game. We get offended when we shouldn’t and come off like we don’t give a shit when we do.
Now when I started dating, nobody had cell phones. Well a few rich kids did and don’t forget the drug dealers.
In high-school you relied on phone calls to your house, handwritten notes and maybe, maybe an email. Instant message wasn’t even up and going then really.
You’d have to call and if they didn’t pick up; leave a message on that wretched machine or with their parents and wait by the phone. Hell, you wouldn’t want to leave your house.
But when they did call, you talked. No abbreviated shit. Not BTW’s, no LOL, no IDK. You had to use your words. If you liked someone you had to get the balls to tell them or obsessively think about it to yourself.
Now, there’s texting and wireless messaging. You can message anybody, anytime and usually get an immediate response. Because everybody has one of these fucking things, we assume that they see it right away and want immediate gratification. Because that’s what it’s come down to.
Who remembers the 3 day rule? Nobody called anyone for 3 days after a date? I don’t know how I lasted back then! After being conditioned to this new shit, that concept seems borderline cruel. Now after a date, it’s a matter of hours or even minutes that one of the parties messages the other saying they had a good time or whatever. If you don’t get this immediate response, you just figure they think you suck.
So technology has sped everything up and to make us even more crazy, some messenger applications even tell you when your message has been read. So if the person doesn’t respond and you see they’ve read it, you start making that “WTF” laundry list of shit that went wrong, of why they’re not responding. Now we did that shit when there were only phone calls too, but still.
Do I really need to know when the mother fucker read it? No. I’d rather not start coming up with ideas of why the person hasn’t sent anything back.
Then let’s get real. Especially in busier cities like New York, we’re all doing shit a million miles per minute and don’t have time to respond right away. If it’s not a simple one off answer, it has to wait.
If I’m in the middle of something, I wait until I have time to formulate a decent response. This may be hours later and even longer if I get caught up in something. Patience with communication has gone out the window and it’s made us all a little batty.
There’s new loose rules and as sensitive creatures, we take all of it to heart. When really it’s usually just technicalities. And for those of us stuck in the middle era, were just straight fucked and confused.
So I guess I’ll just keep updating my iPhone and attempt to keep up. Not freak out when my shit goes unanswered and not equate the stopping of replies to getting hung up on. Realize not getting a direct response doesn’t mean the other person thinks I’m a stinking sack of carcass, but is probably just busy.
We forget people are busy and we’ve become more self absorbed. So I’ll keep up and keep out of my head. No need to get all bat-shit.
Buy Hi, Have You Met Me? on Amazon today! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B009W1M
Check out the blog on it's home site @
www.hihaveyoumetme.com for previous writings and more.
Don’t forget to stalk me further at https://twitter.com/#!/hihaveyoumetme orhttp://www.facebook.com/authorkatemonahan