Text Me Maybe

People - they don't write anymore; they blog. Instead of talking, they text - no punctuation, no grammar - "lol" this and "lmao" that. You know, it just seems to me that it's just a bunch of stupid people pseudo-communicating with a bunch of other stupid people in a proto-language that resembles more what cavemen used to speak than the King's English.   – Hank Moody, Californication

This line cracked me up and stuck with me after I had watched the episode.  Coming from a house with an English teacher for a mother, proper writing and grammar was emphasized… overly emphasized I might say.  As I kid, I was always creative with my written stories, but my mom was always there to edit and correct my grammar and punctuation before I turned it in.  She was quick to point out I was much more creative than her, but that I needed her editing touch!   She isn’t diagnosed, but even to this day I tell her she has borderline OCD (only half-jokingly).   Jump ahead 20 years –now I text her with sprinklings of annoying text speak with no capital letters or punctuation, except for a colon and parenthesis side-by-side to let her know I am happy.  This is not unlike how the rest of our cell-phone society interacts with each other.  However, I do try my best to use proper sentences, even though they may take a few more seconds of my day to construct.  (I do find myself getting lazier and lazier with my texts unfortunately).

The other obvious ironic part of his quote is that I am publishing it on my blog.  Well, as Walt Whitman said in one of my all-time favorite quotes (from “Song of Myself” in Leaves of Grass):

“Do I contradict myself? 

Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

Personal Interactions: 

How we used to ask for dates:  Phone Call.   It would take courage to call the home phone (on a land line, remember those?) of a girl’s house that you just got her number from.  What would you say?  Would you have to leave a message?   How long did you have to wait before calling her?  You can't call too soon and seem desperate, but you can't wait too long either.  Do you remember the scene in Swingers with Jon Favreau when he called the girl later that same night and kept leaving her messages?  So painful…

Yeah, that movie was a while ago, but its a classic.  Come on, "Vegas baby, Vegas" came from it!   

How we ask for dates today:  Text Message.  Simplicity.    

Guy: Wuzup?  WRUD  2nite? 

Girl: NM y? 

Guy: up 4 dinner/drks?

Girl: OK!  J

Guy:  Cool, c u l8r

There would probably be lots of emoticons sprinkled in as well. Maybe even a couple facebook and instagram likes to let her know he’s really interested (with hashtags)

Text speak.  Convenience.   Or de-evolution Hank Moody would say….  Depends on your perspective I suppose.    

I wrote this a few months ago but forgot to post it.  As I reread this now, I realized I am getting lazier and lazier with my text messaging without even being aware of it.  Here's to trying to make my mom happy by spelling everything out and using proper grammar, as well as taking the time to review them and not letting that damn autocorrect  mess up my texts!  Or better yet, I think I'll just call home instead!