Imagine coming out of the theater after a long, meaningful movie or waking one nice Sunday morning and finding that your significant other of three years has just sent you a text.
Eagerly, you are swept away thinking about the possibilities of what the text could contain and the emotions it might convey. It must be some sort of “I miss you” message or maybe an “I love you.”
Perhaps, a devoted “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird” declaration awaits you? Or maybe it’s a poem! Everyone loves poems.
After opening it, however, you realize that you were sorely wrong. You’re already starting to bubble in the “None of the above” option. On the contrary, it’s a formal one-liner break-up. If he or she is really cruel, it could be a 70-cent text detailing how they hooked up with someone amazing at a party who was not, I repeat, “not” you.
Life sucks, right? He didn’t even have the common decency to tell it to your face or, at least, call you about it. Instead, he let his fingers do all the dirty work. It’s possibly the easiest method of delivering a break-up letter. Oh right, I meant “break-up sentence.”
In our ever-increasing technological world, true human interaction of any kind is being cut short. Studies have shown that Americans spend about 45 minutes a day on cell phones and send approximately 18 billion texts a year. This is excluding the time spent on the Internet.
About 65 percent of Americans spend more time with their computers than with their spouses, according to a Kelton Research study. All in all, this is pathetic.
Maybe it’s just me, but this sounds like a serious social problem. Many would argue that our new technology allows us to reach out to those we otherwise wouldn’t bother with if it weren’t for the ability to text, e-mail, or “poke” on Facebook.
Is it supposed to be good when you want to talk to people you don’t actually care about? As humans, are we really meant to take the easy and non-confrontational approach? Is a relationship supposed to be founded upon hundreds of e-mails, text messages and Facebook pokes?
Since when were such things a substitute for going to get a cup of joe with your best friend, or a quiet dinner with your significant other, or even a night in watching the “The Late Show with David Letterman” with your spouse?
I don’t know about everyone else in this world, but I would rather hear a voice on the other end, be able to hold someone’s hand or hug somebody I care about. It’s a no-brainer that the more time people spend messaging a person, the less time they spend with them on a personal level.
Unless your goal is to know as many people as possible on the most superficial level (i.e. adding someone unknown to your MySpace), you should probably look into using your cellular device, not as a texting tool, but as an actual phone – what it was originally designed to accomplish.
While you’re at it, get off the computer and actually meet up with the people you care about.
It’s time to stop messaging your sister online and simply walk down the hall to her room and ask her how her day was.
Nina Nguyen is a sophomore English major.
