Sadly to say, I am not a part of the texting community. It's not that tech stuff is not my thing - I consider myself pretty tech-savvy, what with my hip MacBook and my all-too-innovative Motorola Razr - but despite that, I remain completely inhibited from entering the world of text messages. This became a problem when I came to college and realized that not just everyone was doing it, but that my not doing it could very well lead to my exclusion from society.
While AT&T used to offer free receipt of texts, its completely unnecessary name change to Cingular led to a subsequent charge for all incoming texts. Apparently allowing people to know your number and unknowingly send you completely worthless messages (do you really need to waste 10 cents on "lol"?) warrants a charge on both of your bills, regardless of whose IQ is higher. It was then that my father decided that the total extra $2 a month I had used in text messaging once was simply too much of a cost to bear and thus called AT&T to disable sending and receiving texts on my phone.
Though I did have a few text-reliant friends in high school ("How come you never texted me back about the homework?!"), I never felt the impact that my forced rejection of new, innovative technology had brought me. Upon coming to Hopkins, I found that everybody and their mom (literally) relies on texting as their main source of communication. The result often is that I constantly miss out on important information.
Not only that, but I end up screwing up everyone else's lives in addition to mine. "Oh, man," my friends groan, "I was going to send a mass text about our plans for tonight, but then I remembered about you. And then I actually had to use my phone for the purpose it was invented for."
Texting, or the lack thereof, has only brought me social exemption, inevitably causing my existence at Hopkins to one day be reduced to such isolation that I'll have to spend all my time eating from to-go boxes from FFC in the library with the lovely rats of Baltimore for my company and be depressed. That is until AT&T finds a way to market to rats.
I've also become more reliant on my talk-time, which is quickly waning with every call I make. Last month, I ironically received a call from my dad chastising me about my cell phone use - "You used 3,200 minutes last month!" Never mind that there was no additional cost (thanks to the wonders of AT&T's rollover and mobile-to-mobile minutes), but apparently the concept that I could talk for more than 50 hours in 30 days was too much for my dad.
And yet, my only way to communicate is via cell phone calls. I have no land line and many of my calls are simply "Hey, where are you?" conversations. I guess they add up, but he can't have it both ways!
Still, saved by my rollover minutes (which will quickly be nonexistent at the rate I'm going), I ask the question: Why is calling now such a nuisance for people? After all, about half of the world has never made a phone call. Is it so inconvenient to look up the same contact in your address book, press "send" and have a conversation?
I know, it's much easier just to leave a text message and have them get back to you later, but most people I know spend a good 20 minutes replying back and forth about trivial things that take too much concentration and finger-numbing movement to type. It seems much more efficient to argue about the fresh hickey on your seemingly faithful boyfriend's neck in a phone conversation (or, dare I say it, in person).
Much like with snail mail, phone calls have become a thing of the past. And they shouldn't be - they're a novelty! It's nice to hear a friend's cheery voice, or to realize that your significant other hasn't had quite the good day you wished him or her in that text you sent that morning. Has the world become so insensitive that friends or even acquaintances can't make the effort to add a personal touch to "Can I borrow your orgo notes?"
Then again ... if I could text, I'm sure I would do it constantly. After all, it still excites me to get an AT&T-sent text message about how many minutes I have left (Last time I checked, I had 10 left for the next 10 days of the month). Maybe I'm just bitter. But I'll get over it - after all, there are only seven more months until my contract is up and I can beg my dad to get an unlimited texting plan!
