{"id":1243,"date":"2014-03-03T18:13:58","date_gmt":"2014-03-04T04:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grumpyseniors.com\/?p=1243"},"modified":"2014-03-03T20:27:04","modified_gmt":"2014-03-04T06:27:04","slug":"driving-me-grumpy-in-140-characters-or-less","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grumpyseniors.com\/?p=1243","title":{"rendered":"Driving me grumpy in 140 characters or less"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texts, or instant messages are affecting the few brain cells I have left.<\/p>\n

Stay with me while I explain this and swing you to my side.<\/p>\n

I leave\u00a0Instant Messaging active on my iPhone cause it’s the wife’s preferred method of communication and sometimes people from work get hold of me that way.<\/p>\n

\"Tin_Can\"<\/a>If I could turn it off –\u00a0I would.<\/p>\n

When I was a kid we talked over two tin cans with a string.<\/p>\n

Great fun.<\/p>\n

Then I got older and people called me on the phone.
\nThat was fine if it was short.<\/p>\n

I tried to keep calls to\u00a030 seconds or so.
\nUnless we were discussing beer or what bar had the most single women that weekend.<\/p>\n

Those calls could get to two or three minutes.
\nExhausting.<\/p>\n

Then people started emailing me.
\nWay too much.<\/p>\n

The delete button became my close friend.<\/p>\n

Now they text me.
\nAnd it drives me crazy.<\/p>\n

\"woman-texting2\"<\/a>Every time one comes through I have visions of 16-year-old girls wandering the mall texting their brains out.<\/p>\n

What could they possibly be saying?<\/p>\n

“Here I am at Macy’s and I’m looking at shoes. Want a picture?”<\/p>\n

Some walk around with the phone to their ear listening to their friend’s breath.<\/p>\n

That’s another story for a later time.<\/p>\n

I don’t have a problem ignoring instant messages, especially when I’m driving.<\/p>\n

But the\u00a0phone keeps trying to remind me I should run into a utility pole and read it NOW.<\/p>\n

Maybe it would be okay if it was sexting, but at my age that’ll never happen.<\/p>\n

I probably wouldn’t know how to respond anyway.<\/p>\n

The wife sometimes texts me in the middle of rush hour to share how bad the traffic is.<\/p>\n

I usually respond with a simple “OK” so she knows I got it.
\nI’m trying to be polite.<\/p>\n

I don’t want to encourage a conversation because she might end up in the trunk of the car in front of her, plus I’m usually doing something at the moment.<\/p>\n

She’s the apple of my eye, but it doesn’t work.<\/p>\n

\"texting-2\"<\/a>More than once she’s texted me from the other room.<\/p>\n

It’s really okay to walk down to the other end of the house and see me in person.<\/p>\n

Really.
\nMaybe I’ll get a hug then, too.<\/p>\n

Want to stand out from the crowd?<\/p>\n

If it can’t be said – completely – in one sentence, do a phone call instead.<\/p>\n

Reach out and actually touch someone.<\/p>\n

What a concept.<\/p>\n

Yes, I feel better.<\/p>\n

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