Video Killed the Radio Star

Go back in time with me for a second. The time: 1998..........the place: your bedroom. The phone rings and a nervous voice stumbles out "umm hello can I speak to ____". On the other end a heart starts to race and begins to feel those little butterflies. An equally nervous voice replies "y-y-yeah, speaking". As time passes by on this conversation remains quixotic and gets a little smoother. It eventually ends in "no you hang up" or "we'll hang up on 3".

That was before text messaging stormed onto the scene and leaving a path of unromantic debris in it's wake. Do I have anything against text messasging? No. When used properly, it's a great way to get a quick message across. "Ate all your Apple Jacks. Buy more". "I'm choking....help". Yanno something along those lines.

As scary and awkward as first conversations are, I still want them to be a conversation. If I can type out 100 characters, I surely can hit one little green SEND key. If I want you and want to pursue you........I'm gonna show you. Some LOLs and smiley faces cannot replace hearing a voice. Hearing the tone of the voice. Hearing real laughter. No character can serve as an alternative.

My top 3 reasons for not starting a textual relationship:

1. It's impersonal. With a couple clicks I can send the same "hey what are you doing tonite" to 10 different women.

2. Sarcasm doesn't go over well via text. Something that I may have meant as a joke can turn into WWIII.

3. You don't know the cut off point. With a phone conversation it ends with "goodbye", "peace", "later". When that is said, click and that's it. With texting you don't know, you may still be texting the person and they've ended the "conversation" hours ago.

Don't get me wrong, technology has changed some of the game for the better. You can google the person you're going out on a date with. You can stalk..umm I mean excessive care from a moderate distance someone you want to go on a date with via Facebook. All these things are wonderful in their own right. But if you're trying to land a mate.....pick up the Ma Bell and get to getting. Save those text messages for Texts from Last Night. Peace.