There
are situations where I would allow myself to text, most aptly described as
junctures where not texting would have made me an asshole. If I called and a
friend would reply-text they were tied up at work, for instance. I would text
friends who were abroad or had foreign SIMs, because fuck roaming charges.
Sending information and so on. I reckon, on average, I would send 20-50 texts
per month, which is minute compared to most peoples’ averages.
Here’s
what I found:
1) I didn’t miss it.
My
life was in no way affected. I was still able to make plans and kept in touch
with close friends regularly. Functionally, everything was the same.
2) Hardly
anyone answers their phone anymore.
This
is not altogether surprising, since placing calls is no longer one of the chief
uses of mobile phones (the top 3 activities, for smartphone users, are Internet
browsing, social media, and music, in that order). What is surprising: when I would call some people and leave voicemail,
they would reply with a text message, even if they were in a situation where
they were able to call.
3)
No one checks voicemail.
Or
at least those who do are a minority. I have, on several occasions, not heard
from friends in weeks because “I don’t get voicemail notifications on my phone.”
First of all, it strains credibility that this problem affects as many people
as are claiming it does, and secondly: wouldn’t you want to get that fixed? I
mean, if your friends are leaving you important messages that you’re missing,
wouldn’t you make a concerted effort to resolve the issues?
Conversely,
if these same people lost the ability to send or receive texts, I guarantee
they would be calling their operator frustratedly the very moment they
discovered this.
4)
I unshackled myself from the phone.
Every time I go to dinner or a bar, I see several tables of people with their noses buried in their phones, despite being in the company of friends. Twitter and Facebook apps are part to blame for this, but I realised how a constant stream of text messages can consume your time.
Whenever
I was in a social situation and needed to get in touch with someone, I would
have to consider the propriety of leaving the table, going outside, and making
a 3-5 minute phone call. Often, civility would hold me back and I would wait
until later, which was invariably fine. As such, I found myself able to go out
and forget about the netherworld of electronic communications. Now, I use my
phone only out of necessity, as opposed to frivolity.
5) Dating
has become a text-based experience.
Perhaps
the most disconcerting of all. I remember the days when you would get a girl’s
number and CALL HER UP. It was expected. These days, that type of approach is
seen as brazen or forward. It catches people off guard; some even view it as “full-on.”
Today, you are expected to score a mobile number, wait a reasonable interval,
and then send a casual text message. That is dating in 2013: Cupid ferrying 160-character
messages across cyberspace.
The
reason I feel this is worrying is that being able to conduct yourself on the
phone and working up the nerve to call a girl/guy who puts butterflies in your
stomach is part and parcel of being a GROWN ASS MAN. This is something that
young people are shying away from. Text messages,
increasingly, are evolving into carefully curated nuggets, less about self and
more about ‘game.’
I
think this is bullshit. You know what game is? Game is having fucking rocks
between your legs. If you ever hear someone describe the end of an escapade
as: “Well, (s)he never texted me back so, you know, whatever” you need to slap
them across the face. Or fully palm their crotch and reply: “There used to be
balls here! What HAPPENED??”
Overall,
being free of texts was, well, freeing. I remembered the unexpected pleasure of
having impromptu discussions over the phone, of hearing my friend’s voices when
they were energised or sick or having a bad day. It adds an emotional quality
to your communications that gets lost in SMS, and rather than sending truncated
thoughts on-the-fly, you speak with people when you have time to speak with them properly.
I
would encourage everyone to try it for a month. Your weary thumbs will thank
you for it.
