Saturday, March 30, 2013

Telephones, Texts and Terrible Timing...

Spring-blooming Primrose. The most commonly murdered perennial on the planet.
 Who can resist these dainty little darlings? So adorable, sitting on your window sill ~ until they turn brown and kick the bucket. Truth be told these little cuties are tough as can be, zone 3, perennials, who can't handle heat. Primrose are one of the first perennials to bloom in my icy cold, spring garden.
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Ah ha! I thought to myself as I read the daily drivel:
Libra Horoscope Saturday, Mar 30, 2013 -- This is an excellent time for you peacemakers to exercise the diplomatic arts by building bridges between opposing sides of a conflict without getting run over in the process. It's admirable that you want to be of service, but don't lose perspective or there won't be any energy left over for yourself when you really need it. 

We all have our faults. Mine is how badly I would like everyone in my life to simply get along. And, if you can't get along, then leave me out of it! I'm highly allergic to drama.

Anemone & Yellow Wallflower. Sold at Home Depot as a perennial. DON'T fall for that. Annuals anywhere but CA.
Was awakened in the middle of the night by a whole batch of text messages from a (clearly) much younger person. In reality, it was only 11 p.m but I go to bed early. And, once somebody wakes me up, I stay awake for a good long time because the hardest task in my life is trying to shut down that brain o' mine to enjoy a good night's sleep.

While I was lying there, I started thinking about how phone calls are becoming a lost form of communication. Which is really too bad because it's the only way to get to the bottom of things.

Frilly African Violets. Tip: Don't re-pot them. Bigger blossoms when rootbound!
I am not inept when it comes to text messaging. In fact, I put up with this form of communication all day long. I'm a pretty good texter, too.

But, there's a time and place for everything. I was mad as a hatter about these text messages! Probably because of generation GAPS and generational upbringing.

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Back in the dark ages, when I was a little kid, you did not make phone calls between 5 and 7 p.m. because that was interrupting the [now] non-existent dinner hour. AND, you never ever called anyone after 10 p.m. At least, that's what my prim and proper Mom taught me. But, then I went to college and that freaking phone was ringing into the wee hours every single night. Mostly from friends who forgot their keys and couldn't get back into the dorm. Oh... okay, I'll admit it, most often that was me, calling my 4.0 GPA, and much more responsible roommate, because I was the gal who forgot the key.

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My joyful kitchen window.
Anyhoo... perhaps you've gathered that I like telephones.

Telephones are great because it is the voice of two people directly communicating about.. everything. I don’t care if you’re yelling, screaming, cooing, dreaming... Telephones are, and always will be, the second most highly effective way to hammer things out.

The first? Actually meeting up in the physical world. Standing face to face with your demons, in the form of a friend, or loved one, staring and glaring you down.

IMHO (that's texting lingo for In My Humble Opinion) Phone calls are brave. Text messages, not so much. AND! Timing is everything. 

Which is why, when I got up early this morning, I promptly made two phone calls ~ knowing full well those texting fools would be fast asleep. :)

4 comments:

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Whoohoo! You go girl!

~Lisa

Rilly said...

I don't know what I would do without a phone...it's verbally impossible for me to say anything in less than a 1000 words, let alone 140 characters. FB is bad enough so chat `n tweet don't exist in my world. And Happy Easter to you!

Helen/patientgardener said...

I totally agree with you. I was having a similar conversation with my sons (20 and 22) the other day about how they find it hard to phone someone to say make an appointment for a haircut, or book their car in the garage. My eldest would rHe finds is very hard to explain himself on the phone and I think it is because of texting.

As for timing, I will not answer the telephone after 9pm. I have an answerphone so in my view if its urgent they can leave a message and I will ring back.

I dont understand the need people have to text all the time. I think people have an increased sense of their own self importance these days.

Anyway, I hope your texters appreciated their early morning calls :)

Melospiza said...

I hate calling AND texting. And I'm not nuts about the email, either, but I'll take that over calling a stranger any day.

If I've got to talk to someone not a stranger, my vastly preferred form of communication is the in-person chat. Obviously this doesn't work all the time, but it's behind 90% pf my phone call procrastination (I'm banking on just bumping into the person. It'll happen eventually, right?)

And YES about those dang Home Depot labels. "Perennial" my foot. They vex me to no end.