Guest Post: Texting by Craig Strahm

Ok all you “Don`t worry about it” groupies, Dad Strahm is back for another guest blog. I got this desperate email last week pleading a blog subject out of me from daughter Vikkie, for apparently her well has temporarily ran dry. I have seen Vikkie bash Valentine’s Day, Breakfast in bed, Christmas shopping and a few other pet peeves, so now it is my turn to show where she got her opinionated personality. So what is my #1 pet peeve today…….cell phone texting. Man, it just drives me crazy, and the worst part of it is that I am probably thinking wrong, but I just can`t get past it.
So what is my beef, anyway? (Beef, now there is a “politically incorrect” word that brings up a whole new subject for future guest blogs). Well, I pondered for a long time as to when I first learned about “texting” and what it was. For some reason or another, this picture keeps coming to mind of a 5ft, 4in sixteen year old boy with his cap turned on backwards and his two size too big Abercrombie shirt hanging out, with his pants hanging down so far that his inseam was directly centered between his knees. Oh and yes, pretty sure his shoes were untied as well (another future blog idea). This kid has got his head hanging down with his cell phone in both hands frantically pushing keys to no end. Now I’m observing, wandering who in the world has a phone number that long? Then I continue to observe and conclude that this kid is LD, ADD, Dyslectic, or something, and he just can’t get ten numerical digits in a row right. Wrong, Craig, this boy is “texting”. Yep, even with all those for mentioned disabilities (for I am sure he has at least two of them), this kid is typing faster on that cell phone than this old man can on a full blown keyboard. So after further explanation from the next generation younger as to how “texting” works, and what it is all about, and many hours alone in a tractor, I asked myself “why, why text”? I mean, you got the phone so you can talk to somebody, right? There are circles of friends, there is instant dials, and there are free minutes….why text? I still haven`t figured that one out. Yes, I have heard all the reasons….don’t have the time for a phone call, can’t make or receive a call during a class or meeting, I don’t want to really talk to that person right now but there is something that they need to know from me……I’ve heard them all…..still seems stupid to me. I have concluded that the only real reason one texts, is that he or she doesn`t want anybody else to know what they are talking about…and perhaps that is valid, but to me, that is the most annoying thing there is about it all. If you don’t want me to know, then leave the room, leave my car, leave my house, and leave my meeting that I am trying to chair, just go somewhere else. Why do I have to listen to that annoying “gin-a-ling” over and over again as these texts keep pouring in, or those little “giggles” from the receiver because someone texted something on the funny side. Did anyone ever think about how stupid they look if they are in a room, car, wherever…and they are laughing by themselves? Hey, I love a good laugh; let me in on the joke!
So what are the rest of my peeves?

(1) The “texting charges” I got on my cell phone bills that were made by my kids back when they were on my plan. Hey, I wasn`t going to do that, why pay for it….well, believe me; I paid for it big time!!!

(2) The statistics that are out now as to the average number of texts made by young people today. Astounding, really when you think that someone can text 3000 times a month. Is that all they do? I mean, if I was an employer, and I knew this fact before the interview, the interview would never happen. This person isn`t working, they are “texting”. Here is the big question? Just how much productivity is lost in this country today due to employees not working, but texting? Have not heard that statistic yet!

(3) Texting and driving at the same time. Oh come on, now this is the most stupid thing I have ever heard of. Bet I am stepping on some “Don’t worry about it” readers here. I got a questionnaire last week from Representative Steve Lukert as to my opinion if congress should pass a law making it illegal to drive and text at the same time. Heck yes, but how would you ever enforce that law. The response was if the officer suspected that the driver was texting, they could pull them over and issue a citation. The problem with that? You will turn habitual texters into habitual liars. I can just hear it now…..”Officer, I wasn’t texting, I was reaching down to make sure my seat belt was securely fastened”. But what do you do, when you hear about all the innocent people killed out there because somebody was texting while driving. I met a semi just last week on Highway 36, and I noticed that all I saw of the driver during the whole approach was the top of his hat, tilted 15 degrees to the right. Oh yes, he was texting….all while driving 85,000 pounds of steel and rubber down the highway. REALLY STUPID!!!!!!!!!

(4) And perhaps my biggest one yet, it just really “gets my gourd” when someone is having a conversation with me, the whole while they are texting with someone else. Am I the third party? Selfish as it may sound, I sure feel that way. Just last week, my next door neighbor, whom I dearly love, stopped in to ask my wife and I to lunch on Sunday after church. At the time, I was busy on a project, but I will always drop what I am doing for a neighbor. Then the “invite” was special, even though I had to decline due to a prior engagement. But then, the visit was extended to at least one hour, as the “din-a-lings” started to roll in. Again and again, between our conversation….. Four, five, six, seven and eight times…..hey, I got things to do, how do I get out of this without being rude? Hey wait a minute, just who is the rude one here?
Well, there I have said it. Vikkie, you’ve got your blog. Hope I have not disappointed you, or offended any of your readers. Perhaps I could have written it more lightly in a “George Carlin” sort of way. I`ll save that for my next guest blog “Why I live in the country”. This one will surely make you all laugh!
Till next time, c u l8r!!!
Dad Strahm

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Hey Hey, It is me Vikkie, just have to say that this is a good reminder email as Brett and I just got blackberry's. I am really going to put some guidelines on these bad boys and turn them off when it is appropriate. I also am promising that I will never text while driving. I can see how it is easy for people to forget their manner after getting a cool phone but it is just basis manners, come on!!!! Great job daddy-0!!