When to Text and When Not to Text
It’s no secret that more and more people are becoming text-messaging junkies, but there is a time a place for everything. Let’s not let our addiction to 10-finger talking overstep the boundaries of proper etiquette.
I was with some of my family this past Mother’s Day, and although it was a beautiful day outside, my cousin chose to stay in the house where she sat on the couch looking somewhat disappointed. Suddenly her cell phone lit up again. It was another text message. Looking up with a grim stare she said, “People don’t want to call you any more. All they do is send texts.”
She had received nearly a dozen text messages, but no one had bothered to pick up the phone and call her. And what’s worse is that those people probably sent a mass text message to all the mothers they know.
There’s nothing wrong with texting people who aren’t that close to you, like co-workers or old high school buddies. But in my cousin’s case, she was obviously expecting some of those people who texted her to pick up the phone and wish her a “Happy Mother’s Day.”
I think there are certain days and occasions that require voice contact and Mother’s Day is one of them. If you have an aunt, niece, grandmother or mom that you texted a simple “Happy Mother’s Day,” chances are they may feel a bit disappointed and unappreciated. So if you did, pick up the phone and call those special women and tell them how much they really mean to you.
In case you were wondering, you should not text close family members not only on Mother’s Day, but Father’s Day or Christmas. Weddings, funerals, childbirths, and major surgeries fall into this same category.
When it comes to text etiquette, sometimes texting simply can’t replace the sincerity and warmth of a phone call.
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