Oh, the Times They Are A Changing

The modern age. I can deal with it, maybe one small change at a time. For instance, it was only about six years ago that our family got cell phones. Now, we live and die by the cell phone. I admittedly love, love, love the convenience of communicating at a moment's notice. I don't abuse this and call anyone three times daily, but how nice it is that I could. It is really a parent's ideal tool for making sure that all's right with the world.

But then came this new-fangled thing called "texting." Ward was the first to use this beginning a few years ago. It became an Army wide phenomenon. We all joke that it used to be the knees to go, especially with Ranger types who jump out of planes; but now it will be the thumbs! So I was accustomed to seeing the look of a serial texter , the bent head, the deafness that accompanies that, and the buzz/brrrpt of the returning message.

So it was with fear and trepidation that I allowed the Beaver to pick up the Rumor. It is a phone that is ideal for texting, in fact that was the general idea for the special design, with it's slide down mini-keyboard. Sure enough, this thing is constantly buzz/brrpting. The thing is I'm getting more communication from my son than ever before! Maybe he just doesn't like speaking, because when I called him before I never got an answer. Now, I text him and get immediate feedback. Shocker!!
And not only that, I sometimes will get a mini-dissertation, like last night when I got the full scope of his activity, who, what, where, why and even how! So, instead of the typical monosyllabic verbal response, I now get a human and somewhat personable answer.

Who woulda thunk it?

So maybe for some the mode of communication makes a vast difference. I can tell you for me it will never replace sitting together and sharing some banter over a great cup of Joe, but then I am from the party line era, "I'm ON the line," the fun age where we used to get the neighborhood scoop by listening in over the phone to the neighbors conversations until they heard you breathing, or the dog bark in the background.