Random texting poll - I'm curious

[aw]

DH and I do not have a texting plan. This bothers everyone we know and is just recently becoming a problem. People are starting to get really annoyed because they have to actually call us. We both refuse to give on this and get texting because we HATE everything about it. Nothing annoys me more (except late people, that's definitely worse).

So, do you know anyone under the age of say 40 that doesn't text? Are we really the only people like everyone is telling us?

If you know people that don't text, how does it effect your relationship?

I should also add that neither of us have Facebook either. So I think people are just annoyed that they can't contact us without having to actually speak with us.

[laurenpetro]

i don't know anyone who actively doesn't text. i know people that rarely bother, but not people who have no plan or anything.

i don't think it would affect my relationship with them. i don't text a ton of my friends so it's NBD, IMO.

[heightsyankee]

All of my friends text. Even my mother texts. The fact is, we are used to being able to get in touch with someone from anywhere but there are a lot of times when talking just isn't polite. We all know how annoying the people zoned out talking on their phones are in many daily situations. That is when texting is important and when I would be annoyed if I had to call you.

[EllieArroway]

Even my grandpa texts now.

[wawa]

My husband hates texting and tells people not to do it. He calls them and informs them that they just cost him 25 cents. And then they mostly laugh at him, but they do stop doing it.

Our friends all think he's ridiculous, but it's not a big deal because they can just text me instead and I'll pass on the message. If he were single I'm pretty sure his friends would all get more annoyed with him. Texting is a much easier way to communicate simple things like "running late" when you know the person you are trying to reach is in a restaurant or somewhere else that answering a phone would be rude. Or at work where you can get away with glancing at a cell, but having an actual conversation on your personal phone is frowned on. Also handy for sending things like addresses or phone numbers because then you don't have to find a pen and paper. And it's REALLY nice for loud places - concerts, fairs, etc when you are trying to meet up with friends. Just being able to text "we're by the petting zoo" is much easier than shouting into your phone trying to be heard over the tilt-a-whirl.

[aw]

Aug 29, 2012 21:05:46 GMT -5 heightsyankee said:

All of my friends text. Even my mother texts. The fact is, we are used to being able to get in touch with someone from anywhere but there are a lot of times when talking just isn't polite. We all know how annoying the people zoned out talking on their phones are in many daily situations. That is when texting is important and when I would be annoyed if I had to call you.

I guess I'm doubly annoying because I'm old school about my phone and manners. I never answer it when I am in public with other people unless I am expecting an important call. I never even check my phone if someone calls when I forgot to turn the ringer off. I think it's rude. I think it's just as rude to text in public or while you are engaged in a conversation with a real person sitting across from you.

So I'm not zoned out talking on my phone around people. But I think that also annoys people because I am hard to get a hold of. Even though I know it's how the world works, I hate that I have to be available for people all the time and am really resisting it.

[dev22]

Everyone I know texts. And thank god, cause I HATE talking on the phone with 99.9% of people. Dyl and my Mom are the only people I call.

[Deleted]

Aug 29, 2012 21:10:35 GMT -5 dev22 said:

Everyone I know texts. And thank god, cause I HATE talking on the phone with 99.9% of people. Dyl and my Mom are the only people I call.

I'm this way too, I only call if i have to.

The best thing is that most of my clients text. I LOVE THAT.

[heightsyankee]

Aug 29, 2012 21:10:26 GMT -5 aw said:

Aug 29, 2012 21:05:46 GMT -5 heightsyankee said:

All of my friends text. Even my mother texts. The fact is, we are used to being able to get in touch with someone from anywhere but there are a lot of times when talking just isn't polite. We all know how annoying the people zoned out talking on their phones are in many daily situations. That is when texting is important and when I would be annoyed if I had to call you.

I guess I'm doubly annoying because I'm old school about my phone and manners. I never answer it when I am in public with other people unless I am expecting an important call. I never even check my phone if someone calls when I forgot to turn the ringer off. I think it's rude. I think it's just as rude to text in public or while you are engaged in a conversation with a real person sitting across from you.

So I'm not zoned out talking on my phone around people. But I think that also annoys people because I am hard to get a hold of. Even though I know it's how the world works, I hate that I have to be available for people all the time and am really resisting it.

Well, I don't think you have to answer a text immediately either. I make conscious time to play with my kids or otherwise unplug and I miss texts during that time. Just because you allow them to text you doesn't make you at their beckon call any more than if they were calling you.

I think you should try it. You may actually like the efficiency of it- esp if you like being hard to get ahold of. Friends will get used to texting "Hey, call me when you have a chance" and everyone will be happier.

[wawa]

Aug 29, 2012 21:10:26 GMT -5 aw said:

Aug 29, 2012 21:05:46 GMT -5 heightsyankee said:

All of my friends text. Even my mother texts. The fact is, we are used to being able to get in touch with someone from anywhere but there are a lot of times when talking just isn't polite. We all know how annoying the people zoned out talking on their phones are in many daily situations. That is when texting is important and when I would be annoyed if I had to call you.

I guess I'm doubly annoying because I'm old school about my phone and manners. I never answer it when I am in public with other people unless I am expecting an important call. I never even check my phone if someone calls when I forgot to turn the ringer off. I think it's rude. I think it's just as rude to text in public or while you are engaged in a conversation with a real person sitting across from you.

So I'm not zoned out talking on my phone around people. But I think that also annoys people because I am hard to get a hold of. Even though I know it's how the world works, I hate that I have to be available for people all the time and am really resisting it.

I get this. I leave my phone in my bag when I'm at home most of the time and ignore calls all the time if I just don't feel like talking/am enjoying vegging with MH/whatver. And it's not unusual for my phone to run out of battery and not get charged for 2 days. I'm not a first responder, doctor or somebody's parent (yet). Nobody needs to get in touch with me so urgently that it can't wait a bit.

But that's kinda why I love texts. People can just send me a message and I can check it at my leisure. Then respond when I feel like it. I feel like phone calls are much more urgent than texts, though I'll ignore both if I don't feel like talking.

[seventeen]

My boss and my scheduler communicate with me 99% by text.

I communicate with friends equally between Facebook message or text.

[kimibrighteyes]

I was a late adopter of texting, but now love it. I keep my phone on with ringer on all the time in case my nanny needs me for something urgent about the kids. If I am at work, I really really hate the phone ringing when I'm in a meeting or with a patient, even if I ignore it. With a text, I can quickly glance and decide the urgency of my response

[EloiseWeenie]

Aug 29, 2012 21:10:35 GMT -5 dev22 said:

Everyone I know texts. And thank god, cause I HATE talking on the phone with 99.9% of people. Dyl and my Mom are the only people I call.

ditto

My H used to be anti-text, but now that we use Straight Talk and get unlimited everything, he is very pro text

[ringstrue]

I used to not like having unlimited text just cuz I thought our bill was already too high. Then I got a baby and an iPhone and OMG it's so much easier to manage my life with messaging/ texting/ emailing from my phone. I'm not as anxious that I haven't checked the computer, I can coordinate plans with other moms without any of us needing a quiet spot to run to- it's great.

Oh and pro- boards app + Facebook messenger app = pure awesomeness!!!

[copzgirl1171]

My Mom texts. It was either that or lose a valuable tool in keeping up with the grandkids.

I prefer to text and most schools now text weather closings etc that way.

You still control the response and the timing so I really find it odd not to have a small plan for texting.

[basilosaurus]

I don't have text conversations (exception, if I'm bored on the bus, and talking is just plain rude), but I really appreciate the ability to send a quick nonurgent message without the need to talk. It's not that I hate talking on the phone, because I don't, but not everything requires a conversation. I started really embracing texting when I lived in Japan, and they were far cheaper than a phone call.

My parents are now on our plan, so they have unlimited texting. We'll see how they adapt. My dad seems to want to embrace it, my mom doesn't get it yet (it's only been a couple weeks).

I wouldn't be irritated at a friend, but I would find it needlessly arcane. I'd be slightly insulted if my friend insisted they HATE everything about text. That seems out of proportion to what it is.

[wawa]

aw, it seems you and my contrary husband are the cheeses that stand alone.

I hope you aren't offended by this, because I mean it in the most light-hearted and friendly way possible and I think it's hilarious, but I'm dying to tell him that I finally found somebody else who refuses to text and that she is occasionally mistaken for Amish in public.

Perhaps he should grow a beard....

[emilyj]

I call my mom. That's it. Everyone else I know texts, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

I'm not a phone person. I hate talking on the phone. So it's easier for me to text the one thing I need to tell someone (or have them text me the one thing they need to tell me) and then we all go on with our lives.

And just because someone texts me does not mean I text them right back. Text =/= immediate response in my world. Even for my husband.

[copzgirl1171]

I also encourage all my business dealings both personal and professional to be done by email if possible. I don't have to talk on the phone and instant paper trail to keep me on top of things.

[josieposy]

My dad is probably the only one who doesn't text much, but he will still do it on occasion. Honestly, getting him just to answer his phone in the first place is a struggle.

[aw]

Aug 29, 2012 21:48:30 GMT -5 wawa said:

aw, it seems you and my contrary husband are the cheeses that stand alone.

I hope you aren't offended by this, because I mean it in the most light-hearted and friendly way possible and I think it's hilarious, but I'm dying to tell him that I finally found somebody else who refuses to text and that she is occasionally mistaken for Amish in public.

Perhaps he should grow a beard....

For the record, I'm only sometimes mistaken for Amish. Most of the time people ask if I once was Amish but left and am now somewhere in the middle. No seriously, someone asked a friend of mine that about me last week. My friend told them that actually the opposite is true. lol

As for PP and the HATE comment. I think I dislike the idea of solely communicating with people in my real life on a screen. I like hearing their voices. I feel like once you have texting the expectation is that you communicate in these short messages. I would rather pick up the phone and talk. Plus, I think I'm just annoyed by the rude texters I have in my life that send messages ten times during a short conversation. I feel like the people I am actually face-to-face with deserve more respect than that.

And I know I could just use the technology respectfully, but I figure I've survived this long without it, so what's the benefit. I'm sure if I had it I would love it, but I'm just resistant to change, I guess.

Now get off my lawn. lol

[aw]

Aug 29, 2012 21:51:56 GMT -5 toledo said:

Neither I nor my husband text. And I never plan to. I resist! It drives my mom nuts, lol. She texts constantly.

I think I just saw a pig fly outside of my window. Could it be that we have something in common or was there hidden sarcasm here that I missed?

It's a cold night in Hell, I tell ya!

[wawa]

Recovering Amish! that's even funnier. Where do people come up with this stuff? I guess it's just because you live in Ohio? I can't imagine poeple jumping straight to amish based on your dress elsewhere else in the country. I'd think strict jewish before anything else, and I grew up in amish country in PA.

[pamela]

My Sister is the only one I know without it and the only reason they don't is cost and it's annoying. Having it doesn't mean that's the only way you communicate. I Definately keep in touch with some friends more because of it making it possible to communicate even when our schedules collide.

[Deleted]

Yes I do, and it is really annoying. Though I will forgive them if they will respond to email very quickly. People without text do not usually respond to email though.

I hate talking on the phone and really always have. It's just awkward--writing or speaking in person is much easier.

[aw]

Aug 29, 2012 21:58:26 GMT -5 wawa said:

Recovering Amish! that's even funnier. Where do people come up with this stuff? I guess it's just because you live in Ohio? I can't imagine poeple jumping straight to amish based on your dress elsewhere else in the country. I'd think strict jewish before anything else, and I grew up in amish country in PA.

We have very large Mennonite and Pentecostal populations, so I always assume people think I am part of one of those groups. We don't have an Orthodox Jewish population around here at all, so that's probably why people don't jump to that.

People are just stupid though. I mean, who asks someone if they are Amish while they are holding their car keys or cell phone?

[heightsyankee]

Aug 29, 2012 22:09:26 GMT -5 aw said:

People are just stupid though. I mean, who asks someone if they are Amish while they are holding their car keys or cell phone?

People who don't know what Amish really means.

[aw]

Aug 29, 2012 22:12:01 GMT -5 heightsyankee said:

Aug 29, 2012 22:09:26 GMT -5 aw said:

People are just stupid though. I mean, who asks someone if they are Amish while they are holding their car keys or cell phone?

People who don't know what Amish really means.

It was mean of me to say stupid. To be fair, I didn't know what a Sikh was until the recent shooting.

[aw]

Aug 29, 2012 22:15:09 GMT -5 gravytrain225 said:

I don't know anyone who doesn't text, but I wish more people didn't. The older I am getting the more I hate how our society is with cell phones. You can't have a conversation or enjoy someone's company without the other person being on their phone the whole time. I also hate that strangers do not talk at all because people always pull their phones out in awkward situations.

Or the interaction people miss out on with their kids because they are so tied to their phones. I am guilty of this at times too.

But the thing that bothers me most is the texting and driving stuff. My blood boils when I see people doing it on the road.

[NitaX]

Aug 29, 2012 21:56:45 GMT -5 aw said:

Aug 29, 2012 21:51:56 GMT -5 toledo said:

Neither I nor my husband text. And I never plan to. I resist! It drives my mom nuts, lol. She texts constantly.

I think I just saw a pig fly outside of my window. Could it be that we have something in common or was there hidden sarcasm here that I missed?

It's a cold night in Hell, I tell ya!

/DEAD