85 Texts/Day

Did you know that the average person 

sends 

85 texts each day 

That is 2,584/month or 31,025/ year 

According to the radio announcers, couples are falling in love faster than a generation ago. Apparently, it takes 163 texts to fall in love. I hope with all my heart that we, the taxpayers, are not paying someone to track this type of information. So, what I understand is that text messages are now the measure for falling in love? There is no doubt there are so many more ways of communicating than a generation ago, which they attribute to falling in love faster. 

Group texting has its place and is an interesting concept. We have all been in the company of someone who is on a group chat. The phone is sending out notifications at a fast pace, the pinging is relentless. I would say probably using up the 85 texts/day in a short amount of time. I have used a group text to organize an event, but that is it. I think group texting is now replacing meetings or sharing of ideas within an organization. It is defiantly used by some families to share news. One thing about it is, it gets immediate attention. Like the quote says, you become a hostage.

Management of my phone is not a strength of mine. This happened a few years back when I was still in business. I was waiting at the Dentist office, using the waiting time efficiently by "cleaning off" my phone. I was in the middle of deleting text messages, when they called my name. I am not sure what happened in the following split second, but the next thing I knew I apparently had pushed "delete all". Every single text was gone, all 7,000 of them. There are a couple of things here, my phone was my back up appointment book at that time, so that was gone. No double checking to make sure I had the right date or time. Secondly, how on earth did I manage to get 7,000 text messages and not be aware of it. Clearly, I had never deleted a text message. Imagine my surprise, when my phone said, "you have deleted 7,000 messages". 

I currently have 3 spots to store my photos on my phone. I don't want or need 3 places, I only want and need one. I am astounded by the people that have kept every single picture on their phone. I can't imagine how many photos they must have and what if they were to lose them. Mind you with three different spots perhaps that is not a concern. I will consider doing something about my picture situation at my next Dentist's appointment. I seem to be quite efficient there and I can get deletion work done quickly.  

Texting for me provides a quick response. Not only from myself but from the person I send to. If a quick response doesn't happen or no response at all, I assume they didn't get it. That is the case sometimes when I check, and I haven't pushed the send button. Sometimes paranoia sets in and your mind does crazy things. They usually text back in a few seconds, so there has to be something going on. Of course, there is something, perhaps they are busy with life. We seem to do a lot of explaining when we are texting. "Sorry it took me so long" or "I was busy when I read your text and forgot to reply". How about, "sorry this text is so long", or "your text got lost in amongst the other texts". 

I am a poor phone owner. At least once a day, if not more, I play seek and find for my phone. How it manages to get itself in the oddest places is beyond me. I have no routine for keeping my phone powered up. Some people plug their phone in every night. I was told when I got my phone, "don't leave it plugged in all night". I didn't listen to why; I just remembered not to do it. I have no process; I simply plug my phone in when it is low on power. It is truly amazing how long it will go without being plugged in. I have to admit, I do use my computer when others may use their phone, so it is not drained as quickly. 

We all remember the so-called "good ole days" when there was only a landline. Then the cell phones came out that were massive and were carried in a bag. The cell service was pitiful and often you could hardly hear the person calling from the massive cell phone. I think that is where it all started, people started to speak loudly or yell into their cell phone. We have all been in the presence of someone using a cell phone and you can hear every word they are saying. You wouldn't if they were talking to someone beside them, but they have upped the volume to speak into the phone. Next, along came the flip phones. To send a text, you had to use the keypad, which was a painful process. Then came today's phones and the rest is history. I own a Samsung because I like the way it takes pictures. I feel that is important when deciding on a phone. Today's children have grown up with a phone. Every child has heard the words, "do you want to play on my phone?". They light up like a Christmas tree when the phone is offered as a way to entertain them. Let's face it, we are all entertained by our phones. 

                                       

It is very rare that a person says, "I don't have a cell phone".  People do seem to manage nicely without carrying a phone with them. When I was in business, my phone use was far more than it is now. I use my phone to catch up on what is happening in the world. I check my Facebook, which often doesn't take long. I think I am a boring Facebook person. I google lots, I can do my banking and check the weather. My main source of phone activity is texting. I am not an app person and would get rid of most of them if I could figure out how to do that. I find I am disinterested in learning more about my phone. It is part of me that is for sure, but I am really content with what I have. I do try to take time outs from my phone. When I am eating out, my phone use is a time of little to no use. During the night, I try to remember to put my phone in another room. But I have been caught not checking my phone in the event of an emergency and believe me that changes how you think about checking your phone.  

My Weekly Report

The world of cell phones and constant contact with others is here, and here to stay. If that is what the world wants, then let's just carry on with what we are doing. I do like to give people my full attention when I am with them, and I like to have that returned to me. There are times when it doesn't happen, but I have decided not to let that bother me. Phone use falls into the category like everything else in life, use it with respect.