To text or not to text?

        The world today is so much different then it use to be. Everyone is always busy and on the go. To keep up with this shift in the times cells phones and social networking have taken on a large role in how we communicate with the rest of the world. We now have caller id, text messaging and IMs. With all these devices to communicate you are able to contact or be contacted at any time, any place, Well that is if you want to. Has the change in times and overload of technology actually made it easier for us to be lazy and rude to the people in our lives?

          I’m bringing this point up today because of a major pet peeve of my own. Knowing that it is easier now then ever to contact the people in my life I tend to get annoyed when I get no response back. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that when I hit send I expect people to drop whatever it is that they are doing to talk to me, but I do expect some sort of response when they are free just out of common courtesy.

          When I fall victim to the avoidant phone bandit my automatic response is to give up. Why should I continue to try and communicate with someone who does not want to talk to me? Seems like a pointless battle. Yes first time offenders are cut some slack but the constant dodgers just make me feel as though they are wasting my time. On the flip side of my response to the rude phone habits of others are those who become obsessed with getting a response. You know the ones who will send out twenty texts in an hour asking why you’re not responding. This is also not cool. Honestly this makes you look like a psycho stalker and I can no longer blame the person not responding for ignoring you…just saying!

          After much consideration on this issue I came up with some common phone courtesy guidelines. A do’s and don’ts if you will.

It is okay to not respond to a text or call under the following circumstances:

               1.     During an emergency

               2.    It’s after midnight and or you are sleeping

               3.    The person trying to contact you has been asked not to contact you ever again.

               4.    The person who is trying to contact you is pulling the obsessive behavior talked about earlier (ex twenty what’s wrong text in an hour)

               5.    The person trying to contact you is trying to start some form of drama

          I also think it’s only fair to also set the following rules if you are the victim of the phone dodging bandit.

1.     Do not obsess over the lack of response and under NO circumstances continuously keep dialing or texting….you look like a crazy person and no one wants to talk to crazy.

2.    Do not get really mad or sad. It’s not worth it.

3.    Allow the dodger a chance to explain if it comes up why they are dodging…they might have a good reason. (This does not mean you hunt them down and corner them for an explanation…that goes back to crazy.)

     In closing, if you are a dodging phone bandit…stop being lazy and upsetting the people in your life. You should be happy that people want to talk to you and you should give them the opportunity to do so. Not responding just because you are lazy is rude. If you get dodged yes you have the right to be annoyed but don’t be crazy it will do you no good. Brush it off and move on and talking to someone who values conversation with you.