the deviant?

In this day of FB, texting, chatting, tweeting, instant messaging, inbox-ing and so on, it seems we are losing touch with conveying our emotions.  One must be VERY cognizant to “type” things the right way or it results in the whole thought behind the message becoming COMPLETELY misconstrued. 

Point 1.

We use ALL CAPS WHEN WE ARE HAPPY OR ANGRY!!!!!! LOL

 (multiple exclamations if we are really wanting to get loud about it and  the ever popular “lol” on the tail-end of it if it is a happy exclamation). 

Point 2.

we use all lower if we are not happy campers, perturbed or playing passive/ aggressive…with obvious periods. oh yes. just because of our lower- case typing delivery.  

Point 3.

Then, of course the emoticon… the “happy face”, the “frownie face”, the “heart” (aren’t those cute?).

I know what you are thinking. “Honestly, how about a phone call or a face- to- face conversation?”

Right? RIGHT??!!

All my friends and family know that I MUST be connected at all times and accessible to all at all times.  I start getting nervous when I do not have my phone with me….and checking it every 5 minutes to make sure I’m not missing out on the fact that “Jane Doe got her tattoo” or “John Doe kicks A$$” or it’s my turn to get a double triple word play on WWF (no it has not happened yet, but it SO WILL!).

I am just as guilty as ANYONE keeping my nose in my phone.

Oh, and the rules-

No texting/ phone calls at the kitchen table (implemented after my brother –in-law RAILED on me for picking up my phone to check a text while he was sharing a story with the whole family. whoops.)

No texting/ phone calls during church…unless you are texting the choir director’s son telling him how AWESOME he did on his singing once he gets back up in the choir loft…and he answers “It was ok”.

No texting/ phone calls during homework.  Period.  Unless you are answering me when I text “are you doing okay?” and you answer “yeah, why” and I answer “just checking”.

No texting/ phone calls during school- unless you accidentally “butt dial” your daddy during class and your daddy, in turn, “butt-dials” you back while you are giving a dramatic presentation in speech class.

…and one wonders why we are feeling a little too high strung? A little overwhelmed and caffeinated?

A little TOO CONNECTED??

Don’t get me wrong.  I understand that people can truly become ridiculously addicted to their phones.-like me.   I know there is a time and a place.  I know that rudeness rears its ugly head at the most untimely ring or alert. We all have received the "fiercely disapproving stare” if we “must take this call”.  Even worse, we slip up, we delete, we drop, we (dear lord) typo and “autocorrect” into the worst turn of translation EVER!

But really, in the grand scheme of things, isn’t it just another opinion gone awry in the personality, grace and etiquette of the cell phone?   Let’s embrace the cell phone, let’s not fight it and turn it into the deviant.  It has done us a favor in morphing from the “bag phone” to the “brick phone” to the “hand held’, to the “flip phone” to the “smart phone”…all to make our multi-tasking society just a little easier.  The internet, e-mail, voice mail, outlook, notes, apps, files… they all came together to be warmly grasped in the sweaty little hand of productivity. Awesome.

Just be smart, safe, and keep it in perspective.

Just like the phone itself, we must turn it off to recharge and gain the juice of perspective.

Think about it. J