Monday, March 9, 2009

Talk Much?

Now this could go so many ways with a title like that, but I'm going to take the most literal definition here: verbal communication. I will be the first to admit that I'm a huge fan of text messaging, and hell.. even Facebook messaging now, but that does not mean that I have thrown all of my verbal communication etiquette out the window because all of these new technologies have made their way into my life. And this brings me to my latest frustration: people's general lack of communication in every aspect of their every day lives.

Over time I have realized that while I have tons of little pet peeves and things that just irritate me to no end, I have discovered where my greatest frustration lies: rudeness. I myself have a very difficult time being rude to people..period. And beyond that, nowadays, you have an opportunity to be rude to someone through a number of portals: cell phones, in person (which rarely happens because people are so afraid of other people), Facebook, email, voicemail. I mean seriously, if you think about it- how often are you avoiding a conflict by sending a text message? It's sickening!!! I even think that nowadays you can go directly to someone's voicemail because you don't want to talk to him/her for some reason (*which...PS- if anyone knows how to do this, please let me know.. thanks.). But when you take a situation like that- why are you calling someone if you hope they aren't going to answer? It's very strange indeed..and when it comes down to it- rude.

In our lives, we will obviously go through very good and extremely bad situations with people. In the end, though, there is no reason for all of these miscommunications because that is probably where the problems stemmed from in the first place. He sent me a text and then I called him back and left a voicemail, so he wrote on my Facebook wall. I mean it makes me nuts!!!! When was the last time someone simply asked you to go out and grab a coffee? I don't know if I have done that since college and I didn't even drink coffee in college. But people just don't seem to have time for other people which is why I think we are all taking such advantage of these advanced technologies like text messaging, Twitter, Facebook and whatever else is going on out there in cyberspace that I don't know about yet.

While I am guilty of several of the above-mentioned shannanigans, I can certainly say that I do my best to keep in touch with as many people as I possibly can- whether that be the occasional lunch or dinner, emails, texts, whatever. I also firmly believe that most communication problems would magically come to an end if people would shy away from their cell phone every now and again and actually drive to their friends house and surprise them. Wouldn't that be crazy?

I seemed to get lost in translation up there, so let me bring this back to my extreme disgust for all things rude. Some tips or just general guidelines that will lead to more successful relationships -- whatever kind you choose that to be:
1- If you are the type of person who chooses text messaging over other forms of communication then you should respond quickly. What is this days going by type of response rate? Think about that- if it took you days to get to a simple task at work, you would be fired. So pick up the pace.
2- Emails seem to be the easiest way to keep in touch with the people in your life who you don't see all that often- so save the attitude for in person. At the same time, that's pretty talented to give someone an attitude in an email; however, this is just wrong, unnecessary and RUDE. Now I'm keeping with the theme again.
3- When you are meeting someone for the first time, try not to be a bitch. I mean aside from that making absolutely no sense, how does that even happen? How are you rude to people you don't know? Very strange. Fix it. This is real life now, not The Hills.

There are so many more things to mention, but I will leave those up to you to provide me with. What are your thoughts on this? And if you're going to tell me that I'm living in la la land because I expect people to show some common courtesy...you can just go to hell. Just kidding...keep reading the blog!

Much love,
Erin

3 comments:

  1. I agree...with all of it. Rude people suck.

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  2. I agree... You can't gather much emotion from a text message. So many times, meaning and sincerity go unnoticed in these marvels of technology.

    I just hope you can read through my heartfelt banter...

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  3. Agreed! In general people are so consumed in the new advances in technology that they have to get that new phone that can text, email, listen to music and provide whatever entertainment they want. Its crazy. No wonder this country is in an economic crisis lack of communication.

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