Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The Not-So-Fine Art of Texting

I hadn't texted in a while, but when my granddaughter sent me a message a few months ago I figured I knew how to reply. It's like riding a bicycle, right?

Not exactly. Imagine learning how to ride a bicycle and then trying to apply those skills to a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy. What I didn't know was that my new cell phone had T9 text messaging. For those who don't know (and I still barely know it myself), T9 anticipates what you want to say and says it without requiring a lot of keying on your part. People under 18 love it. People between 18 and 25 probably love it, too. Some people between the ages of 25 and 45 probably think it's pretty cool at least some of the time. And then there are the rest of us.

Anyway, my granddaughter texted me to ask when I was going to pick her up. I don't remember the exact wording of my intended answer, but I do remember that it came out Demo nonononono. I thought I'd screwed it up, so I erased it and tried again. This time was worse: nnnon dfkawe lelamslelfn nonon. I know when to quit, so I hit send.

A minute later came my granddaughter's reply: You really need to work on this, Grammy.

I pretty much forgot about texting until today, when I received another message from my granddaughter: Is it hot out today? Let's see if you've improved any.

Still completely clueless about T9 (and any number of other things), I sat in my car in the Staples parking lot with the intention of slowly and carefully composing a reply. What I ended up with was Bacon cab cannon? It even put the question mark in for me. I sent it, and then I rolled up the window and laughed myself silly.

My 17-year-old texter par excellance wasted no time replying: Awesome! Just as I thought. Hahahahahah I love you.

4 comments:

Indigo Bunting said...

I hope she reads your blog. I know a 19-year-old who can't believe her mother and my total lack of Facebook skills. For the record, I don't even have a cell phone yet.

Susan said...

Facebook--oy! Maureen got me to join, and six months later I managed to add a few friends to my list. But that used up all my Facebook skills.

I hardly ever use my cell phone, but it sure was nice to have when my tire blew out recently.

Jenny Hill said...

I'm waiting for my mom to get an iPhone so we can start texting! I love T9 mishaps. It's a fine poetry.

Anonymous said...

I love to read your blogs. You are an awesome writer, but this one had me rolling with laughter. I can SO relate!!!