Communication or Lack-Thereof

To my friends and family it's no secret that I consider myself old-fashioned. I don't text, don't have an Android-type phone, I hardly ever email or use instant messaging. I'm pretty much a face-to-face type of communicator, and use the phone if absolutely necessary, mainly to just make plans with a friend, make appointments, or just to check in with a friend or family member to see how they're doing.

I have a dinosaur-type of flip-top phone which I love, and hope it lasts me the rest of my days on this earth. A friend of mine has one of the new phones and she experiences quite a few dropped calls. She will inadvertently call people when the phone is in her purse. When the "phone" happens to call me, I can hear the complete conversation she is having. This could be bad!

Social networks are fine too, if one can take the conversations and comments with a grain of salt. I tend to be hypersensitive and take things to heart. I'm 55 years old, and I'm not going to toughen up now! To me, emails/texts/instant messages are like a monotone record and can easily be misinterpreted. No emotion, no animation, and it's hard to express your feelings and say what you really want to say and say what you really mean in a typed message or post. Your words can be taken the wrong way...and once you type it that way, it's out there and it's hard to get out of it. It's that way in face-to-face conversations too, but you also have the luxury of seeing how the other person reacts and see their body

language. Also it's not always "what you say", but "how you say it". Something typed can come off sounding very harsh and rude, but in person you can change the inflections in your voice. My opinion is that you really need to know someone really well to be able to communicate in this manner. Unless you just talk about the weather and just make small talk! If you know someone really well, they'll ask you what the heck you're talking about if they take something you said wrong!! Which is the way I feel more comfortable with, but not all the typed conversations go that way! There can be some hurt feelings, and you don't even know that you were responsible.

Sometimes I wonder if I wasn't born in the wrong era...but I enjoy my computer, and when I type messages, I just try to keep things upbeat and positive...and hope that I'm not saying anything that can be taken the wrong way! I sure do want to keep my friends on Facebook!

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." ~~~Ephesians 4:29 NIV

"But now you must also rid yourself of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips."~~~Colossians 3:8 NIV