Any talent or ability that we have needs to be exercised regularly or we risk losing the capacity to perform it. If you sing~and I'm talking more than just in the shower~you must use your voice to maintain your range and volume. Stop exercising and first the triathalon goes out the window, followed by the "skinny" pants. When was the last time you went rollerskating? (Oops. Sorry. I'm dating myself. It's rollerblading now.) If it's been more than a couple of years, then your knees are probably as afraid as mine are.
I fear that the younger people on this planet are losing their ability to speak. You might think I'm crazy since alot of them seem to go around with a cel phone permanently attached to their heads, but I submit that in a matter of only a couple of generations, human beings will no longer communicate vocally.
They'll text everything.
I know it's the most current fad, but I am tired of it already. I'm tired of young people who can't even look you in the eye because they are so distracted by the need to text their friends some ridiculously trite drivel--when their friends are only 6 feet away. I'm tired of parents who let their kids avoid real social interaction with people of different age groups in order to live in the pseudo reality that texting creates. I'll quit ranting now because I think you get the picture.
If text messaging was used in an appropriate way, it could be a good thing. But it hasn't. It has crept into daily speech, email and other online communication, and even English essays. I thought for a very short while that I should try to find an online dictionary of some of the more common texting abbreviations. I changed my mind though. If someone wants to communicate with me badly enough, they will have to use real words.
For some of them, that might mean having to learn to speak.
Does posting a comment count as texting? If so, please disregard. :-) I'm with you, sister, on that post. You said it well. Here's to verbal fluency in the next generation!
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