Texting...

One thing my daughter does that drives me absolutely insane is texting constantly. Before texting was invented and she and I would attempt to spend time together, she was constantly on her cell phone with her friends. I tried to explain to her that it was rude to be on the phone with other people while trying to have dinner with her mother. She disagreed. One particular mother's day, she invited me to come sit by the pool with her at her apartment complex and spend the day together. I had reservations about it because she is so obsessed with her phone, but I bit the bullet and went. It didn't take me long to figure out that not only did she NOT want to be there, she was on the phone making plans for when I finally got fed up with the conversations that did not include me, and I left. I grabbed my towel, my cooler (which contained ALL the adult beverages she wanted to drink too) and my hot fries and headed to my vehicle. As soon as she realized what I was doing, she told her friend to HOLD ON, and she asked me where I was going. She didn't even hang up the phone!!! I informed her I was going home, and did not say another word to her, even when she followed me to my vehicle, with her phone in her hand, and her friend holding on for so they could finish "making their plans." That incident briefly got her attention and for a while, I could actually be in her presence without her being on the phone.

Fast forward 10 years, and now she is even worse because of texting. It is worse than an obsession. Not only with her, but her friends too. And, they are ALL clueless as to just how rude it is to be in a conversation with someone THAT IS NOT IN THE ROOM, while a guest/friend/relative is physically present in the room. Daughter and I had a "discussion" about it recently, wherein she vehemently defended her actions, and even told me it was RUDE TO INGORE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE TEXTING HER!!!!! I have a high tolerance of many things, but this is not one of them. She will text, laugh about the response, and all the while ignoring me and anything I am saying. Last night I went to dinner with my mother-in-law and as usual, my phone was in my purse. Daughter tried to text me four times over an hour's time, and I didn't respond and she thought something had happened to me. Since I don't usually have text conversations while in the presence of others, her concerns were without merit. On the other hand, if I had tried to text her several times in an hour and received no response, I would call the police because someone either knocked her in the head and ran away with her phone, or physical injury had befallen her and rendered her unable to use her thumbs.