Textual Relations

So I have my eye on someone. I’m not gonna get into a tonne of detail on here in case he reads it because my entire life need not be fodder for this blog, but this dude's entire existence has raised an interesting question that I must explore with you all.

Here’s how this has gone down: met the dude and chatted ever so briefly with him. He gave me his number and I texted him a few days later. Since then we have had a few highly entertaining text conversations but haven't spoken yet.

This is cool with me, but at Thanksgiving dinner with my girls the other night, quite a few of them were up in arms about it all. "Why don't you just CALL him??", "You guys need to TALK on the phone!", "You're gonna get to a place where all you do is text!!".

My response to all this earnestness was a big ole blank stare. Because I really didn't get what all the fuss was about and I didn't really see any necessity at this point for us to actually speak.

See the thing is, I hate the phone. I really do. Long telephone conversations are like jail to me. And while I make occasional exceptions for my mum, sister, and a few close friends, in general I don't answer the phone because I hate it. 99% of all max-initiated communication are via text or bbm. That’s my happy place. So for me to break down and actually speak to someone on the phone means something. At this point, a semi-random dude I’ve had a couple of text conversations with just doesn’t rank.

I know what you’re going to say now – how are we gonna get to know each other if we don’t actually talk? And you’re right. A friend of mine asked me how old dude is and what he does for a living (that’s a girl’s favourite question isn’t it? I don’t get that either but that’s another post for another day) and I didn’t know the answers because the conversations haven’t gone that way. So yeah, I think it’s probably true that I would know more about this dude at this point if we had actually spoken, but this way is fun for now. What’s the big rush?

I’m a sucker for the written word, in all its forms. A mildly steamy text can get me revved up the way a wallet full of $50 bills turns other women on. In the past, I’ve spoken to men and been ambivalent until they started texting me. Words win me over every time. And of course, for a commitment-phobe such as myself, it’s a nice low-investment way to have someone in my life without actually having him in my life.

But for normal people who don’t shun phone conversations, it’s an interesting question. A few months back I was asking a friend of mine if she had yet had a phone conversation with a man she’d been “talking to” for a couple of weeks and she said no. I asked her if that was normal and she had no idea. So I ask you, dear readers, what role does the telephone play in modern courtship?

For me it goes like this: first you text, then you go on a date (you may have a phone conversation or two to plan said date but texting is still the primary mode of conversation). Then you talk on the phone and date for a while, then he graduates to BBM. Or gets kicked off the island for not having a Blackberry. But as we all know, max-logic is not actual logic so you guys tell me how it should go.