I was cleaning out my closet today, and of course I found a dusty box of old letters from an ex. That’s right. I’ll say I’m old enough to have a boyfriend who sent me real, hand-written letters (post high school). This was before texting “what r u wearing?” was how a guy showed he loved you. And it got me thinking…has technology screwed up romance?
Ok, I’m not high maintenance. I really don’t care about where we go to dinner or what kind of car you drive. But it used to take some effort to get in touch with a girl to ask her out. You had to pick up a phone and talk into it. Texting is so easy, and when you hear back, you don’t even have to respond. Texts just get sent and received, with no heaviness, no thought. I mean, nobody uses real words in a text (i.e. “LOL” or “u going 2 call?”) That takes too much time.
I confess I text. A lot. And years from now people won’t have old boxes of letters they hang onto—they’ll be able to pull up old texts or emails and wonder why they used so many words. But I’m glad I found the box. There are some things that I want to keep as a reminder that romance exists. And that it’s worth my time to put some effort into a relationship, with real words and sentences.
About Kelly Seal
Kelly is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, CA. She blogs about dating, relationships, personal growth and what "healthy living" means to her. You can follow her on Google+, Twitter @kellyseal or through her website www.kellyseal.com.
I did the same clear out a few weeks ago and sound the same letters. Piles of them from by first teenage love. Brought a lot of memories back. Totally agree with you about technology having an impact. Shame. And nice post.