What Happened to Good Old Fashion Talking?

This last weekend I attended my very first country music concert in a very, very small town in south eastern Alberta. The Rowdy Boys tour featuring Gord Bamford and Aaron Pritchett was a lot more fun than I was expecting...and this little "city" girl wound up wearing a tank top that read "Drinking Buddy" along with a borrowed plaid shirt (thanks Dayna lol).

One thing that I really took notice of, is that the majority of the young people in the crowd, and especially with myself as well - everyone was on their phones, and yet no one was actually talking with the person they were communicating with. WTF?

When did texting replace real communication? What happened to listening to how another person enunciates words? What happened to taking small joy in physically hearing that someone is excited, by how the voice inflects?

I fully understand that there are good reasons to text someone instead of talking to them. Loud environments (like the concert last night), if your in a meeting, in a movie, in church.

One of the girls explained to me that sometimes it is more easy, or comfortable to text someone, rather than talk to them. The person on the receiving end can take their time to respond, or not respond if they feel like it. Less chance of saying something that you might regret later on. This is one way you could look at it, and honestly it has become socially acceptable to abide by.

Another way to look at it, is that we have become a society of namby-pamby's. Fearful of actual human contact which could lead to rejection, dependent on the situation. I am totally guilty of being fearful myself...I have no idea how to tell someone that I have been "talking" with for a short while, that I would like to bring our chats into the real world and have coffee...you have to remember, I have been out of the game for a while. lol.

One thing I know for certain, is that only 7% of the intended message is received via the written word these days. We NEED that voice inflection, eye contact and body language to fully communicate with one and other.

So if I call, will you answer or text me back later?