As more and more people (children and adults) use text messaging as a means of communication via their cell phones, will we find that correct spelling becomes obsolete?
Many young people use numbers and letters (4 instead of for, u for you) to speed up the process so they often don’t remember the correct spelling.
Adults also have developed this trend, and I find myself (as a teacher, author and English minor) doing the same.  However, most adults have learned to correctly spell.  Many youngsters have not, so they begin to substitute the text spelling into their work at school.
Do you feel it’s …read more

A friend described how his granddaughter was injured…in an auto accident because the faulty driver was texting on her cell phone. 
 His granddaughter and her brother, who was driving, had stopped in a line of traffic at a red light.
They were rear ended and the granddaughter was thrown against the windshield.  (She was faulted for not wearing her seat belt.)  The hit from behind was forceful enough that it threw the grandchildren’s car into the one stopped ahead of them.  People from all three cars were taken to the hospital.  Fortunately none were injured enough to require  more than outpatient care.
Do you …read more

When your youngster goes off to college for the first time, they like to keep in touch with the family at home.  Also, mom, dad and siblings like to know all is going well with them.
Nowadays, there are so many ways to communicate and to let them know the ties with home aren’t broken:

Phone and cell phone
Text messaging
E-mail
Facebook or similar
Skype of similar
Postal mail
“Care” packages

I think our granddaughter has received all of these types of communications from her parents, brother, grandparents, friends and aunt.  We know her ups and downs and she knows we’re all here and care.
Nowadays the means of …read more

Even if you’re not in a long distance relationship, the relationship that you and your significant other have with the phone is very important.  With text messaging and cell phones making it easy to be in contact every second of the day, oftentimes couples find themselves frequently fighting about issues surrounding phonecalls and messages.
If you are in a trusting relationship, then there is no need for excessive use of the phone to keep in contact.  Unanswered phonecalls and delayed responses to text messages can cause unnecessary stress, doubt, and worry.  It’s possible that your significant other actually loves talking to …read more

 When a friend received a hand written letter from me, she quickly responded by e-mail…“Mary, I didn’t know people sent letters by postal mail anymore!” She was so pleased to receive something in the mail besides bills and junk mail, she said.
 I still try to send postcards with hand written notes as bits of inspiration. As the cost of postage gets higher, my communications more frequently result in postcards, but I still like to send and receive these. I recall the pleasure, too, when I found letters and cards my grandmother had saved, some dating back nearly 150 years ago.
These …read more

How many times have you used or heard the phrase at work — “it was just a mix-up in communications”?
When we’re young and starting out in our careers, we want to be heard. We want everyone to know how we think, what our plans are and what our contributions are to the firm. We’re probably overly communicative.
Then when we hit supervisory or managerial status, (yay us, right?) something happens to our communication skills…they become lax. As our responsibilities, the expectations of others and just everyday stress increase, we somehow forget that there are others who depend on our voice in …read more

Someone help me to understand something. HOW, in this age of communication overload — i.e., phones from which you can download music, movies..send (the obnoxious) text messages, oh–and make phone calls…it is possible for people to ignore you when you send them an e-mail??
This week, almost every person from whom I’ve needed information, answers, creative materials, bills, schedules or just a simple “hiya”, has not returned my e-mails. I swear I can hear the crickets chirping, it is so quiet out there.
It tells me that those who do not return my communiques, believe their time is more important than mine. …read more