Text me back...

…something freaky,

Let me know just how you wanna do me,

I’m at home, sipping on Patron,

I’m all alone, so baby text it to my phone.”

I personally think “R” (pronounced “Ah-rah”) is a musical maestro; my modern day MJ! 

Few people agree with the latter part of that statement and a couple of years ago one friend in particular suggested “You’ve got to be seriously stupid to say such a thing!”  I was a little offended by the remark because I would have expected that friend to know me a little better than to think I would make a statement of that magnitude without any serious thought behind it.

I’m not suggesting “R” and MJ are on par musically; I do think, however, “R” over the past couple of decades was/is as iconic within the genre of R&B as MJ was to Pop pre-1990.  There is no other solo male R&B artist who over the past 2 decades can touch “R’s” repertoire!

Then…the fool decided to release the ‘Untitled’ album and piss all over my promotion of him…not sure why I was surprised since it wasn’t the first time he’s pissed on someone but hey…

On that album is the track ‘Text Me’ and the opening lines, and chorus, of the song as written above are, as my friend said about me, “…seriously stupid”!  Who the heck sits home alone, sipping on Patron, asking a female to text him something freaky?  At least get said freak to your home, have her pour the Patron, so you two can do a lot more than ‘texting’ playa!  I’m just saying…

More importantly, why in the world is he ‘texting’ (I abhor the use of that term)?  What happened to good ol’ fashion phone sex?!?  I don’t know nuffin’ ‘bout dat right thurr but I heard from my cousin’s best friend’s baby daddy’s sister…

Pick up the phone and just call!  I don’t know why folks are so caught up with sending text messages (yes that is the proper written form when discussing the act of ‘texting’).  What happened to social interaction; you know socializing, seeing someone, hearing their voice and actually communicating?!?

Damned if I know, but…

I found myself at a wedding yesterday sitting next to an unofficial-ex^‡ who was to my immediate left, and was called out by her father, who was seated to my immediate right, who said in his Ghanaian accented English, “Ey, is that an addiction?” as he watched me pull out my Blackberry multiple times to send and respond to text messages, IM’s, and BBM’s.  One of the obvious reasons I kept pulling out my Blackberry was because it was, shall we say, awkward and I wanted to appear busy so I wasn’t just sitting in silence at the table.  In full disclosure, I knew I was going to be sitting at the same table with the ex and her family, although I attempted to orchestrate a change in the seating arrangement, and was initially okay with that (the ex and I have remained cordial over the years and the bride was a mutual friend).  The awkwardness, however, was heightened by the fact the ex and I got into an argument a week or so prior to the wedding.  I was therefore visibly annoyed with her which meant faking the funk with her family wasn’t quite that easy.

The fundamental issue her and I struggle with has been, and continues to be, communication.  Within the argument, she said something along the lines of, “I swear you’re going to get engaged through text message” which I thought was a silly statement. 

To her point, I do recognize I text/BBM/instant message a lot.  Nevertheless, I firmly believe she’s stretching the truth, diverting attention from the real dilemma, and attempting to use a scapegoat especially considering 7+ years ago, in one cell phone billing cycle, I spent more than 7,000+ minutes on the phone with her.  Yes, we used to talk for hours on end about absolutely nothing, fall asleep on the phone, and wake up hours later to continue talking. 

“Back in the day when I was young I’m not a kid anymore but some days I still wish I was a kid again…”  Those were the days I tell you; young love.  **Not to mention, they don’t make cell phone batteries like they used to. **

That was way too much talking and I think I was all talked out after that…which probably explains why the following month I surpassed 10,000+ text messages in one billing cycle. 

I used to text message so much I would sit at work, or in class, with my Motorola Razr under my desk, without looking at the screen or using T-9 (I used to think T-9 was foolishness until a friend actually explained how to use the feature and my world changed), compose a full message within seconds, and send it without worry of any grammatical errors.  I was a G!

But in all seriousness, the fundamental switch that has taken place in the form, and medium, of communication over the past few years I find amazing, and at times troubling.  I find myself often times automatically choosing to text message, BBM, or initiate a Google Chat with someone far more frequently than picking up the phone and calling them to have an actual conversation.  When you throw Facebook or Twitter in the mix, the dynamic is drastically different than it was a decade ago.

It hit me shortly after the wedding and in thinking of the following recent situation…

I attended an event last Wednesday and a young lady I didn’t speak directly to followed me on Twitter on Thursday.  We’ve since exchanged countless DM’s via Twitter in dialogue about where we’re from, what we each do for a living, what we’ve been doing the past couple of days, and sharing a few “LOL’s”, but I have yet to hear her voice on the phone…heck, I didn’t even bother asking for her number.  Who does that in 2011?!?

Things in the game done changed. 

Lucky for me, “R” restored himself and released an album where the opening lyrics of the first song are:

“Did you get my call?

Did you read my love letter?”

Now that’s good music right there! 

I, or rather we, need to take it back, take it waaaay back to when we used to call one another or, dare I say, write actual letters (that we mailed using a post office) to one another.

Therefore, this is the challenge I extend to those reading this post (and obviously myself): Don’t “Text me back”, I would much rather you called and we communicated.

Cheers!

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^‡We never officially dated or were never an exclusive couple although we entertained each other’s emotions.