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OPINION: There is no such thing as a ‘bad texter’

Many+people+claim+to+be+bad+at+texting+when+they+dont+get+back+to+you+for+days+or+weeks.%26nbsp%3B%0ABlackBerry+Storm+Smartphone+%26nbsp%3Bby+liewcf%2FCreative+Commons+%28CC+BY-SA+2.0%29
Creative Commons

Many people claim to be bad at texting when they don’t get back to you for days or weeks. 

“BlackBerry Storm Smartphone”  by liewcf/Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Ever since cell phones were invented, communication between people has gotten a bit odd. Instead of calling people, most of us text each other. For whatever reason, there seems to be so many unwritten rules about texting that don’t make sense, or in this case there is an excuse people make about texting. One of those excuses is when people tell you they are a “bad texter.” 

I am sure you have heard this before from people. You send them a message and when they don’t get back to you for 12 hours, they tell you, “I’m so sorry for not getting back to you. I’m just a bad texter.”

This is the lamest, most ridiculous excuse I have ever heard for not getting back to someone. What does being a bad texter even mean? Nobody has ever defined it for me, so I am going to give it a shot. I think that it could mean a few things. It either means that person texting you is deliberately ignoring you, does not want to talk to you or you are not important enough to text back.

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Think about it. Now that we have smartphones, we know when a text message has gone through. As soon as the message says “delivered,” I know that the message popped up on your phone. You may think that I do not think that you are ignoring me, but I know that you are. I am smarter than you think. We even have the capability to react to a message where you hold it down and pick a reaction. You could send me a thumbs down and I would not be that mad (well, actually, I might be a little mad). 

Also, if you don’t want to talk to me, why not just tell me? If I text you and you were to just say, “Hey, I don’t want to talk to you,” I would find that acceptable. It is a lot better to know that sooner rather than later. I don’t appreciate when people play games or string me along. If you think that I am still bitter about something, you are correct. I guess it is just because I am an honest person and I do not hide anything. If I like you, I will tell you. If I don’t like you, I will tell you. I just do not enjoy playing games with people and their emotions. I also don’t want to be a terrible person. 

It has gotten to the point where I let it affect me too much. My mom sometimes will not text me back and I think, “I guess this is what rock bottom feels like.” Let’s be real, if your own mom will not text you back frequently then you must not be a person people want to text. 

Still waiting, mom, to see if you want to hang out or not. It is going to be awkward when I come home and ask why you didn’t respond to me. 

Either way, you can still text me back. It is not that hard. 


Follow Sean Fagan on Twitter


Sean (he/him) is a business administration major from California. He enjoys playing video games and watching Disney+ in his free time. 

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