Saved by a Text Message......

I know a lot of people say that text messaging has become so ubiquitous that it has become another area for possible social misbehavior. People don't know when NOT to text, and we have reached the point where we feel we MUST be available to EVERYONE at ALL TIMES.

We tell our students they can't text in school, then almost all of us frequently send text messages during the day. My only defense is that SOMETIMES those messages are going to students who can't be in school (they're sick, their babies are sick, they're on school-sponsored field trips). My other defense, and the one I use most often, isn't a defense at all. It's a cop-out. I say to them, "With rank comes privilege. When you have a college degree, you can text at school too."

All that being said, I have to say there is another side to this issue. Text messaging may just be able to save a marriage or two.

Here is a text message chain between Hubby and me today, right after I knocked over a 5-gallon container of used motor oil in our basement. It wouldn't have been so bad if I had NOTICED I knocked it over. I came back a few minutes later and thought, "WTH, what's this black lake in the basement?" Hubby was at the golf course.

Me: Uhhhhh..... I just made a huge mess in the basement. I will have moved out when you get home.

Hubby: Does it call for mopping or body repair? [This was a result of his fear that I had done something to his precious 1969 Ford truck that lives in our basement.]

Me: If you can mop oil.......

Hubby: Put cat litter on it.

Me: Okay. It's under your motorcycle and I don't dare move it.

Hubby: Sprinkle litter. I'll sweep when I get home. May need more litter. Not too thick.

Me: I'll have to get more when I get Gus. [He was being groomed.] Did I mention huge? Maybe not Lake Superior but definitely Erie.

Hubby: B ok.

Me: Sorry I'm so clumsy.

Can you imagine how that exchange might have gone if Hubby had actually been here when I kicked over the oil? Or if the little "surprise" had greeted him when he put his golf clubs in the basement when he got home? I assure you, it wouldn't have been pretty. Even if he HADN'T cursed and yelled, he would have given me that look, at which point I would have cursed and yelled, and it might have turned into an argument. And we don't argue much. Except over little things like whether or not we should knock a wall out of our house and do thousands of dollars of renovations just so our house can accommodate a USED bedroom suit that Hubby wants.

I'm still waiting for his last text, which I'm POSITIVE should have said:

That's okay. I shouldn't have left the oil sitting there in the first place.

OR

Not your fault. I should have taken that oil to the recycling place a long time ago.

OR

No problem. I should have taken you up on one of the bazillion times you've suggested we work together to clean out the basement.

I'll let you know when THAT message comes in.