Video killed the radio star…

But a cell phone could save your marriage. My wife and I do not have a land line home phone. We both have cell phones and talking to each other is “free” with our plan. In addition to normal phone calls we frequently send each other text messages, something on the order of four or five hundred short messages per month between the two of us.

We have found that this comes in very handy when you need to ask a quick question or want to send a warm fuzzy to your honey. If I have several phone calls going at work at one time (which happens often) the lovely Mrs. can still pose a question with me and I can respond when I have a moment free without having to put everything on hold for a quick call. We have gotten so proficient with this that we can have complete conversations using short messages.

The only glaring disadvantages are that you can only send messages that are under one hundred and sixty characters long, and it’s a little cumbersome to type on the little phone keypad, even with the (t9) software on our phones.

Both of these become a benefit to the peace if you are having a heated text message discussion. By advantage I mean that it takes you a little longer to formulate a message and therefore you will have more time to consider your response before you fire a heat seeking sarcasm missile across the bow of your loved one. If you are of a mind to civil within the confines of a disagreement it always helps to have some time to consider your response before you roll your M1 Abrams through a field of emotional land mines.

With the combined elements of a standard issue low self-esteem, and rapier like wit I have over the years honed my skill as a verbal pugilist to the point that I don’t even have to think before a stinging response can be launch without hope of retraction into the soft underbelly of almost any would be foe. But alas this not the sort of skill that enables one to become a cherished spouse who deals with loved ones with kindness and mercy. So in an effort to keep my internal Bruce Banner calm and collected I have begun to utilized all conceivable methods to throttle down the emotionally unraveled live conversations when the subject appears likely to lead to hurt feelings. So for providing me a buffer that enables me to overcome my emotional immaturity I say thank you, to who ever invented text messaging through a cell phone.