Misleading texts

When does giving your number to someone to hang out turn into them texting 16 times and calling 5 times over the course of 6 days! I only sent one text response on day #2. This guy was my supervisor when I was volunteering at Oktoberfest. When I attended the festival the next day I said hello. He was a cool guy so I gave him my number so we could hang out. I know I shouldn't assume all new acquaintences have purely platonic intentions, but I like to keep my perceptions of peoples' innocence until proven otherwise. The texts started out as We should hang out sometime and What are you up to tonight? to You would sleep well if I were cuddling you. When did the meaning of giving someone your number turn into an agreement to have sex? It sure doesn't mean that to me! Soon after this text I received another: BTW, how old are you? I really wanted to mess with him and say something like 17 or 36, but I just took the silent approach. I figured any responses would make matters worse or prolong the unnecessary text monologue. On day 5, I didn't get any texts or calls so I thought I was home free! Then, on day 6 I get: Why aren't you responding? Then You seem like a cool girl, all I want to do is hang out with you. And of course, around 5pm on Friday: We should hang out tonight, I really want to see you. Why? He knows nothing about me. I could be a phsycopath for all he knows.

During this same time period I received 13 calls from another number, with no voicemails left. I met a guy on Friday night who I was somewhat interested in...until he lit a cigarette. However, by that time I had already given him my number. So, I am assuming he is this second ghost caller, but he hasn't left any messages. The majority of people I know don't respond to unfamiliar numbers. I get tons of sales calls. I figure if someone really wants to talk they will leave me a voicemail. So I have just been ignoring that one.

This leads me to another point of frustration. Why is the main method of communication now text? I hate it. So much is lost to this new technology. Okay, it is not so new, but I have only been texting for about a year. Yes, it is convenient for quick messages to friends or when sending directions, small follow-ups to previous conversation, or a method to communicate last-minute group invites, but not for getting to know someone or communicating emotions. I don't want to look through the emoticon dictionary to understand my text messages. Texting is misleading.In the case of the abovementioned semi-stalker, he was trying to communicate with me through 15 word messages. Who knows, maybe he wasn't a creap that wanted to sleep with me, but I have no way of knowing that since I only had texts to interpret. Bad grammar is also a turn-off for me. I understand that grammar goes away with messaging, but if someone wants to impress me, they aren't going to do it with text slang.

A friend of mine argued that texting allows someone to test the waters to know if the person on the other line is interested. Well, that may be sorta true, but if someone has my number, that usually means I am interested. You can text with someone you have nothing in common with for weeks without realizing just that. You have as many hours as you would like to create a whitty text message. You can spend two weeks prolonging the inevitable. I like to know right away if I have common ground with someone. I can have a 20 minute phone conversation with someone and learn just as much, if not more than I could have with 2 weeks of text messaging. Efficiency. Plus, with actual voice-to-voice communication you can hear the inflection (or lack there of) in someone's voice, know if the LOL is legit or just an automatic texter response and most of all, understand sarcasm. I prefer those interested in me to call, and leave a message if they actually want to talk to me. Texting to initiate something shows me that there isn't a strong interest or confidence. Texting says to me that they aren't invested enough to take a risk.