This I Believe: I believe in going on Facebook everyday

Problems with texting...and writing

In speaking, there's the option of using variation of tones and gestures so that you can emphasize and stress what is important. You can also use punctuation to convey your emotions. You can convey if you're excited or upset regarding the topic.

However, writing is ambiguous. There are only twenty six letters in the alphabet and the variety of punctuation is very limited. This is the reason why some writings are misunderstood and the message is not always clearly delivered.

This frequently happens to me with text messages. Texts remind me of small, quick and informal e-mails through mobile phones. You basically write as if you're talking. This is where the problem occurs.

Yesterday, my friend had misunderstood my texts and the situation became unnecessarily serious and filled with tension. This was our conversation that took place at 2:00PM.

Me: Hey, can you please take me to Target sometime this week? Pretty pleaseee.

Friend: Sure! I'm going with my friends tonight. Wanna come along?

Me: Oh my gosh, awesome. Thank you so much!

Friend: K, I'll let you know when I'm leaving.

This was our second conversation that took place at 10:00PM. I did not get a text or a call that my friend left for Target and I was wondering why there was no contact.

Me: Are we still going?

Friend: I already went.

(Before sending the text, I felt as though something was a little...fishy. The text was too short and the period added to the coldness of the tone.)

Me: Ahh, are you serious? Why do you do this to me dude??

(I tried to be sarcastically funny instead of asking why my friend left without letting me know because I was afraid a petty fight might occur.)

Friend: What? Why are you mad?

Mad? Why am I mad? I was far from mad. I was trying to throw in a sarcastic joke to break the tension and awkwardness I felt for him not asking me to go. Was I just not getting it? Is it my friend who is misunderstanding the situation?

This is the problem with text messaging and overall, writing at times. There are so many obstacles to being coherent, especially if you're not speaking but writing it. It's hard to tell what the other person feels or is trying to emotionally convey.

I guess for next time, I need to be more cautious in what and how I communicate my texts. Maybe I should avoid sarcasm because it's hard to catch on- I wouldn't want an incident like this to reoccur.

That's Just Your Opinion

     I came across something interesting and thought provoking while I was reading the textbook, Rhetoric and Civic Life. I realized that whenever I was in a debate or in a heated conversation where I had to prove my point, my opponents would always cut me off with a “that's just your opinion.”

     For some odd reason I would not know what to say back to that. The opponents would continuously argue that since it is my opinion, there's a lack of credibility and nothing can change my belief. Why is there this certain notion that opinions belong to individuals and to challenge a person's opinion is to denigrate a person's character? After reading this and wondering why I even hesitated to argue back, I finally got the courage to fight back a “that's just your opinion.”

     Today, my friend who constantly contemplated whether or not she was going to stay this semester at Penn State due to the fact that she misses home too much told me and my friends that there is a high probability that she would be leaving us this coming weekend. Not only did I want her to stay because she is such a good friend of mine but I told her that she has so much going on for her and the education that Penn State offers was phenomenal. Once again, she reasoned that it was only just my opinion.

     However, this time around, I calmly responded, “Listen- it may just be my opinion but you believing that home is better for your future is also just your opinion and an assumption. You can't have a conversation without having an opinion.” My argument derives from the reasoning provided by the ancient teachers of Rhetoric where they asserted that opinions are important and there's no such thing as “just your opinion.” Moreover, opinions are malleable because the point of rhetoric, after all, is to change opinions.

     This is what I truly believe and live by- disagreeing with a person's opinion is inevitable in life but it does not mean that you're disagreeing with the person for who they are because opinions can always change.

     My friend did end up leaving Penn State, not because I lost the battle of our debate but because at the end of the day, it was her choice. She appreciated that I had her best interest in mind though, which was something that I really wanted her to be aware of.