Dave Worthen

4 years ago · 4 min. reading time · ~100 ·

Blogging
>
Dave blog
>
Radioactive Texting

Radioactive Texting

2d9009a7.jpg


You may be asking yourself what the hell is radioactive texting?

Well, I’m willing to bet you've experienced it and not known quite what to call it.

So, I gave it a name.

And just for context, here is a simple example of a normal text.

Elaine: “Hey, honey, can you pick up some milk on the way home?”

Rick: “Sure, babe. Running late. Be home around 7.”

There’s an acronym for this kind of text which is SMS. 

It means Short Messaging Service.

SMS or texting has grown up way beyond short messaging.

Conversation Kryptonite:

You’re driving home. A colleague from work sends you a text about the executive meeting earlier in the day. The traffic is bumper to bumper, so you send a reply. You drive on and hear your phone ping with another message. You’re now at a stoplight and read your colleague’s reply. You feel a certain unease set-in midway through reading their text. 

You look up at the light and see it’s still red. 

As you read the rest of the text you feel more tension in his words and at the end your colleague takes a covert jab at you letting you know, “You know you didn’t handle the situation back at the office very well at all.”

The light turns green. The car behind you honks loudly.

You feel like someone just inserted an ice pick through the back of your driver's seat all the way through to your spleen. 

Infuriated, you stuff your cell back in your purse and drive forward.

What is this?

It’s radioactive texting. 

Your colleague had a small rock of Kryptonite in his briefcase.

He touched it before he sent his text to you.

The long text he sent was his runway to lay that glowing green rock of radiation square in your lap. 

See, he couldn’t ask you to come to his office so both of you could sit down and discuss what happened at the meeting. 

He delivered his comm with a radioactive text.

And the weird-ass thing about texts is you can feel the dang Kryptonite.

Radioactive Invalidation:

You now arrive at the grocery store to pick up some items on the way home from work.

You walk in, grab your handcart, and go about your shopping. 

You notice that you’re staring at the cucumbers-----yes, staring at them because you’re replaying the last text line from your colleague:

 “You know you didn’t handle the situation back at the office very well at all.”

You’re still in that text.

295e7bb6.jpg

WARNING: You have been hit with a covert blast of radioactive text. You will feel spinny. You will feel dispersed. You may feel acute symptoms of invalidation. If the feeling worsens you may become infuriated, and eventually get really pissed. Do not attempt to text back. Repeat: Do not attempt to text back. Your emotions will get the better of you and you may break a French nail from typing with such fury sending back some radiation green of your own. Take a deep breath. Pick out a nice cucumber for your salad. And don’t forget to pick up your favorite Ben & Jerry's ice cream. 

Messages & Madness:

There was a reason texting began as a Short Messaging Service. 

It provided a service. Like Post-it Notes to tell your husband his lunch was in the fridge.

Now you send Post-it Notes as texts. 

“See you at Amy’s soccer game at 3!” xo

But when your messages morph into conversations, you have left the field of Post-it Notes, chalkboard or whiteboard memos on your refrigerator, or even love notes you stuff in your kid’s lunch box. 

Long text messages open the door to full blown conversations which for some is like the Wild Wild West. They can go flirt with anyone in the saloon or shoot from the hip to injure when they have a beef. 

And the thing about radioactivity is that when you feel it creep inside your soul---when you read that text that makes you wrong or takes a shot at you in a veiled way while making it sound “social”----it triggers an ancient DNA strand from long, long ago about radiation leaks. 

And if you stop while you’re shopping to send back a radioactive text to shut your colleagues little Chernobyl down, you have now become part of the radiation leak. 

You think that will do it. You think he’s got his head-up-his-ass and that he has no idea what he’s talking about. You let your selected choice words fly and you're off to the ice cream aisle feeling a bit more triumphant.

You get to the ice cream aisle and see your Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream.

You reach over to get it and your phone pings. 

You see it’s from your colleague and you ignore it.

It pings again.

You open it up and there is a text a mile long.

The crazy-ass thing about radiation is those tiny invisible particles spread because they’re on a mission to radiate.

And there you stand contaminated. 

Smokey The Bear and Radioactive Texts:

I grew up in California where unfortunately, there often are seasonal forest fires. We learned the famous slogan from Smokey the Bear which was:

“Only you can prevent forest fires.”

Sage words from Smokey.

They should bring Smokey out of retirement and have him make a new slogan for texting. 

"Text like a cub, not with a club."  (Hmmmm...maybe I should copyright that.)

Texts can be fine for messages. It can be fine for conversations if you have your discipline in. 

But when it comes to upsets or grievances or something unresolved between you and a colleague, friend or spouse, a short messaging platform with a long dispirited message is like playing with matches.

If you have an upset, the absolute best route to resolution is with live communication with the other person.

Otherwise, I assure you, you will be caught up in a forest fire that will ruin your day, and possibly a valuable relationship. 


For more of my articles, books, and videos, click on the link below.

www.daveworthen.com 

6bb529d0.jpg


Comments

Dave Worthen

4 years ago #3

#3
Hey Kevin Baker! Thanks for taking the time to read my article and stop by and comment! Much appreciated!

Dave Worthen

4 years ago #2

#1
Hola Lupita \ud83d\udc1d Reyes!! Yes! Like a cub! :-))) Thank you very much!!!

Lupita 🐝 Reyes

4 years ago #1

"Text like a cub, not with a club." Great article, Dave Worthen!!!

Articles from Dave Worthen

View blog
3 years ago · 6 min. reading time

In the current environment you may sometimes feel that your attention is on a thousand different thi ...

5 months ago · 2 min. reading time

Hope. · Hope by definition means, “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen ...

3 years ago · 3 min. reading time

I was eight years old. My parents were watching the Ed Sullivan Show. At school the next day, some g ...

Related professionals

You may be interested in these jobs

  • CommonSpirit Health Mountain Region

    New Grad RN St. Anthony Med/Surg

    Found in: beBee S2 US - 1 week ago


    CommonSpirit Health Mountain Region Denver, United States

    75114 · Welcome to CommonSpirit Health Mountain Region: CommonSpirit Health Mountain Region is committed to building healthier communities, advocating for those who are poor and vulnerable, and innovating how and where healing can happen-both inside our hospitals and out in the c ...

  • Genesis Healthcare

    Registered Nurse-TEMPORARY FULL TIME Occupational Health RN

    Found in: Jooble US O C2 - 2 days ago


    Genesis Healthcare Wernersville, PA, United States Full time

    Sinking Spring Nursing and Rehab Has Full-Time Evening RN Opportunities · Nursing Student Loan Debt Repayment and Tuition Assistance · *Health, Dental, Vision, Company-paid life insurance, 401K, Paid Time Off · *Tuition, Travel, and Wireless Service Discounts · *Employee Assista ...

  • Travel Nurse Across America

    Medical (Physiotherapist)

    Found in: Jooble US O C2 - 1 day ago


    Travel Nurse Across America Prattville, AL, United States

    · We are looking for Physical Therapists (PTs) for an immediate travel opening in Prattville, AL. The right PT should have 1 year of experience. Read below for more requirements. · As a PT, you will be responsible for the evaluation, development, and execution of a plan of care ...