If You Like It, then You Shouldn’t Put a Post-It On It

Text messaging, Twitter, Facebook, gchat, etc… have all made it really easy for us to communicate with one another without actually having to talk to one another.  On the one hand, that’s great; there’s nothing worse than an awkward phone conversation.  There are maybe 5 people in the world with whom I can have a non-so…uh… peppered telephone conversation.  On the other hand, what happens when a person gets so used to texting/tweeting/facebook messaging, that they’re entirely unable to verbally communicate with others? I’ll tell you what happens: Assholitus (also known as Passive Aggressive Bitch Syndrome, PABS)

Assholitus is entirely what it sounds like: being an ass hole.  And, guess what? If you use a non-verbal form of communication to tell me something that would probably be more effectively said to my face, you’re probably an asshole.  Definitely a passive-agressive bitch. Entirely inappropriate.

For example, let’s say you want to remind your roomates to lock the deadbolt on the door when they leave the apartment.  How should you deal with this?

Appropriate answer: take your roomates aside, and remind them in person to lock the door.

Inappropriate answer: leaving identical post-it notes on their doors that say

“Hey – when you leave the apartment the deadbolt MUST [underlined three times] be locked at all times!”

Take it from me, people don’t like being told to do something via post-it note.  No, really, they don’t.

Or, let’s say you’re dating someone who doesn’t even like you.  You like them, but you want to beat them to the chase and dump them before they dump you.  What do you do?

Appropriate answer: When the object of your unrequited affection tells you that she’s not going over to your place at 11 o’clock at night because she’s tired (hey, it’s been a long fucking day!) put an end to the shennanigans right there.

Inappropriate answer: Dump them via text message.

Oh, really? Are we really breaking up with people via text message these days?  The primary function of the phone is for calling people and talking to them…doesn’t that sound like a better way of using it to break up with someone?

Moral of the story: just because non-verbal communication is fast and easy, that doesn’t mean it’s appropriate in every situation. Don’t be a pussy, use your words.