Of texting and talking

I'm curious to know what others think about this topic, so please comment if you have input!

I am old enough that that I can remember the advent of texting. I was slow to catch onto the craze. What was this texting business all about? It seemed to take an awfully long time to say very little information, you had to learn all these stupid abbreviations and you can't do it and safely drive. Finally, though, I learned to text and now do it on a regular basis. However, I still prefer to talk on the phone, especially to the person I'm dating.

The problems with texting the person you are dating are numerous. I'm a sarcastic person, but sarcasm doesn't translate well over text. Nor do any jokes, really. For instance, the current potential boyfriend loves to text. He texts me all the time, in fact, and tries to joke. I went back to Vegas last weekend and on Monday he sends a text "Are you happy or sad to be back in the 'tah? :) Do you miss vegas? :(" Back in the 'tah? What is that? It sounds ridiculous, but maybe delivered on the phone, with the right inflection, could have been mildly funny.

Another annoyance is excessive use of emoticons (smiley faces). Especially when guys use them all the time, I have to question their masculinity. PB (potential boyfriend) uses smiley faces so much that if I see another one I might hurl. I would say he averages two emoticons per text. Most of the time it's a regular smiley face, but he does make good use of the wink face. Then there's the use of silly abbreviations. LOL, ha ha, j/k and then a smiley face? Seriously. Again, things that when delivered on the phone or in person are cute or sweet, just annoy in a text.

I also think it's kind of cheating to ask someone out on a date in a text. But I can't really blame guys for this. A cultural phenomenon that has a occurred because of the diffusion of texting, is that calling someone has become a huge deal. To me, a text doesn't replace a phone call. A text is a lazy man's phone call.

Other problems with texting are logistical. When you end a phone call you hang up and it's done. But how do you end a text conversation? Also, you never really know if someone did or did not get your text. If they don't respond you don't know if it's because they don't want to talk or because they didn't get it. You could send the text again, but if they got the text already, they'll just think you are a little crazy.

Maybe I'm being harsh, but these are just my thoughts. Are there new etiquette rules for dating in the 21st century? Is "texting" the new "calling?" Anyone else have a thought?