Friday, June 1, 2012

Socially acceptable....

I prefer the written word
and I am a very loud passionate person

This makes for a very hard person to have disagreements with, as my husband has discovered. Over the last 4 years Jason and I continue to learn and evolve in each others way of communicating, but its just so dang hard, probably for the both of us, to get past how loud I am. When I yell, I YELL, so when I am just talking passionately, it can certainly come across as yelling, even though to me, its not. 

I am also a very sarcastic person

This makes for lots of times I wish I would have thought before I said something. Now, our way of communicating during disagreements has improved 1000% since we were first married, and I would say it has evolved from fighting to a disagreement discussion. We are very careful not to call names, not to assign responsibility and to use cheesy phrases(which actually help a lot) like," when you do this I FEEL this way." Using the word FEEL is very powerful, it kind of shares responsibility, because feelings are all up to interpretation by the person feeling them. 

Anyway
my point is sharing this with you was not to give you perhaps personal insight into our marriage, but to ask this question:

Do you think it is an acceptable form of communication to text important discussions, instead of face to face?

You see, my preference for the written word began long before I met Jason. I can remember as far back as 12 years old preferring to write a letter to my older sister telling her how much I hate(drama queens) her rather than yelling at the top of our very loud and powerful lungs. We would write each other letters and slip them under the bedroom door and wait for a reply. Sometimes I wonder if my parents had any idea we did this, but it seemed to not only keep the decibel peace, but it helped us get our message across without being interrupted, given snotty looks, or what else. Not only that but I think when you read something as apposed to hearing it, you hear it differently and perhaps more profoundly.   

my tone in nature is very sarcastic. Its why I ALWAYS was horrible at telephone jobs. So even when I am sincerely saying I am sorry, I admit it does sound wrong. It sounds like I am saying it sarcastically, or forcibly. 

but texts doesnt have tone. So sometimes with me, its almost better for my words to come across toneless, than with my natural tone.  

I know in the end it all comes down to personal choice and what me, my spouse, family etc decide is the best way of  communication, but I am curious to know if its a socially acceptable thing, and if there are others like me. 

So again I pose this question:

Do you think it is an acceptable form of communication to text important discussions, instead of face to face?

1 comment:

Laci said...

Sure. I think sometimes there is a need to show tone and emotion in "discussions" but I completely agree that, in my own marriage and relationships, our arguments resolve a lot quicker through email/texts. I do however think that sometimes I need to show that emotion in order to hit a nerve with the person I'm talking to, so that they have a better understanding of how I am truly feeling. Sincere emotion without sarcasm, mocking, name calling etc. can be powerful as well if you are genuine and that person knows that. Anyway, I think it just depends on your relationship and then situation. Whatever seems to work best, do it!