Text is Toneless

Hello there, my awesome readers!

I was just thinking about the fact that text, whether it be on the Internet, in a letter, or in a text message, is toneless and can be misinterpreted quite easily. I actually lost a friendship over it once. I’m not going to detail what happened, but the gist of it is, I said something, not meaning at all to be mean in any way, she took it the wrong way, and wouldn’t talk to me anymore. We even occasionally see each other-we have some mutual friends-but she refuses to speak to me. It’s really sad-we had a great friendship.

I almost lost a job once as well, because I sent a text message to my employer and she thought my text sounded cold and rude. I reminded her that text is toneless, though, and explained what I meant, and she apologized.

What I’m saying here is, read what you say before you click “Send,” as if you are the other person, the one reading it who doesn’t feel what you feel and isn’t thinking the same thing you’re thinking. This caution could save a lot of stress, or even a friendship.