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My Contempt For The Smiley Face

I can't tell you how much I detest the need for the :-) and 'lol' in the modern world.  We spend far too much time writing emails, text messages and facebook comments than actually communicating with each other.  A tone cannot be heard in text form.  If like me, your sense of humor is largely made up of sarcasm and dry humor, the need for the smiley face and abbreviations like lol are constantly needed to make sure people know that you are indeed kidding and not a total bitch.
I can't tell you how many misunderstandings I've had over texts, instant messages, emails or social networks because the tone of a comment could not be heard and because it's not a real time conversation. Things have been misconstrued and blown out of proportion in ways that would never happen in a face to face or telephone conversation.  I have an ex that I've had countless unnecessary blow out arguments with that would never have taken place if modern technology didn't exist. If we had been on the phone or face to face, we would have had the opportunity to say, 'Wait, that's not what I meant. Or please don't misunderstand, I love you' or if we were together, how far would a kiss have gone to resolve such things, but instead we reacted badly to something that was misunderstood and in turn the other reacted badly to that reaction and the outcome was usually catastrophic. It was all so avoidable and not only that, but when responding through technology, we had the time to find the words that would cut much deeper and damage was done that took years to forgive. How sad is that?
I hate that the world has been reduced to such superficial communication that doesn't require actual human contact where you can tell by my tone of voice or actual smile on my face that I'm being facetious without having to add the dreaded ;-).  Every time I am forced to use these symbols when communicating I resent the need for them and wish the telephone and doorbell were sounds we hear more than we hear the notifications on our phones or computers.

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