Texting takes all the fun out of dating

February 8, 9:12 AMLA Singles ExaminerNiki Payne

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Why is it that when a guy asks for a girl's number, he lacks the balls to gain the full utility of it and actually call her? Instead, he'll use the lame approach of texting her first. 

I don't fully comprehend this relatively recent development in the dating game. It was never like this when I was in high school. Back then, when you got a number, you called. 

I can't stress enough how much of a turn-off it is when I get a text from a guy a few weeks later (apparently, the three-day rule turned into the three-week rule) that says some variation of "When do I get to see you again?"

You know what this lame approach tells me? It tells me, "I'm not that into you because if I was, I'd call you to make plans." 

And then I look at the timing of the text. Usually, it's late at night between the hours of 9 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. You know what the timing of these texts say? They say, "I'm only interested in sleeping with you."

Texting is convenient when you're looking for a booty-call, but not when you're actually interested in getting to know someone. 

"If you're not careful, your guy can go days, even weeks, without ever having a phone conversation with you, yet he ends up in your bed three times a week," writes E! news anchor Giuliana DePandi in her book, Think Like A Guy: How to Get a Guy by Thinking Like One. "Texting should be a supplement to the relationship, not the basis for one," she goes on to say.

If a guy wants to see you or hang out with you again, he can call you. If he wants to tell you he's on his way to come pick you up, then he can text you.

Men need to learn how to use text messaging more appropriately. And women need to start establishing the ground rules for text messaging before flirtatious smiles and laughs become replaced by symbols like :-) or ;-p.

There's just too much room for interpretation and things can be taken completely out of context. And if you ever text someone just to say "Hey" or "What's up?" you know what that means? It means your bored and you're probably a boring person. Interesting people with interesting lives don't waste their time with boring people. That's just the way it goes. 

So the next time you find yourself in a purely textual relationship (like, he never answers when you call and texting seems to be the only way to reach him) RUN for the hills and never look back because you've got yourself a potential player (or wuss) on your hands.