The grand-daughter, age 10, visited here last December. She showed me her new cellphone. She was "texting" with a friend. I asked her how she does it, and she gave me a lesson, even though she was startled and horrified, I imagine, to realize that, although an adult, I didn't know that it's one click for a d, two for an e, and three for an f. Her thumbs flew, mine limped, but I got the idea — and then forgot about it until, a couple of days ago, when was waiting in the doctor's office without a book and wasn't in the mood for Golf Magazine. I started to play with my two-month-old entry-level cellphone and discovered that if you press Menu, and then Messaging and then Send Message and then Enter Number that you can "text" — of which I had no idea, my cellphone skills being usually limited to "what is that noise coming from my pocket I'd better check." So I laboriously scribed (or thumbed) my first message to the grand-daughter: "Thank you for teaching me to send text messages." And then, miracle of miracles, a few hours afterward (after fifth grade had been dismissed for the day, I suspect), I received an answer, which I now reproduce verbatim: "when ur txting u dont have 2 use full sentences."
Live and learn.
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