People have been short with me lately.

Their emails say, "Gd 2 hear from u. TTYS."

I puzzle over the words, until the advice of my first grade teacher comes to mind. "If you see a word you don't know, sound it out."

Gd idea.

Once I decipher the code, that's when the longing kicks in. Longing for the good ol' days. I miss when people spoke in complete words and sentences and said, "Talk to you soon." I am wistful for meeting face to face, instead of facing cyberspace. I yearn for the warmth I feel when someone smiles at me; somehow, seeing :-), ;-), or :) doesn't do it for me. And I'm trying to remember how long it's been since I heard someone really laugh, not just say, "L.O.L."

Is texting the wave of the future? Or have we kissed waving goodbye?

As I walk down the street, I see half a dozen or more people staring at their iPhones, never once pausing to look up at me.

My phone is a landline and, while I would take it out and about, its cord doesn't stretch far enough. It also has been suffering from low self-esteem; no one calls it a SmartPhone. It needs reassurance. It looks to me for guidance.

I would help it, but I have things to do.

"GTG," I say. "TTYS."