Texting Fail*

I really don’t think I get embarrassed all that easily.

Growing up as a middle child in a family of six children I survived a myriad of embarrassing mishaps, including skipping into a glass door in front of my entire family.

(They eventually stopped laughing and were able to ask if I was okay. ha)

As I got older, my skin got a little thicker and it took a little more to really embarrass me. (My siblings continued to find ways–we are all masters. haha)

To be truthful, I couldn’t even really remember the last time that I was really embarrassed.

Until this week.

I have never been a terribly efficient “texter”. I don’t like the text short forms, and I’m not quick on my keyboard. That being said, I text people all the time. I like that it’s a fast and easy way to reach someone, and I love to send little messages to check in with people.

Like the Hubster. I often send him little messages throughout the day just to say hi and let him know what Ruby and I are up to. Instead of writing “I Love You” to one another, we often just write “Love!” and send it back and forth.

Remember this.

As I’ve been preparing to come back to work, I’ve been in touch with some teachers I’ve worked with at various schools in my board. Included in that group are a couple of department heads I’ve come to know in my travels.

A few days ago I received a text touching base about my return to work, and I responded with a professional message detailing my schedule and expressed gratitude for their continued support. After proof-reading and confirming that it was an acceptable message to send to a colleague / higher-up whom I only know professionally, I sent it.

I then decided to write a quick message to the Hubster, so I switched conversations, typed out “Love!” and hit the send button.

…except that the conversations hadn’t switched. It took me a minute to realize that the conversation thread I was in was not with the Hubster and I watched in horror as my message of love was sent to a former male colleague.

I desperately tried to cancel and delete the message, all while cursing my phone and it’s little quirky glitch that I know all too well. If I try and type before the conversation has fully loaded the new recipient, it reverts back to the original thread. It started doing this a while back and while I was aware of the issue, it had never been a problem.

Until now.

I stared at the screen as a little green check mark appeared beside my message of love and I wanted to melt into my couch. So, naturally I went with the appropriate response and started laughing hysterically. Alone. In my living room.

And then I did what any rational person would do to fix the situation. Instead of just sending a quick note explaining that the message had been intended for my husband, writing a mass text pretending that my phone had a major bug felt like the better option.

*sigh*

T’was not one of my finer moments. He works at a school I am at fairly regularly and may be able to help me find a full-time gig, so I just hope that he either a) missed the message completely; b) ignored it; or c) found it funny.

In any case, at least he knows he is loved.