I do not have texting. Yes, this means that you have to actually call my phone in order to reach me. Yes, it makes fratting a little more difficult, as actual phone calls are unpractical when the music's so loud you can feel it ripping through your chest. Yes, I have tried to get my parents to budge on this issue, and yes, they repeatedly deny me texting, saying that it'll be one more addiction, right behind m&m's and online shopping.
Obviously, textless me is all for blitzing in the "blitz versus text" debate. Blitzing will forever be better than texting for one golden reason: it is Dartmouth-centric. The Midd Kid has texting. The Pi Phi girls (and the That's Why I Went to Yale kid) have texting. There are 10-year-olds who have texting. But it is we students of the College on the Hill, and we alone, who can blitz. It's unique, it's a tradition and it's part of our identity.
Blitzing: 1, Texting: 0.
Blitzing also takes a little more effort, which makes it special. In order to send someone a quality blitz, you have to be near a computer, open up blitz, get rid of all your old D2U blitzes, look up a name in the DND on occasion and actually type out a message. With texting, you can be anywhere and your answer takes seconds. Blitzing is to texting as letter-writing is to e-mail: it's definitely less convenient, but more personal. Points for both, I guess.
Blitzing: 2, Texting: 1.
For the frugality in you: blitzing is free! I've heard horror stories about running up a huge phone bill because you went over your texting limit, or you didn't know you had one, or something. Feel free blitz to your heart's desire. (And we definitely, absolutely do.)
Blitzing: 3, Texting, 1.
Blitz terminals are the best. This is a hail Mary, I know, but I like being able to blitz at blitz terminals. The experience is more social than you standing in a corner with your phone out. When you text, you go into your own little zone with your phone and it's harder to interact with people. But, terminals bring the issue of pink eye. This argument is practically losing itself as I write it so points for both!
Blitzing: 4, Texting: 2.
For the nerd in you: you cannot text a prof. And you are much less likely to drunk blitz someone than you are to drunk text or call them.
Blitzing: 5, Texting: 2.
To be fair, there are several advantages of texting that made me too jealous to mention them before. A worthy distraction during lectures? Point, texting. A convenient form of communication at the frats? Point, texting. No auto-replies or give-me-back-my-north-face messages or Haiti-related pleas? Extra-dexterous fingers? Blitzing: 5, Texting: 6.
I started out writing this hoping I'd be able to win my own argument, but I'm losing. Here's my last impassioned defense of blitz over texting: it'll be gone in a year, and instead, we'll have Gmail. We might have bigger inbox capacities and prettier-looking setups, but when blitz is gone and we rely more heavily on texting just like other colleges outside of the bubble, we're going to miss it. Blitzing: 6, Texting: 6.
Blitzing will forever remain close to my heart, but the choice is yours. Gum wrapper Communication-less fratting really isn't that bad, I promise.
