So… Janis said what she said to encourage Arlo to check his messages and see the reminder about the tires?
(Of course, she could have just reminded him about the tires; and this might make him less eager to open one of her messages in the future)
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Comics I Don't Understand 
One big advantage of electronic communication is that it’s
asynchronous. You send it when it’s convenient, and the
recipient reads it when it’s convenient. This feeling that
people should *immediately* read and respond to texts and
e-mails is totally foreign to my thinking.
And yes, the fourth panel is part one of “fool me once”.
People generally seem to have a scale of immediacy. If someone you know calls, and you can, you pick up. Texts don’t require interrupting what you’re doing but you also are expected not to ignore them for long period unless you’re asleep or something. Email can wait until you have spare time.
Readers of “Tristram Shandy” will recall the ritual of winding the clock.
And more modern is the phrasing “getting your ashes hauled”. (Which may be rated better or worse for the suggestion of “ass” in “ash”.)
I saw the strip as an anti-Arlo.
Kids today have a different etiquette for texts and emails. Texts require a reply ASAP, but you don’t have to respond to emails at all.
It took me the longest time to figure out why students never answered my emails, until finally I asked one of them. She looked very surprised that I thought it required an answer. It’s simply not part of their etiquette.
So now if I email and want an answer from a student, I expressly *tell* them to respond. Even then it doesn’t always work.
By the way, if you only have internet access and want to send a text, here’s how to do it:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-send-a-text-from-your-email-account/
It includes a list of the most common carriers, but there are also bigger lists, and sites where you can find out which carrier it is.
Since I don’t have unlimited texting (I can truly say I have raised ‘cheap’ to an art form) I often send texts by email. The replies come to the same email address. Very handy.
My family has gone from the group email to group text model for broadcasting information. I guess I was holding up the transition for a time because i couldn’t receive texts. Then I let slip that I had Google Voice and could text that way (actually had for some years).
Some of the them rarely even check email anymore. I frequently send a text to let them know there is something to read.
Oh, I hate the group texts: my phone buzzes when the initial text is sent and then every time somebody responds.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy seeing photos of my little niece — but when my brother sends one out via group text, I know that for the rest of the day my phone’s going to be interrupting me every few minutes with HOW CUTE!!!
You can fix that problem via the simple expedient of not carrying a phone with you.
Granted, you still have the 22 “HOW CUTE!”s the next time you pick up your phone, but I remember not having any phone at all, for years at a time (in college, and on active duty). There was a business on base that consisted, basically, of about 4 dozen phone booths and a cashier.
Not carrying a phone these days is anything BUT simple, as I’m sure you’re aware.
I don’t carry one, and I haven’t since the job I had ten years ago when they wanted me to have one bad enough to provide one.
I carry a phone most of the time I’m out of the house. Except
for special circumstances, it’s powered off.
Keep one, charged but no contract or credit, in the car for emergencies. Any mobile with a charge here in the UK can dial 999 – you don’t need a valid service provider for that. Got a prepaid SIM in the glove box with it, in case more than 999 is needed. Never has been.
Otherwise – no. I never carry a phone.
I’ve got a prepaid one in my truck, so I can call for AAA if I have to.
Oregon has a fairly substantial fine for “texting while driving”, and it’s triggered by visibly having a handheld device in your hand, unless it’s either A) fully voice-controlled, or B) functioning as a navigation device.
We got our first phones when my kids were hit their teenage years and began having their own adventures (“Dad, we’re stranded in Philadelphia. Long story.”), and I never got out of the habit of keeping the phone with me and switched on.
My offspring unit learned to resolve her adventures on her own.
So, that time she was flying across the country to see her mom, and she arrived at the airport 3 time zones away, only to discover that nobody who was supposed to meet her was in the same state as she was, she found a safe place to stay and waited, and I didn’t hear about it until a month later because there was no reason to bother me with it.
(On the other hand, there was that time she missed her connecting flight in Honolulu, and was left stranded mid-trip. She was with her mother at that point, and I *DID* have to be involved in that one, because I had to rebook her, and pay the change fee for flying on a different day… since there was only the one flight a day, and she wasn’t on the one that left on the right day.)
Oh, both my kids were adamant about resolving their adventures on their own: he was just letting me know not to expect him home.
I did offer to drive down and get him but he said “Nah, we’re good. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I refused to waste money on a cell phone. Husband had one from work so when we traveled we had use of it – why did I need one – the two times I needed to call him (until the following incident) as I was not sure which item to buy – I called him once and the other bought both items and later returned one.
One Friday while Robert was still working, he called me before I went for my Friday afternoon out and said he did not feel well. I offered to come and drive home with him (he gets car sick and cannot let me drive) he said “no” and that he just wanted me to know. I went out later for my errands and the first stop was the post office – I saw the pay phone and something made me call him. He was feeling worse and wanted to come home – but did not want to be alone, so I went home.
From this I got my first cell phone – just so he could reach me if he needed to. He and his secretary were the only ones who I knew I had it or had the phone number. It was one of the “Buy $10 of minutes a month to keep it going” flip phones.
We have been through several phones and plans each – especially since he quit his job – including the Palm Centro – the first “smart phone” – which is still my favorite and I still use as a PDA. Our most common text at home is “Dinner is ready.” from me. and while in stores and I have managed to loose him for some time alone it is “Where are you?” from him followed by my figuring out which item around me will be one he can figure out.
I have a terrible time using the letter keys on my current phone. He told me that when I am texting him not to worry about it he will figure out what I meant. I watched him while standing in front of the registers in Costco one day wandering around trying to figure out what I texted him which should have read “at registers”. Since then I try to get the letters correct – not easy I always seem to type the wrong letter – actual letter buttons are so much better.