You flirted and maybe made out and maybe slept together.
From there, you took it to the world of text messaging. Cute lil mwah mwah kissy-kissy's sent back and forth to each other with the help of satellites in space.
So adorable!
Then, something goes wrong. The dude of your dreams stops responding. Stops texting.
I've been asked before (since apparently I'm old enough to give good advice): How Long Is Too Long for A Guy To Text You Back?
I'll give you my answer right now: 12 hours. Short! Crazy! RIDICULOUS! Right? Wrong. Completely wrong. This is a very fair amount of time to give your Text Buddy. If a guy does not text you back within that allotted time, he is either over you, into someone else, or dead.
When I hear tales of guys going radio silent for a few days, and then returning saying "I'm sorry, I was busy," I yank out a little bit of my hair. Luckily my hair is full and oft-growing, so no bald spot has appeared.
Why? Because everywhere I go I see one thing: PEOPLE TEXTING. We're at dinner with friends, and texting. We're dancing at the club, and texting. We're walking through the streets and falling down subway entrances because WE ARE TEXTING.
Face the truth, boys: everyone texts all the goddamn time. If he isn't texting you, he is guaranteed Not That Into You. It takes five seconds to send a smiley and say you're busy. FIVE SECONDS. And considering how much time people spend taking photos of themselves on Facebook, or complaining that they're bored... this is but a tiny fraction.
The following reasons are excuse for an absence of texting, with variable times that seem pretty accurate:
He's seeing a movie - up to 3 hours
His phone died - up to 8 hours
(because you KNOW he'll run to a charger as soon as he can, and immediately reach out to anyone he missed communications from).
He lost his phone - up to 24 hours, until he makes that Facebook event invite asking you for your number
(What, you don't have his Facebook? Well that was dumb. Facebooks and numbers should be exchanged simultaneously as far as I'm concerned).
He's on a cruise or traveling across Europe - 1-2 weeks
(but if he didn't bother to tell you this ahead of time, he STILL isn't all that into you)
He's been kidnapped and/or killed - forever
(Sad, I know. Luckily, also rare)
And that's it! I'll say it again, Mission Impossible style. This Text Message Relationship will self-destruct in 12 hours. Better get those fingers flapping.
So there you have it guys. My official statement. If they don't text you back within 12 hours, you have permission to send a clarification text to make sure they got the original. If he STILL doesn't respond, just delete his number. It's over, whatever it was. You're just wasting your own time and making yourself look insane.
Good luck, and get to texting!
xo Justin Luke
JustinLukeNYC.com
This still doesn't answer the one I asked you.
ReplyDeleteSometimes people are just super ADHD and we forget that we didn't answer immediately when we read your text, and then we spend a day being like "Huh, they're not answering me...." before we realize we're actually the one at fault.
ReplyDeleteI mean, uhhh, I... I, uh, I read about people doing that? *shifty eyes*