Sometimes it bothers me, but I think of it this way: I refuse to have an electronic leash. I keep my phone on silent most of the time and I've had friends pester me to get on some kind of IM or chat program, but whenever I've had one I always set myself to unavailable or invisible. I just don't like being in the middle of something and then having some message pop up bugging me for a response. If I'm writing or otherwise need to focus on something, I can't have stuff popping up all the time.

My philosophy is that humanity made it this far without all this gadgetry, and before texting and instant messaging came along, we had answering machines which we used to filter calls and not answer the ones we didn't want to. Since we can't filter whether or not we get a text (other than blocking a person completely), then we have to be our own filters. And it's our time, and our lives. We're allowed to make decisions about how and when we communicate.

With a text, it comes through whether you want it or not. When someone sends it, they feel entitled to a response. I feel that I'm not entitled to anyone else's attention. I can request it, but if they refuse, who am I to pester them? Unless it a function of their job or something, I'll just leave them alone. I tend to expect the same consideration, but a lot of people don't seem to see it that way and take it as an affront if I'm not quick to respond.

I would kind of like to create a text auto-reply that I can toggle that says something like:

"Hey, I got your text but cannot respond at the moment. Possible reasons include:

My phone is turned off

My phone is dead

I am in the shower

I am at work

I am asleep

I am focusing on something which requires my undivided attention

I just don't feel like it

Please be patient and do not take this personally. I will likely get back to you in time."