Is texting strangers really such a bad idea?

Is texting strangers really such a bad idea?

I mean to say, it is a great way to make new friends. One does not have to join a dating site to meet people. I have been texting several males and females whom I met on this very site. It is not so much different to going to a club or hotel, just cheaper and less crowded. Sometimes successful marriages eventuate from these humble beginnings.

Back in my day, I, like many of my friends, had pen pals. Our parents permitted us to correspond with persons unknown. Some of the pen pals were quite cheeky, some downright obscene and some just nice normal lads. Some of the letters I received would have made Mum’s hair curl, but she did not look at them, nor ask the content. The only difference to texting, was that the letters arrived at a much slower rate than a text does!

I was sent to a girls only boarding school when I was 13. To fill in the dreary after school hours, we (my friends and I) used to fantasise about boys of all kinds. What else was there to do inside those cold stone walls? Believe me, it is no fun being locked up in an all girl school.

Back then, we were forbidden to even look out onto the street. It was rather like being in prison. So, pen pals it was.

We had numerous pen pals, most of them male. Ones ranking in the pack was determined by how many boys one had on one’s mailing list.

I met up with some of my pen pals, most were good lads, some were not. I even had pen pals from Indonesia and Malaysia. The lad from Malaysia visited Australia, and came to see me at school. He was a nice bloke, interested in learning more about our country and looking to acquire an Aussie wife. I was far too young to be thinking of marriage but we remained friends for many years. The Indonesian boy only wanted western music, as this was banned in early 60s Indonesia.

Our mothers and grandmothers used to have pen pals as well. Many a bride married a lad she had corresponded with during the war years. She had never met the lad until he came home from war but often they had become engaged to marry before ever meeting. Is that so different from today’s texting?

I know a lot of  women my age are totally shocked when I tell them I have texting friends that I have never met. They throw their hands up in horror and look at me as though I have lost my mind. I point out how it was with pen pals. Did they ever have pen pals? How maybe their Mum or Granny used the same principle to find a sweetheart. The only difference was the speed with which the message arrived. I can discuss it until I am blue in the face. Somehow they do not seem to think it is similar.

What do others think? I guess everyone has a different opinion, probably just as well.

But I am sticking with my beliefs. There is no right or wrong answer, just room for discussion.

What do you think? Do you think texting or talking to strangers is okay? Do you have anyone you keep in contact with that you haven’t met? Share your experiences below.