Watching someone communicate using a hand-held telephone is like viewing a magicians’ sleight-of-hand skeletal manipulation – the fingers cradle the phone while the thumbs frantically hop across a neon-lit screen resembling adrenalin-infused high jumpers.
My definition of Thumbdriving is the skillful art of using your thumbs repeatedly to tap visual buttons on the smooth surface of a functioning electronic device with the goal of producing a retrievable text message.
Young children do it, teenagers do it, adults do it and even seniors do it – everyone’s in on the act. If you use a cell phone you have done it at least once yourself. Thumbdriving does not require knowledge of keyboarding.
Lexicon entry into Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus might not be on the agenda just yet but the publication is adding new ideas at a fairly fast pace.
The thumb is a short, thick digit of the human hand or a corresponding digit of an animal that performs amazing functions for us in our daily lives. This digit gives our hand dignity and without it, we couldn’t hold objects or shake hands. We would find it more difficult to pick up our children or plan and eat a healthy, delicious meal if our thumbs were missing.
However, the reckless use of this fabulous digit may get us into trouble.
Thumbdriving can be addictive. Texting using thumbdriving can be addictive.
Signs of this addiction may be insidious: awareness of aching in the joints, generalized swelling in the thumb, stiffness after short periods of inactivity, morning achiness in the digit that’s often relieved with a warm massage and possible pain relief with an anti-inflammatory.
Our body is telling us that we have overused our thumb either by texting too much or too fast or too often. The dexterity in the joints of our digit can’t endure the repetition and speed. The intensity of the coordination between our joints, hands, and eyes used in Thumbdriving can produce an adrenaline ‘high’ for some but it can ultimately cause joint damage to the thumb if not monitored carefully.
Driving a car requires thought and concentration. Thumbdriving a phone thoughtfully may be just as skillful.
