A good friend (of over 20 years) drove us to a restaurant (where we had a delicious meal. )
When we went back to the car park, his car had been slightly blocked in.
He asked me to stay outside and guide him past the obstruction. I was setting myself to do so, when he got a text.
He read it, then started slowly typing a response (he’s elderly.)
After several minutes I asked him “Is everything OK?”
He didn’t reply.
When he finished (after about 20 minutes in all), he seemed content and chatted amicably as he drove me back to my house.
I asked him then about the text and he said “It was from my daughter-in-law.”
Upon first reading it comes off as a little nosy, but that doesn’t mean much because i know nothing about the nature of your relationship.
I’ve got some friendships I could have said: “So you going to tell me what’s going on with that text ya goof?” And it would have been typical of our friendship. others not so much.
Keeping you waiting for 20 minutes without explanation was rude. Did you get back into the car, or stay outside the entire time? However, considering he’s a good friend and you just had a meal together, it probably wasn’t intentional rudeness. There’s probably either a mild personality disorder, he’s concerned about his DIL and didn’t want to talk about it, or maybe a combination of both.
Yes, it was rude. I would have asked him what was going on after about 3 minutes, and then told him I was leaving at about the 5 minute mark. At that point, he could decide if he really needed my help or not. If so, he’d put down the phone for the few seconds it takes to get out of the parking space. Otherwise, I’d just thank him for a great evening and go.
Yes, I was surprised that he kept me waiting for so long whilst texting (very slowly!)
If it had been a phone call, then it could be necessary to reassure the person on the other end.
But he could have stopped texting long enough to at least let me know what was happening.
(And yes, he was my lift back!)
Old person = dumb phone with numeric key text entry. Hell, I had to send a short text with my work phone (cheap ass flip phone) and it took an eternity.
On the other hand, if the geezer had a smart phone, show him how to use the voice to text.
)
o