While watching TV the other day, I saw a commercial from AT&T about its “It Can Wait” campaign. This public-awareness campaign has been going on for several years, and aims to teach the good lesson not to text message and drive.

However, I find the current commercials a little concerning. If you haven’t seen them, they encourage young people to use the “# (called a ‘hashtag’)X” response in their Twitter and texting conversations, to let their friends know that they are about to get into a car and won’t be able to communicate for a while.

I certainly have no problems with the thought behind this campaign. Certainly texting and driving is a dangerous practice, and we should do whatever we can to discourage it. However, I am bothered by the fact that we even need a “#X.”

What is wrong with waiting for a response to something? It seems like everyone always wants an answer right now, and feels like their time is the most important thing in the world. I have sent text messages or emails to friends and not gotten a response for days, but that’s okay. I understand that they have busy lives too, and when the conversation is not an urgent one, I can stand to wait a little while for a response.

Maybe instead of a “#X” we should just all use a little patience and realize that the world — small as it may be — doesn’t revolve around us.