The Hey Text: A Comic About the Hardest First Word in Texting

This is Part 8 of "No One Taught Me," a comic series about the texts nobody prepared you for.

The Blank Text Field That Feels Like a College Essay

You have his number. You want to text him. You open the conversation and the cursor blinks at you like it's waiting for something brilliant.

So you type "Hey." Delete. "Heyy." Delete. "What's up." Delete. "So about that study guide..." Delete. Twenty minutes pass. The professor is talking about something that might be important. You have not heard a single word.

The problem with opening texts is that every option feels like it reveals too much or too little. Hey is boring. Heyy is trying too hard. A question feels forced. Silence feels worse.

Why Does the First Text Matter So Much?

It doesn't. That's the whole point. Your brain tells you that the opening line sets the tone for the entire relationship. It does not. The opening line sets the tone for the next three seconds, and then the conversation takes over.

Sol proved it. Six words. "That prof definitely made up that formula right." A response in thirty seconds. Not because it was the perfect opening. Because it was specific, it was funny, and it gave him something to respond to. That is what to say instead of hey.

What Actually Works as a First Text?

Anything that references something you both experienced. A shared class, a shared moment, a shared observation. The specificity does the work. It says "I'm texting you about this thing" instead of "I'm texting you because I've been thinking about texting you for twenty minutes."

The graveyard of deleted drafts is the real enemy. Every version you type and delete makes the next one harder. The first draft was probably fine. Send the first draft. Stop overthinking it.

Can't figure out the opening line? Vervo gives you three options in seconds -- so you can send the text instead of deleting it.