It's Friday afternoon. The weather is gorgeous, and all Terry can think about is getting finished with work, and spending a hot night with her husband. Between the kids, and the dog and keeping the house, his job and her working part time, she really has only seen him in passing all week on the way in to take a shower.

She is feeling frisky as she watches the clock tick towards 5 o'clock. She can't call him, her co-workers would over-hear and she would be mortified. She can't e-mail him; the company has access to her mailbox! The most private way to convey her idea for a post-work romp is a sexy text message. She grabs her cell phone, and texts to his number, @wrk, feelin 6Y. U? She waits anxiously for a response, and lets out a delighted squeal when she reads it. "ALIwanisu", he writes back. And now the clock is moving even more slowly, as she anticipates the activities in her bedroom when she gets home.

Terry and her husband are eager participants in a growing trend among text messagers. According to an on-line poll conducted by the About website, 17% of respondents use text messaging mostly to arrange sex encounters. What was once a pebble thrown at a window late at night, has been replaced electronically with, "GYPO" or, translated. "Get Your Pants Off" on a 1" x 2" screen.

Romantic or tacky? Who cares! Certainly not the people that are participating! Sexy text messages are the 2007 version of a booty call. And it really is ideal.

If you are unavailable, or just not in the mood, you can ignore the text, and avoid any embarrassing excuse making. If you are at a party, and want to get busy fast, just text your mate/friend/toy, "let's get outta here" and no one at the party will be the wiser. Then of course, there is the "forbidden" hook-up with the hot and sexy ex-boyfriend that you promised yourself, and your best girlfriends that you swear you would NOT drunk dial! Promise! Just text that little hottie for a rendez-vous, and you can keep your dignity. It's a win for everybody!

How can a seemingly impersonal exchange become such a popular method for conveying one's erotic desires? For one, there is the privacy factor: no one else but you and the recipient of the message will know. That is unless you text your Aunt Bernice by accident. Therefore, it is highly recommend you double check the "send to" number before you press "send message". Sexy text messages cannot be taken back.

Second is the fact that a person's inhibitions may be somewhat more relaxed when they don't have to come up with flowery adjectives to get the message across. "Wanna meet?", on a text message has an entirely different implied meaning as a text message, than if conveyed by voice or e-mail. And that may be all that little hottie could read anyway.

Last may be of course, the convenience. You could be in an elevator, in a cab, on the way home in your car or watching your kids at the playground. These are times when stealth and convenience are of the utmost importance. Whenever and wherever the mood strikes you, your erotic desire can be conveyed.

Some couples even have a "code" for their mate when the mood strikes. One woman in particular texts, "Jenna Jameson is in town" to her husband and he instantly knows EXACTLY what she wants.