Many of you, I'm sure, are aware of the increasingly common phenomenon of ghosting. It is when someone you are dating, have a relationship with, or are even friends with, begins to fade slowly away from you rather than being honest and upfront and addressing the situation face to face. Ghosting is when that person begins to slowly slip away from you. They stop taking your calls, stop answering your texts. But when they need you, they talk to you, until finally, you fade into the background of their life and don't matter anymore.

They claim they're just "too busy" or "don't have enough time" to "talk like we used to." But somehow, you know this is a lie. You know it's wrong. It's not about being busy or having time, it's about making time for the people you care about. It's about priorities and their lack of care.

I've been ghosted. My best friends have been ghosted. I'm sure a certain percentage of you reading this article have been ghosted. It's becoming more and more common.

The entire time while it was happening and I was fighting for this person's attention, I thought that it would just be so much easier if this person was honest with me. It would be much easier to have a conversation about how they were feeling or why they were doing what they were doing. It would be so much easier if they just told me the truth rather than continuing to lie and making me feel crazy as I continued to salvage the friendship. It would have been easier for them to cut the ties and for me to move on.

What, exactly, has this day come to when we can't even break away from a relationship in a respectable manner? Why is ghosting even a thing? Like, honestly, how old are we?

I have absolutely zero respect for the people who ghost others out of their lives. Don't act like everything is fine and you're just busy when you've been ignoring texts for two entire weeks. Obviously, something is wrong. Be honest. Tell me it's over or you need space or whatever else is wrong with you. Have some courage and tell the truth rather than hiding and ignoring the problem.

There is no "getting the hint" for those ghosters out there. It's just us, understanding you no longer want to be with us or in our life and thinking you're too immature to handle an adult relationship, while putting all of our effort into the relationship to save it. Pretending we don't exist is stupid. Not giving closure or telling someone goodbye is pathetic. And Heaven save the people who ghost others and then a year later try to come back into their life (you're a different kind of low).

I get it. People change and so do feelings. You fall out of love. The friendship isn't helping you grow anymore. I've felt that before, too. Everyone has. But it is what you choose to do and how you choose to behave with those feelings that determines your character and what kind of person you are.

This generation, our generation, my generation, is absolutely pathetic when it comes to communication. This phenomenon has got to go. It is cowardly. Put down your phone and have a conversation about the problems you are experiencing in the relationship. If the only healthy thing you see is ending it, then tell the other person that. No one deserves to get dragged along when the ties could simply be cut and then that person be able to focus on healing and moving on.

I don't know when this became a thing or even why it did. Frankly, I don't want to know. I do, however, want it to stop. I want people to be brave enough to admit when the relationship isn't what they want anymore. And I want them to be mature enough to communicate that feeling effectively in a conversation. Stop being a coward and do what we all know is right. I don't know about you, but I want to be seen as a respectable, honest, and mature adult when handling relationships and friendships. And that requires an ability to communicate honestly and effectively.