This is one of those times I wish were a poet. Alas, I am not so my jumbled thoughts will just have be in my jumbled prose.
When first introduced to email about 15 years ago now I found it to be an exciting business tool but it was ever so slow and unreliable. I preferred the fax and especially the telephone for quick communication. Better still, when time was not as important, was a good letter. My, oh my, how things have changed!! It seems as though everyone uses email now and not just for business.
I got into the habit of checking my email first thing in the morning for work. Old habits have a hard time dying as I still do that today. As technology has advanced so has the use of email and other electronic messaging. It's frustrating to get spam and other junk emails just as it is for snail mail. But, communication if almost instantaneous and that has become the model for business. I still prefer getting a formal letter even if attached to an email to an email with stuff here and there. With the need for the instant message style and content has been abreviated to say the least. But, it is, nevertheless, a valuable tool that is here to stay.
On the personal front I am grateful for email. It has done what would probably not have happened for me. It has connected me to friends and family in a way that gives me the "warm fuzzies" every now and then. Sure, 80% of the messages are forwards of jokes or poems of love and friendship, but there is a frequent "Hi" attached. Through some of these silly emails I have been able to reconnect with childhood friends and sorority sisters. I have been able to maintain a line of communication with friends and associates who have entered our lives at different stages.
The 20% that are not of the forward variety come from the same friends and family in the form pictures, updates, and just "thinking of you" messages. How cool is that? Whether good news or bad, I love receiving email. It makes me laugh, it makes me think of those I love and care about, it keeps me informed.
1 comment:
Yes, I agree. Who would have ever guessed that email would 1. ever even exist and 2.would become so important so fast? Ray says it's so great because it is "asynchronous" communication. When you send it, it doesn't interrupt the receiver. It just sits and waits until she is ready to read it. You can send email any time of day without worry that you will wake the receiver or interrupt his dinner. These days I prefer email to phone calls for those very reasons. And, Carla, I love all the jokes you send. Even the bad ones!
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