Pretend You Don't Know Me

You would think in this age of instant, electronic communication, we'd all be staying in touch more often with alot more to say to each other.

I bring this up because I consider myself a good pen-pal. What an old fashioned word! Pen-pal. Does anyone even use it anymore? What do they call it if you meet someone online and correspond only through email and IM? But I digress... If you write me, you will (eventually) get a personal reply. You may even get two replies, the first one letting you know I'm busy but I'll write soon. And I do. Relationships are important to me. If I call you friend then you have a special place in my life.

If I write you, and you don't write back, well, then we plan a different strategy. I have a friend in Alaska I have written five times and I have yet to hear from her. Has the internet changed the way we look at relationships? Does failure to write consitute punishment by permanent removal from the address book? One click of the mouse and you're gone - poof! You never existed. Yet that certainly does not remove them from your life. Time does that and very well I might add.

There are some fun forwards out there. A friend sent me a pumpkin for Halloween that you could carve out -- that was fun! Of course, I sent it to friends. Then there was another email I saw ages ago that allowed you to use a hammer, chainsaw, blowtorch, paint, etc.. to "destroy" whatever it was you were working on. It was a great stress reliever. I don't even mind the emails that ask for information about my favorite food, color or whether I want to live in the moutains or by the ocean (Italian, plaid, and mountains).

However, I have a dear friend in California who loves to send me forwards. That's all I get from her: forwards. No personal note, nothing. I am sure it means she's thinking of me but if I get one more email from her that says to "send this to seven people you know and your wish will come true!" I'll scream. Then there are the religious ones... if I believe in God, I'll send this to everyone I know and convince people by using an impersonal communication method to form a personal relationship with Him, and come to believe in Him through an email. Even better, he'll bless me, my kids, grandkids and everyone or thing I come in contact with for the next 50 years. Um, thanks, but I'll pass. My relationship with God does not depend on email. Like any good relationship, it depends on how much time I'll give him. But even better than those emails are those that admonish us to be a "good friend and send this to seven people including the person who sent this to you" Why? So I can spam her email inbox like mine is?

So let me say this... the next time you get that kind of email and you're searching your email address book for the names and email addresses of your fifty friends, pretend you don't know me.