Saturday, October 30, 2004
Forwards and the Art of Keeping in Touch
I met an acquaintance of mine recently, who had slogged his way through his MS and PhD and landed up with a great job in the US and was in home town on vacation. I was seeing him after 4 years. During our conversation, he remarked suddenly "Its amazing that we have kept in regular touch, havent we?". I nodded and said "Ya your forwards were just amazing". He did not get the sarcasm.
The fact that the only way we were in touch( rather the way he mailed me) was through forwards was lost on my friend. He used to send me forwards by the dozen everyday, some really interesting, most were really mundane and dumb and to shift-del the mail was the only option. However the funny thing was he never used to tell me how he was doing and what was happening to him miles away. I used to reply to some of the forwards and query about his studies and life there. He would respond the next day with more forwards.Fortunately I knew his parents and they kept me updated on the happenings.
There were many other contacts of mine who seem to have taken after him. They just seem incapable of typing a single mail. I wonder if they even forward the mails after reading them once. They probably forward it to all in their address book( the person who send the mail in all probability would receive the same since he/she is a part of the address book, thats ok, since he/she would not have read it in the first place before sending them and he/she then resends it to all in their address book and this cycle continues till eternity). Thank goodness all the mail service providers have increased the size of the mail box ;).
E-mail is definitely the easiest way to keep in touch. What's also interesting is that forwarding e-mails is an even easier way. I wonder what would happen in case you need to invite some one for a marriage or any other occasion. Would you type your mails then or would they be a part of some other invitation which could duly be sent to others when the time comes, but then please make sure to atleast attach the correct invite :).
The fact that the only way we were in touch( rather the way he mailed me) was through forwards was lost on my friend. He used to send me forwards by the dozen everyday, some really interesting, most were really mundane and dumb and to shift-del the mail was the only option. However the funny thing was he never used to tell me how he was doing and what was happening to him miles away. I used to reply to some of the forwards and query about his studies and life there. He would respond the next day with more forwards.Fortunately I knew his parents and they kept me updated on the happenings.
There were many other contacts of mine who seem to have taken after him. They just seem incapable of typing a single mail. I wonder if they even forward the mails after reading them once. They probably forward it to all in their address book( the person who send the mail in all probability would receive the same since he/she is a part of the address book, thats ok, since he/she would not have read it in the first place before sending them and he/she then resends it to all in their address book and this cycle continues till eternity). Thank goodness all the mail service providers have increased the size of the mail box ;).
E-mail is definitely the easiest way to keep in touch. What's also interesting is that forwarding e-mails is an even easier way. I wonder what would happen in case you need to invite some one for a marriage or any other occasion. Would you type your mails then or would they be a part of some other invitation which could duly be sent to others when the time comes, but then please make sure to atleast attach the correct invite :).
# posted by Praveen @ 11:54 AM 
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i know....what's it gonna take for a simple one-worded mail.it's so much better than the inexplicably long forwards
:) well-written, buddy! Along those lines is this online birthday-remember-er. no effort! you'll get a mail saying it's so-and-so's bday...now all u have to do is send him the mail! Even worse, we'll probably have a tool which auto-sends the wishes too! Hurray, what a way of showing that we care! :P
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