Email Me

I'm an emailer. Probably because I feel I do my best communicating a'la the written word. I feel like I have a firm grasp of language and like the idea of being able to re-read what I've written and hone it so that it transmits the exact thought I mean to convey. The slowness is what I like. What can I say? I'm a control freak. Unfortunately, I'm behind on my emailing these days. Especially if someone has emailed me either through Facebook or my AOL address. While I check both sites daily, just to make sure that I'm updated on the state of my personal world and not missing vital information like Where in the World is my Globe Trotting Friend Andie or Toys R Us's sale on baby apparel, I don't always attend to the more involved emails that come along. The emails that actually require my full attention and deserve a well-thought out response. So, instead of dashing back, "Oh, wow. That's crap; I'm sorry," I don't respond at all. Which, quite frankly, is probably worse.

This morning, I set out to rectify the situation. There was an email from my old boss telling me about her teenage son's first girlfriend (dated February 24th). There were two emails from a NYC friend of mine who had just gone through a terrible ordeal with a guy she thought might be the New Boyfriend, but just ended up being That Jerk (dated from the beginning of March). There were also two emails from an old roommate explaining why she hasn't written back in sometime which included a prolonged illness of a parent (dated from mid-March). There is a Good News email from a friend who had been unemployed, but is no longer. Then there are the emails from my Great Aunt wanting to know about the earthquake that just occurred in California and the Easter greeting from a cousin who I tried calling but never reached. These last two are from this past weekend and for some reason I think I have more time in responding to them because they are "current." Don't ask...

The funny thing is: If you allow an email to go unanswered for long enough, you almost don't have to answer it at all. This makes me feel like a crappy friend, but why bring up That Jerk if the wound is healing and she's put it out of her mind? I did try calling some of these people, but never reached them (which explains the "two" emails). I guess they could have tried calling me back, but most of my friends are email people themselves. The type of people who are busy with their wacky lives and email people at four in the morning. Which makes sense because Like attracts Like, right?

So, if you've emailed me recently and I haven't responded, please know that I feel like a crappy friend and I will get back to you at some point. Either through email or Facebook or -- in the case of the old boss with the teenage son, the friend with a new job, and even the girlfriend who is getting over That Jerk -- in person. Because while I prefer email, I'm not so shabby in face-to-face communication also.