When life was simpler …
December 18th 2008 02:51 pm
Ten years ago, I didn’t even own a computer. That’s right—you teens and 20-somethings—I survived my undergraduate years by researching assignments using books in a library and typing papers on a word processor (a big step up from my Smith Corona electric typewriter in high school). In college, I had never heard of the Internet even though it existed, and I couldn’t afford a computer even though I had used an Apple desktop machine in sixth grade. I still remember the green cursor blinking on the black screen.
Don’t misunderstand me, I am grateful for the accessibility of information and the speed at which we can acquire it these days. However, I often reminisce about a simpler time when I began my day with a cup of coffee and a conversation; now I flip my laptop open and check one of my six email addresses before I even sip some caffeine. Yes, you read that sentence correctly. SIX! Now call me crazy, but for someone who remembers never having email (much less a computer) less than a decade ago, I am overwhelmed by the amount of time I spend reading my email. I used to have only four email addresses until two new jobs added two more and those emails I have to read every day (my paycheck depends on it!)
I want to go on strike from reading email, but I don’t see how that’s possible short of leaving society altogether. I do think I can wean myself off two email addresses by the end of January … one is my USC account, which I no longer need yet it still has 75 emails in it (obviously not important ones). I also want to cut my ties with AOL even though it was my first. Now leaving AOL may seem simple for the rest of the population, but my AOL account is tied to my sister (Adsissy stands for “Adrienne’s Sissy”), and it holds a record of my life over the last eight years. For someone who writes nonfiction, an email archive is a treasure trove of information. If I no longer have an AOL account, I won’t be able to read my old emails.
Maybe I’m just looking for an excuse to keep reading …
AWW — XoXo
Andrea: I hear you. I’ve been there myself. I don’t know how you can stand–or even manage–six e-mail addresses! Wow. I once had four and that was tiresome. Still, I guess it’s not a bad idea to have at least two. One for work and one for personal. Or three: work, personal and junk. They just add up, don’t they?
Here’s how I compromised: I currently have three e-mail addresses. Two of them forward to my third.
Yeah. I know. Lame.
Mike
(aka. “riggenterprises@gmail.com” – home of the e-mail address that’s WAY too long to communicate, but way to published to change).
MichaelRigg on 19 Dec 2008 at 2:23 am #