I’m always happy to respond to emails from friends. Lately, however, my account has been so cluttered that emails fall off the top page as more and more things require attention. This, of course, when I was on a brief vacation for the first time in three years—followed immediately by a family funeral. When do they expect you to have time to sort through all this stuff? One culprit is the auto industry. We bought, out of necessity, a new car. It’s more than half computer and I receive nearly daily emails from the manufacturer about this or that. And the insurance company they signed us up for. You can’t just trash such emails since there might be something important in them. But you don’t have time to read them all either. (Many of them are trying to sell you up to entertainment services while driving—I never even listen to the radio while on the road, so please stop thinking I require entertainment while trying to pay attention to the insanity of other drivers.)
Our utilities companies have, of course, begun sending weekly emails as well, asking us to use their services less (or more). How to winterize your home (with their help, that will only cost a few dollars), and how to save money by turning out lights when you leave the room. (I learned this as a child.) Still, you can’t automatically delete utilities emails since they also send notices of when and what your bill is going to be—somewhat important information. If you subscribe to any news services, they will send you multiple emails a day, some of which you want to read, but not now—I’m trying to figure out how to drive a computer to the grocery store right now, after coming home to a foodless house after a funeral… The articles look interesting, they really do. It’s just that I’ve got medical emails I just can’t ignore. I’ll get back to you, I promise.
Once in a way, I have a weekend morning free enough to sort through the accumulation of mail. I only hope I won’t find a “past due” notice among them. I don’t ignore email—I try to keep up with it as much as someone with a 9-2-5 and mortgage can. And my brain isn’t as young as the thumb-racing, texting generation. I need a bit of time to figure things out. Then I come upon that email from an actual friend, buried over on page two or three. My apologies to you for taking so long to get back in touch. A new type of snow has accumulated, and it falls any season of the year. Especially when you’re on vacation and then have a funeral to attend. It’s like living in a novel by Kafka, or it would be, had I time to read.
