June 16, 2003
I sit here mindless to world of the electronic era. What wonders we live in. Spell cheeck has re-defined how our words are formulated. The soft copies were invented to save trees yet we still print 5 copies just to proof 3 lines of work.....
Then comes the phenomenon of e-mailing. The instant letter. Words to summarizes a novel of experiences.. bit by bit.... What ever happened to the pen and paper. The dialing of the phone. Coffee shop encounters. Things get out of hand when you ask a girl for her number and get a dot com in reply. Walking the streets of Japan, all you see are heads immersed in their phone, texting each other... where's the voice gone?
When you get too scared to meet, too nervous to talk, typing out the perfect letter, which took you three hours, is the only solution. Even now, as these fingers hit the keys, I know that my eyes will scan these words four or five times over just to make sure every word is perfect, every thought is clear, every letter spelt. Cuz i can.. and i will. What ever happened to that true writer, where the words only had meaning and expressions were made by the height of your looping "L"s and not by the Font.
Every one has written an e-mail where they have scanned many times over, looking for flaws. Sending it to other to proof. Making sure there are no hidden agenda's underneath. No mis-interpretations. Finally, making that one big final leap of faith and hitting "Send"...or maybe the "delete" button. E-mail gives us the power to be expressive and yet we are cautious. Hesitant.... You know after you hit that "Send" button, it's like a ticking time bomb. The stop watch has begun. These games were played with the phones, you know, like the 2 day call back rule, or was it 3.... anyways, it's navigated to the digital world where you know that you have a chance to put perfection to your words and you know, that the eyes on the other end have the choice to "delete" or write back. Either way, you play the waiting game. Counting the days (or maybe just the hours) that your inbox will have that "1" beside it. No matter what the response, or lack of one, you can still stay as cool, calm, or excited, as the dull type face letters created by your monitor....
The world no longer lives by faces or names, just e-mail addresses. How do we stay personal then. When do the lines become paragraphs again? When do the emotions seem deeper that a :( When can I find the satisfaction of stamp on the corner of an envelope..... words are just words as they are written.... I rest my pen...
Oh... i think i just got mail......
Insp: Carrie B.