What DID we do during the Dark Ages??

by northstar at 07:17 PM on July 01, 2002

A few days ago, I was reading an article that posed the question: "What did we do before e-mail??" An interesting question, I thought, as I began to ponder the changes that technology has brought to my life over the past few years. I have to admit that I was staggered when the totality of the way my life has changed became evident.

For example, when was the last time I wrote a letter and mailed it? I'm not talking about composing a letter in MS Word, printing it on a laser printer, and sending into the black hole that is the US Postal Service. I'm talking about good old pen and stationery, writing it out longhand in all its illegible glory.

Hmmm...I'm honestly not sure I can remember the last time I did that. Like most of us, the vast majority of my correspondence now is done via e-mail. It's quick, easy, and I never have to find a stamp. Best of all, it doesn't cost 34 cents to send an e-mail. I did write a letter to my parents in MS Word last month, and I mailed it to them, but that doesn't count. They want nothing to do with the Internet. Since they're in their mid-60s, I've decided not to push the issue. I suppose their entitled to the neo-Luddite leanings.

In a way, I miss writing letters. The act of writing a letter in longhand did provide me a way to creativity that simply banging out an e-mail doesn't afford. When I was in college, I once wrote a letter on a roll of paper hand towels to a girlfriend who was in Costa Rica for a semester. By the time I was finished, the letter was 12 1/2 feet long. She told me that when she received the letter, the children in the small village gathered around, since mail was infrequent and always a cause for curiosity. She said that as she began unrolling the letter, the children's eyes became wide with fascination. Apparently, they'd never seen anything like that before. Try doing THAT with an e-mail....

I have no desire to re-visit "the good old days". It does leave me a bit wistful, though. Things happen so quickly now that it's easy to lose sight of the reality that it didn't use to be this way- and not so very long ago, either.

Still, most of y'all should be grateful that I don't write letters anymore. The most notable side-effect of technology is that my handwriting, which was illegible to begin with, has deteriorated noticeably. If I were still writing letters longhand, I'd have to supply a translator. At least my e-mails are readable....