Love Letter #6

Dear Ray Tomlinson,

Thank you for making my life easier. I can’t, nor do I want to try to, imagine my life without you. Perhaps someone else would have invented e-mail had you decided to become a shoemaker or veterinarian, but you didn’t, and they didn’t, and so it’s to you I give my appreciation.

Because of you, professionally:
• I no longer have a callus on my middle finger caused by a purple pencil.
• I receive far fewer paper cuts—it’s now a monthly instead of weekly (or daily) occurrence. I am very happy about this; I hate paper cuts.
• I can e-mail edited pages to an author, saving (1) time, (2) effort, (3) money, (4) paper/trees, (5) burning of fossil fuels, and (6) trying to decipher author/editor handwriting.
• I do not have to use the phone for instant communication. I am very happy about this too; I gesticulate when I talk and often lack a filter—writing is a much more successful form of communication for me.
• I can be articulate and organized, and cultivate and maintain professional and friendly relationships with the people whose books I edit.

Because of you, personally:
• I can talk to many people at once. This greatly helps my many causes, and makes inviting people to parties much easier.
• I can catch faraway (and not-so-faraway) friends up on my life or send a low-commitment hello when I’m busy and can’t invest in a phone call. I’m not very good at keeping in touch, but I’m a great e-mailer.
• Friends can tell me about funny videos and interesting news articles I would have otherwise never encountered, and my life would be sadder.

So when people complain about spam and forwards and viruses, remember that no amount of this bad stuff will stop me from singing the praises of your invention. People get so upset because they rely so much on e-mail and treat it as if it is a necessity, available since the Garden of Eden, a natural entity human beings would die without, when really it is a luxury, a beautiful, beautiful luxury. Thank you for making my life more luxurious.

Love,
Tara