Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.
Email has become the primary way I communicate with my parents. I'm not much for talking on the phone, and my parents (being the most frugal people on earth) are more than happy to write long, detailed emails about how their lives are going, while keeping our phone conversations short and sweet. They've even figured out how to access their Yahoo! Mail accounts, so my mom's secretary doesn't have to print out each and every email for them to read. I love reading about all that is going on -- all the local news that may not make it to the internet (or that I don't have time to find), my dad's take on the news, all the latest family gossip, my mom's moral lessons regarding said gossip.
But there are some days when I look at my mom or dad's latest email and suppress a groan. Because my parents are uncommonly fond of forwarding me emails that, to an email and internet-savvy person, can only be classified as spam. Judging by the cc list and the number of times it has been forwarded, these emails have made the rounds -- numerous times -- among my parents' social circle. You know what I'm talking about: the virus warnings (Do not open any email from Bill Gates asking for help with his African AIDS project!!), the scam warnings (Do not leave your drink unattended, someone will spike it and you will wake up in a bathtub without your kidneys!), the chain emails (To save the souls in Iraq, say the Hail Mary five times, then forward this email to five of your closest friends......), and jokes (if I have to hear any more times how women change before and after marriage, I will throw up!).
Sometimes I really want to reply to one of these emails: "Just Don't Open Any Attachments In Emails From People You Don't Know!!" But I don't really have the heart to let my parents know just how irritating these emails are, any more than I would tell them off for reminding their grown daughter to dry her hair before going to bed (it's Filipino urban legend that your eyesight deteriorates if you do this!). After all, they're just looking out for me. So I smile and delete (no way am I going to forward any of them!), and wait eagerly for their next "real" email. Isn't it funny how my email relationship with my parents so closely mirrors our real life relationship? It just shows how much a part of our lives email has become!
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
1 Comments, Leave yours here:
LOL...I have an aunt and a cousin that do this. It does still sometimes drive me crazy, and I'm often tempted to quote snopes.com back to them to prove that what they've forwarded to me isn't even true (!!). But, like you, I realize that they mean no harm, and must actually think they're passing on important information, so I just take a breath and DELETE. There...now everybody's happy! :)
(Have to say, though, there is at least one advantage in my grandmother never having used a computer in her life. I can just imagine the things she would send me!)
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