The Curse of the :)

I know I should really be over this, given that I've been emailing and texting and generally 'in touch' with all forms of electronic communication for some time now, but I still misread emails.

I still find myself getting upset and annoyed with the sender as if they've purposely insulted me, even if their email is perfectly polite. I don't remember this ever happening with those things....what were they now? Pen and paper.....oh yeah; letters. I don't think I ever used any form of smilely face until not that long ago - I didn't use them on my first ventures online (in some obscure music forum if I remember correctly), and certainly not in my first emails. For a long time I didn't like to use them - and still don't to some extent - but sometimes, it's almost necessary.

I ask myself every day whether or not the person I'm writing to will know that I'm joking or not, and maybe 7 times out of 10, that person really knows me, so knows that it's a joke, and if they're not sure, they're sure enough of our friendship to call me on it, and ask WTF?!

I know of countless times people have ended up in fights due to a misunderstood text or email. I suppose it's because we're quick to send them and they're quick to be received. There's no real 'thought' behind them, e.g. 'How should I phrase this so there is no misunderstanding?' I don't recall ever thinking that when I wrote letters, but perhaps it was more automatic?

Despite the fact that I'm used to texts and emails, they can still come across - because I receive them so quickly - as instant replies, and if they're not structured 'correctly' I interpret it as a thoughtless reply. I tend to think of mine as speech, as in, 'Would I say this to their face?' Of course in that situation, you have your face with which to convey emotions, which brings me back to our friend Acid, I mean smilely face.

Perhaps it's just me, but I still have problems reading things, and I still think quite a lot before sending emails. Especially if I hope to build/maintain a relationship with the person on the other end.

Anyway. This was just a morning ramble. Perhaps I should think more before I blog. Who knows.