Salutations

I have noticed a trend in the e-mails I've been receiving lately.  A lot of them are written as if they were a text message with no salutations.  Usually just one or two lines with not so much as my name and a comma, then not signed either.

I find this trend rather disturbing.  I don't mind getting a one line or two line e-mail -- Any mail is better than nothing :-) -- but I do find the impersonal text message like quality without any salutation of any kind to be cold and detached and yes, disturbing.

To me it's an indication of another step in the downfall of society.  Yes, it's a minor small thing and it probably shouldn't bother me as much as it does.  But, to me it's another step in the snowball effect that increasing technology has on undermining interpersonal relationships of any kind whether they be business or intimate familial relationships.

I do understand people being in a hurry to send a quick message.  But really, is it that much more difficult to type two more words -- my name and their name?  When an e-mail is addressed to me personally, I am much more likely to read it and reply. Now obviously, if it's in my inbox I know it was sent to me by someone I know and it tells me who it's from before I even click on it.  But that's not the issue.

To me it's more about etiquette and interpersonal relationships.  When you see your friend or family member, do you not greet them properly with a hello so and so and maybe even a hug?  You at least call them by name and say hello.  At least that's what etiquette would dictate.  So why is it different when greeting via electronic devices?

All of my e-mails used to begin and end with a proper salutation.  Now because of the increased usage of cellular phones and text messaging those habits are trickling down into all other areas of communication and interpersonal relationships.  More and more of my e-mails in my inbox are not specifically addressed to me and to not signed other than an electronic signature automatically added.  Even if they are specifically to me.  To me it's just really sad.

Pretty soon no one is going to know how to properly address and greet people.  I guess it's part of the dumbing down of society. Much like nobody under the age of 20 or so knows how to read or write cursive.  Everything is electronic and robotic.  It seems to me like with increasing technology society is becoming more apathetic, more robotic, less personal, and more reliant upon technology, Good thunder, people in the same room don't even talk to each other anymore.  They just text message each other back and forth.  It's very sad!

I have never owned a cell phone and don't text message people yet I'm being affected by the changes in society due to the increasing technology.  And not in a good way.

So, if you do happen to send me an e-mail sometime in the future, please take 5 seconds to write Tammy, and sign it -- your name, at the very least.  :-) It would be much appreciated.

That's my two cents.