In today’s fast-paced world time is precious, and my generation is fond of pointing out how many time-draining in-person interactions could easily be reduced to an email. While I agree with that sentiment when it comes to work meetings and voting I gotta say, I keep re-reading this email my buddy TJ sent me, and I think this email could have been, like, a really valuable face-to-face interaction.
TJ was my best friend in High School, and between the hecticness of each other’s lives and the pandemic, we haven’t seen each other in over three years. All of a sudden I read one email and I’m all caught up? That’s like, fucked up.
He knows I’m going to be visiting home in like three weeks. Why the hell did he burn through all this shit via email? I don’t know what the fuck we’re even going to talk about IRL now!
Dude has a fucking kid now, and he described him with so much detail and included so many photos that I’m already bored with the little fucker and its mother, who seems like an absolute catch and a wonderful person. That boredom should have happened in person!
Teej really opens up in this thing, shedding light on past turmoils I was unaware of and daily struggles I had no idea he wrestles with, as well as a detailed account of the rock bottom moment that inspired him to turn it all around, go to therapy, and start living his best life. It’s a story that totally would have been worth two hours at a coffee shop and that’s just the first few paragraphs!
And it’s not just all the deep personal shit either! He added his complete media diet, every movie he’s seen, every show he’s binged, and every book he’s read in the last 3 years, complete with his opinions on each.
He told me he loved me. We’ve never said that. It was always there, but we never said it. That’s a moment! That shit should not be dropped in my inbox!
He burned up all the talking points! We’re going to spend the whole time awkwardly re-hashing this email! No, fuck that. My only option is to reply “TLDR” and pretend like I don’t know any of this shit.