Pens, Paper and Emails

I arrive home from another busy day in the office, checking the mail and ready to confront yet another over-due bill in the post and there it was, neat, hand written name and address, on an envelope decorated with blue water pebbles and a small heart sticker. My heart jumped with excitement. This is a rarity in today's lives that I longed to receive.

I throw everything on the couch, ignoring the beeping of the answering machine and tore open my surprise. Hi Amy. How are you? It's been a long time....

Indeed, it has been a long time, two whole years, in fact, since I last received a hand written letter in the mail. The letter is from Haiko in Japan, whom I met while backpacking Europe in 2003. We exchanged addresses, yet somehow, we've forgotten to give each other our email. The letter, beautifully written in thick black ink, recaptured the memories of us travelling on budget and taking turns in watching over our bags on the overnight train rides.

In this age where we are all too dependent on our computer screens, where we are able to communicate across the seven seas within a single click on the 'send' button, we often forget what it was like, and how much fun it was, when emails and online communities were still an alien concept and we relied our communications with postal mail.

Emails, chat and online communities - that's how everyone communicate these days. Even payment notifications can be received through email these days. I admit, I also have an account with one of these online communities. Through my profile, I have managed to 're-unite' with some of my high school friends, old friends from casual jobs and even, my own cousin, who lives overseas in the USA. They couldn't have found me otherwise, and I thought we had a contacts book published at graduation. I sit down and check my accounts and greetings pour in from all over the world. Twenty-five friends gave me a virtual hug. Two sent me kisses and one sent me a virtual puppy as a gift. Wait...what's this? Jane Huang wants to be your friend. Do you accept? A small notification box pops up to remind me. Funny that. My own sister asking me for friendship, we don't normally even speak on the phone.

It's a curious thought that technology in our society now seem to mould the social structure of today. The pace of the world has become so fast that it is no longer acceptable to be waiting two days to receive a letter. The concept of friendship is becoming a vague institution of material talk, of the ability to show off one's self for popularity. Whether one is popular or 'hip', depends on how many 'friends' they have listed on their profile, friends that they may not even met, yet, are willing to pour their hearts and soul to. Without an email these days means, you probably won't be able to keep up with all the daily gossip. Email, can send a message to hundreds of people with one click of the mouse, saving us time and money in trying to write to each friend individually. We share stories, and forward emails that reminds us, there are still people's names out there I know. Yet, we refuse to simply pick up the phone to get in touch. Chat programs are also becoming an important tool when it comes to forming a friendship circle. Many decisions are now being made on chat, and if you are not part of it? Sorry buddy, I guess you are not invited to the Friday night drinks.

While I pondered on these thoughts, I had finished reading Haiko's letter. I pick up a pen and a reasonable quality piece of paper, and started writing my reply.