Communication and Technology

Communication is somewhat of an eclectic mix of art, personality, style and details - to name a few. When you add technology to the mix you often get surprising results. Here is a (probably fictitious) story that was recently emailed to me.
A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they had spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules so the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday and his wife flew down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room so he decided to send an e-mail to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her e-mail address and without realizing his error he sent the e-mail.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her e-mail expecting messages from friends and relatives.

After reading the first message she screamed and fainted. The widow's son rushed into the room and found his mother on the floor and saw the computer screen which read:

To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I've Arrived
Date: June 1, 2006

Honey: I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send e-mails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then!

Hope your journey is as uneventful a mine was.

P.S. Sure is freaking hot down here.
Hope you enjoyed the story. I wish that I couldn't relate to it. Email has gotten into more trouble than I want to admit to. Maybe this will cause you to think twice before you next hit send.

8 comments:

  1. OK. That was good for a chuckle. :-) Thanks.

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  2. hehehe

    I had heard that before but it has been a while and it was funny enough to make me laugh again.

    The technology of today can be exasperating at times but it also brings people together who would never have known one another with out it.

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  3. One lesson I learned the hard way is that e-mail does a poor job of conveying emotion. An e-mail can easily come across as angry when I only wanted to emphasize the point. I've blown e-mail correspondence a time or three.

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  4. Great post -- and you are exactly right about being careful about hitting send. I see it far too often in my own workplace.

    Matt

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  5. Very good post, and like Danny I have learned the hard way about how email can't convey emotions!

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  6. yup, y'all are right...no voice inflections, no facial expressions. It can be a recipe for disaster! :-0
    I've seen emails sent that shouldn't have been sent. Ouch!
    I like that story, KB!

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