Cleaning out the mail

The other day I had so many emails in my inbox I had to start deleting/saving items. Some things I needed to keep because--well, just because.

But what were all those emails about? I was able to break them down into a starting sort of five categories: notes/letters/"check out this link;" notifications; subscriptions (news, politics, etc./businesses); The "Guess what?/Did you know?/This is funny!/Isn't this terrible?!; and the guilt-list of petitions/pass-alongs. I'm sure by the time I finish this entry several more possible categories will come to mind.

I love the notes/letters group. Friends and family touching base and letting me know what is happening in their lives. There are many that have pictures attached. Personal files for a division of these emails help me keep the ones with information I need (or think I need). It is hard to delete any that have photos if I don't download them to my gallery.

Next in the list are notifications. Since I notify my high school classmates of information about fellow EHSers and their families and upcoming events, I look forward to receiving these mailings myself. One of the churches I have been visiting has me on the mailing list for the prayer chain. In comes the request; up goes the lifting. These, too, are treasured.

What about the subscriptions? Well, most of them I put myself on. No one to blame but moi. The catalogue sites selling things I'm hesitant to drop because I just might need them one day. However, many of those I have never placed an order with. And JoAnn's fabrics sends coupons I just might use one of these days. And I need all the ammunition I can get from the GOP in this election year!

Now I get to the emails that sometimes rub me the wrong way--the Guess What? etc. set. The funny ones I check out and delete on the spot. I do enjoy a good laugh the same as everyone else. And I have received awesome photos in this category, especially the ones of earth from the shuttle showing the night/day over north Africa and Europe and , recently, a link to a WWII European theater map with active info.

Also in this division are the "Isn't this terrible?!" spammings. If the sender had taken a moment to check snopes.com (urban legend), they would have chucked it. Most of these are false. If I have time to check them out, I do so and forward (reply all) the link to show the error. Not too many of these items get passed along from me to others these days.

Bottom of the list and at number five is petitions and pass-alongs (great things will happen; bad luck will strike you; "If you believe in God..."). First off, snopes.com reinforces the notion that petitions being signed online are never effective--can't be. So why send them at all? Dump them now and stop the bleeding.

As for guilt laid out on those who don't forward a particular email--just forget it. If you just think about it: Who's going to know? I am more offended by the cutline than the email's original message.

There are also the "erase my answer and put your answer in" and pass along. If I have time and the list is not too long, I MIGHT do it for you, but I will rarely pass it along to others. Guess I'm getting too tired. Besides, no one responded to the last on I forwarded (lol).

A couple of years ago I passed along an email spam I agreed with. I was selective with my chosen recipients. One of them wrote back and said, "You don't need to pass along your agenda to me" (more or less). It caused me to take a second look at what I was sending to whom.

There is a journalistic reminder that "if in doubt, take it out" applies in editing articles. In this instance when editing emails, I would say "hit the delete key."