Hold up! Wait a minute, Mr. Postman!
It is evident that nowadays, people seem to be communicating through means of instant messaging and e-mail. Apart from the traditional paper mail, folks find e-mailing faster, cheaper and efficient.
“Snail mail” is the term given to the old-fashioned way of sending letters and greeting cards due to slow postal delivery services. Pen pals used to communicate through sending each other letters in the mail because it was figured to be more sentimental, in the sense of being ‘keepsake’ material. However, times have changed, and so has the delivery system of many letters, cards, documents and what have you. It may be an advantage to have hard copy prints of certain material, but most people prefer to have their mail piled up in virtual inboxes nowadays.
“E-mail” is the shorthand word for “electronic mail” – a more modernized and convenient method of sending mail. This is what many people and pen pals have switched to for the purpose of faster communication and replies. In addition, it is also another way of contacting numerous people. By that, it is meant that a person can send the same message to a whole list of people, in just one click; literally.
More appropriately, e-mailing is the ‘no paper, no ink’ approach to modern communication among huge corporations, as well as common individuals. This hugely benefits people in terms of giving and getting responses instantly. We also save the world by not printing anymore, unless, of course necessary.
My personal take on this topic would be that the e-mail is a revolutionary phenomenon, since it certainly beats the postman at delivering letters right to your mailbox. In fact, you do not even need your mailbox – just a computer and an e-mail account. From sending audio or video clips, to greeting cards, and huge files in attachments, e-mailing definitely gets the job done with speed and effectiveness. Are there any cons about e-mail? Like everything else that has to deal with technology, of course. It is inevitable that you may get spam or junk mail, due to the paper trail left by previous e-mail messages. An example would be junk mail filters, which send unwanted mail from anonymous senders to a separate junk mail folder in your e-mail account. Computers could crash too and if you do not have a back up of your important or treasured documents or files, then you will have a problem retrieving them or they are lost forever. There is also a thing called “virus” on the computer, which could partially or totally damage your files. Overall, there are still many pros that overcome such inconveniences.
So unless, I am sending a parcel or the other party doesn’t have access on email, I prefer the convenience of just clicking and sending it.
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Jenny Nucum is a Grade 12 student at Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School, in Brampton. She likes reading books from authors such as Mitch Albom and Paulo Coelho, as well as writing poems, short stories, and most of all, songs. Her achievements include awards from poetry competitions, and being in the Honour Roll for 3 years, with hopes of graduating and receiving honours in her 4th year. After leaving high school, Jenny is looking forward to attend Ryerson University for the Journalism program, as she is planning to pursue a career in the newspaper industry.
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