I hate political e-mails

Posted in Mom Stuff
by besttech

By Suzette  NEW JERSEY MOMS BLOG

I recently started receiving e-mails from an address I didn’t know. They were mostly innocuous pictures of people I didn’t know on vacation. I figured maybe I knew the photographer (hence not pictured) and would just politely delete the e-mails after scanning the pictures. Then the person started sending me political e-mails. And ones I didn’t agree with.

Usually, I figure there are enough e-mails going around that I don’t need to make it worse by forwarding ones I don’t like or even responding to them. But lately I’ve felt that was just too passive and that maybe I should try to counteract the negativity in the world.

So, for these e-mails I researched the content and found some information that presented a more centered approach. I then hit reply all — and I do mean all, anyone who was listed as having got the e-mail through its series of forwards. I had never done anything like that before and I’m not sure what possessed me. Did I really think that random strangers would read the information? Did I think that they would want information when they had obviously been the intended recipients?

But I hit send and it was a done deal.

Now, I have been getting e-mail responses from people I do not know. They want to know how I got their e-mail and who I am. They want to know what is wrong with me that I don’t believe the extreme views of a wild Internet-fueled posse. When I explained to one person that I thought the matter deserved some research and consideration, they told me I was irrational and that I had been drinking the liberal Kool Aid. Most of the respondents just want me to not e-mail them again — ever. And the feeling is mutual.

I can’t wait for this political season to be over, and maybe some of this energy can be spent in fixing problems that aren’t easily captured in an e-mail.

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This is an original post from the New Jersey Moms Blog (http://www.newjerseymomsblog.com).

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(c) 2008, Suzette.

As written for New Jersey Moms Blog, http://www.newjerseymomsblog.com.

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