Fram

I am going to end the month of February with a list of my annoyances. Not to say that February is more annoying than other months and not that this blog lists anything else besides my annoyances, but the in past month, month and a half, there have been several things that I found really annoying. And since no one wants to hear others whine, I am just going to write about them (in no particular order)!

Annoying thing #1: Spam from acquaintances/people I forgot about.

I have set up several email accounts, each serving its own purpose. I have specifically designed accounts for spam, list-serves, “professional” contacts, school, etc. My day-to-day email account is set up for friends/family/people I'd like to email me and it gets no spam or useless emails on purpose.

Except that increasingly I find that several people are setting up list-serves to send out announcements about random things like getting involved in Amnesty International campaigns or some band’s performance I’ve never heard of. More annoyingly, people who barely know me put me on their announcement lists and I get random crap email I have no interest in. Or people whom I have not seen or heard from in years send out their announcement but when I reply with a personal note, they fall from the face of the Earth.

Clearly, there are times when it makes sense to send a mass announcement – but these announcements are sent by my close friends and I have interest in my friends and their activities. Plus, I receive such mass emails maybe once a month or so.

But the Amnesty International letter campaigns – oh c’mon – I live, breathe, sleep human rights. I don’t need them crammed down the throat every minute. If we used to make out and have not spoken to each other in years, I think this is a good indication that I have no desire to see you under any circumstances ever again. And if this is a ploy to see me, then send an individual email, inviting me to see your crappy band play.

Of course, these email start or end with instructions on how to be removed from the list-serve. Now, that’s nice. The question is, why put me on a list-serve without my interest/permission in the first place? Especially if I barely know you.

Sneak preview for the next editions (in no particular order): “Boy, are you stupid!” and “Oh, it’s really… um… pretty?”