Don’t Be Rude When Checking Your Email to Fax
Sure the internet and smartphones allow us lots of access to information, such as fax email, and all the latest updates, but it’s important not to be rude. Unless you have received a fax by email or an important message from your boss, you should continue making eye contact and holding conversation. Anything longer than a fifteen second disruption is not acceptable.
Of course when your phone vibrates and you see that it’s a message from your friend about last night, you feel cool. You put the conversation you’re having on hold, and the one you care about takes priority. And in a world of fellow inforati, that’s acceptable. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s inappropriate.
Self-aggrandizement is part of our digital age. You have this many Twitter followers, so you’re that much cooler than the other people you’re friends with. The meta-narration, i.e., “I’m doing this and this,” instead of focusing on the occurring activity, is also characteristic of our epoch. But it’s a lot like saying that you’re happy. As soon as you say it, you become a little less so.
Programs such as fax email can be liberating, but they can also be binding. It’s important to find a balance between real world interactions and the digital status updates that have become increasingly important in our daily lives.