Observation of the day: When you don’t hear from someone despite there being so many damn ways to connect, it hurts more. It feels like a bigger disconnect than if we only had the option to write letters. I would be more patient if I knew that I’d only hear from someone via mail… but now? Now I can expect to hear from someone instantly through a huge number of channels in a couple clicks of a button. When you get absolutely nothing from all channels, it feels like a bigger disconnect and louder silence than staring at an empty mailbox. At least back then you could say “maybe the letter was lost in the mail or went to the wrong house”. Now, we are left staring at “No New Notifications” knowing the disconnect is purposeful.
So we check our phones and refresh our email, holding our breath as we do in case that ever changes.