This is the third time I’ve read this book. And the first time I’ve finished it. I wouldn’t say I didn’t like it the first two times. But, it was like eating paste. It’s not that it’s necessarily bad, but eventually you get tired of chewing on it.
I didn’t understand the book at all. I’m not sure I do this time either. After all, this is one of the greatest books every written according to most lists. I don’t pretend to understand the Nathaniel Hawthorne’s brilliant use of imagery, foreshadowing, or any of a dozen other literary devices that he utilized and very possibly pioneered.
Originally published in 1850 in Boston, it tells a story set centuries earlier, before the birth of this grand American Experiment. Many later writers cited Hawthorne and this work specifically as influential in their own growth as writers.
The most elemental aspects of the story are probably familiar to you. A woman Hester Prynne committed adultery. As a result she has to wear the letter “A” as a badge of shame. Oh, and no surprise, the handsome young preacher is the father of her illegitimate daughter, Pearl.
That much I knew from the last two times I tried to read it.
For some reason, this time it wasn’t just paste in my mouth. I was able to peak into the world of 1850 and like a reflection of a reflection, I was also able to see an 1850 view of the seventeenth century and Puritan Salem.
I was surprised at how short the book was. At 180 pages, I had to check (several times) to make sure I wasn’t reading a Cliff Notes version. (Yeah, that’s a dated reference, but I’m leaving it there.)
The story is surprisingly modern for a book that is 170 years old. There were twists that I didn’t see coming and sometimes surprises about the parts I did see coming.
At times reading it was like watching opening the back of a pocket watch and watching it work. I can see great craftsmanship, but I don’t pretend to understand very much of it at all.
What I Liked
Like Tess of the d’Urbervilles, that I recently reviewed, Hawthorne spends much more time than modern stories on descriptions. The action is pretty simple, but the descriptions of the the Custom House, the woods, the stage where the condemned stand, they went at great length and were expertly done. I enjoyed how Hawthorne developed the story and the characters.
He breathed great life into a story from hundreds of years ago.
What I Didn’t
At certain times, I could still taste the paste from the first two attempts. The first chapter, “The Custom House” seemed like a chapter out of the wrong book. Several times, I stepped out of the story to again literally check the copyright data to make sure I was reading “The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne.” Even now, I’m not sure what that first chapter was supposed to do.
Also, like my problem with Tess, there were times where the span of years and their impact on written English was simply too great. Phrases, settings, even social mores were sometimes challenging to understand.
What It Means To You
I put “The Scarlet Letter ” on my list of books to read before I die. If you have such a list, this masterpiece by Hawthorne would be a worthy addition. And it’s a not a long book. But, having finally made it to the end, I have no desire to again tread the streets of Salem with Prynne, Pearl and the people early New England.
My Rating
It may be one of the greatest books every written, but any book that I have to try three times to finish, gets no better than a 3 of 4 stars.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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I read this book because it was my sister’s book. She passed away this year. Many of her novels came to me.
I really knew nothing about it, except that it is considered one of the 100 greatest books ever written. My sister read all 100. Of course, the list of the greatest 100 books ever written is a pretty subjective list. Tess of the d’Urbervilles falls somewhere between 70 and 90 on most lists that books from all over the world.
So, I didn’t have high expectations. I can confidently say that Tess exceeded my low expectations. In fact, if I had high expectations, it would have still exceeded them.
Thomas Hardy wrote Tess of the d’Urbervilles in 1891. Nearly 150 years ago. And yet, the story was a gripping and captivating as anything I’ve read.
The story is about Tess Durbeyfield. She’s both victim and heroine. Despite being written in what might be considered a more genteel age, the story involved rape, murder, illegitimate birth, infant mortality. Hardly genteel topics.
But, the amazing thing was Hardy’s writing. His use of language sometimes made me want to go back and reread a passage just to enjoy the interplay of words. He spent entire paragraphs describing the how a barn looked. Or how to properly milk a cow.
The story at times didn’t move like many modern stories. Instead, it strolled through the English countryside. Hardy’s characters come alive (and some die) in a way that makes you want to meet some of them, and makes you want to punch some of them in the face.
Every hour spent reading this amazing book was an hour, a day or an entire season spent with Angel Clare, Tess, enjoying the beautiful English countryside.
What I Liked
Virtually everything. The settings, the characters, the plot. It was masterful. I especially enjoyed reading someone describing a world I didn’t know anything about, in a manner that was contemporary. It was like time travelling but, only being able to see and hear, but not interact.
What I Didn’t
At times Hardy’s prose is too far removed. He uses phrases or objects that are contemporary to him, but I had no idea what they were. Sometimes I got it from context. Other times, I just allowed myself to be confused and went on. It knocked me out of the story briefly, but it was such an engaging story, I had no trouble jumping right back in.
What it Means To You
While I enjoyed this book, I can imagine those who wouldn’t enjoy it. As I said, Hardy uses words to paint pictures, great sweeping vistas and warm intimate settings. But, if you are reading to “find out what happens next” you are going to go pages and pages before the next piece of dialogue. You might even consider it slow.
My Rating
If I am reading books from the 100 Greatest Books list, I would imagine I’m going to come up with a lot of four our of four stars.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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Maybe it’s just me. But there are words I have strange relationships with. For example, as a young man I read “The Haunted Palace” by Edgar Allan Poe. It includes the verse:
Wanderers in that happy valley,
Through two luminous windows, saw
Spirits moving musically,
To a lute’s well-tuned law,
Round about a throne where, sitting
(Porphyrogene!)
In state his glory well-befitting,
The ruler of the realm was seen.
The sixth line intrigued me. I had never seen the word “Porphyrogene” before. In the late 1970’s it was harder to find information than it is today. Many of you probably also did not know the definition of porphyrogene.
As an inquisitive eighth grader I set out to find what it meant. I eventually discovered a wonderful magical book called the The Oxford English Dictionary. My school library had the condensed version. The full version is 21 volumes.
It’s quicker and easier to find definitions today:
Porphyrogenite: A Byzantine emperor’s son born in the purple or porphyry room assigned to empresses, hence a prince born after his father’s accession; a person born into the nobility.
Interestingly, Poe’s version porphyrogene is not a normal English conjugation. But, that’s the beauty of being a writer, you can make up your own words.
So, porphyrogenite is one of my favorite words. It’s a word I’m still waiting for a chance to use in conversation.
Dad is a word I’m not as comfortable with. And it’s a word I sometimes have difficulty using in conversation. My mother was married several times. I called my birth father Dad. But, my step-fathers were always known by their first names. I called my step-grandparents “grandma and grandpa.” Aunts and Uncles were given their honorary titles. But, Dad was a reserved word.
My mother married Lloyd Bliss and a few years later he adopted my older brother and me. I had called him Lloyd for those few years. Dad was not a name that came easily. Mostly, I just made sure I got his attention. I don’t think in the decades that I knew him that I actually called him Dad more than a half dozen times.
When I married, I got some wonderful in-laws. Others who had married into my wife’s family called my father-in-law dad. I tried. I really did. Instead, he was Joe. One of the greatest men I ever knew. And a man I’m happy to be related to.
As you all know, I have 13 children. I enjoy being called Dad, father, even Daddy. To my grandchildren I’m Papa. The same name I called my grandfather.
Four of my children are married. I approached each of my sons-in-law to have a conversation. . .about the word dad.
You can choose to call me whatever you’d like. You can call me Rod, or if you’d like you can call me Dad. Whatever you are comfortable with is fine by me.
My sons-in-law are not as uncomfortable with the word as I am. They’ve each chosen to call me Dad. It’s a decision I’m very happy with. They are good men and I’m honored they would call me dad.
However, it did recently create a problem. One of my sons-in-law is an immigrant from Haiti. He’s going through the naturalization process. There’s an interview process where the immigration officials ask questions to determine if the marriage is a sham.
And what is the name of your father-in-law?
Um. . .
Come on, honey, what’s my dad’s name?
I don’t know. I’ve just always called him Dad.
And that’s a name I’ll gladly answer to. Even if at times I had trouble saying it.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
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LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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Measure twice, cut once.
– Woodworkers Proverb
I enjoy woodworking. This Christmas I’m working on several projects for family. I’m making toys for my grandkids. I’m making gifts for my children. I have a lot of kids, 13. I’m not making something for all of them. I also have a fair number of grandkids, 10. I am making something for each of them.
Many of the projects are copies. I’m making multiple copies of the same thing. (Sorry, to be vague, but my kids read this sometimes.) Anyway, as I was working on the projects I got to thinking about the old proverb, “Measure twice, cut once.” It means, that you have to be sure that your measurement is right before you commit to cutting the wood. You cannot put the wood back together if you measure incorrectly.
But, I realized there is an extension to the proverb. I have to cut dozens of 2×2 pieces. Some are 12″ long. Some are 30″ long. If I were to measure each piece, I’d actually come out with a worse project than if I only measure once.
This is a miter saw. It’s used to cut pieces of wood to a specific length. You measure the distance on the wood. Put a mark and then cut at the mark.
The saw blade is 1/8th of an inch wide. So, if I measure 15 1/4″ and I put the mark on the left or right of the blade, I can end up with a cut that is 15 1/8th” or 15 3/8th”, a difference of up to 1/4 of an inch. If I am trying to build a series of projects, it’s important that they all be exactly the same.
There’s a technique to ensure that every cut is exactly the same length. If you look at the picture again, you’ll notice that a cut 2×2 is sitting on top of two uncut 2x2s. The trick is to cut a single piece at the right length. Then, use that piece to “measure” all the rest of the pieces. I simply line up the ends and line the cut piece up with the saw blade.
Using this method, every piece is exactly the same length. Measure once, cut many times.
Some of my tasks at work are being moved to a new team. I spent years designing the protocols that govern this part of my job. I realized that these protocols are my measuring piece. They ensure that every interaction follows the same path. (Because that’s the path that leads to a successful resolution.)
Without a plan, without a template, without a protocol, you have to measure each piece individually. You have to redesign the system every time you have problem come up.
Measuring once allows you to make as many cuts as you want or need.
(Just make sure that first cut is accurate. Maybe measure it twice to be sure.)
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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First let’s get some terms clear. IT, is Information Technology. They typically have guys with job titles like DesktTop Engineer, Program Manager, Database Analyst. They are the ones who fix stuff when it breaks. (To be fair they are also the ones who built the stuff that keeps breaking, so it makes sense they should fix it. But, why don’t they simply built it so it doesn’t break in the first place? That’s a topic for another time.)
You may have seen reference to an “IT Freeze.” It’s often accompanied by a date range. A typical IT Freeze will be from Dec 11 through January 2: two weeks before Christmas until the day after New Years.
This is a period when lots of businesses are slowing down. I know more than one tech company that required much of their staff to take time off the week between Christmas and New Years.
A Freeze just means that no system changes can be made. Typically there are exceptions. Remember that discussion about stuff breaking? Yeah, fixing broken stuff typically gets an exception. But, no scheduled changes are allowed.
At first this might seem stupid. I mean, what better time to work on the computer networks than during the dead period around Christmas?
But, there’s logic behind the decision. The first piece is absolutely selfish. Do you like to work on Christmas or New Years? Neither do IT folks.
But, there’s a more important reason. Because, honestly if stuff breaks on Christmas, we are going to be working Christmas.
But, the last two weeks of the year are very important to a particular group of employees: the accounting department. In the United States all employers must send out income tax information to all their employees by January 31. If they are late, it’s literally a crime. Like get arrested type of crime.
So, it’s really important to the accounting group that the systems be as stable as possible during the last few weeks of the year as they run massive reports.
You do not want to be the engineer that brings down the network during the last two weeks of the year. That’s what a Freeze is for. It introduces stablity.
Many companies have started pushing their freezes back to the beginning of December instead of just two weeks before Christmas. Again, there’s a logical reason.
Many projects have a completion date of December 31. Often you don’t want to carry the accounting informaiton for a project from one year to teh next if you can avoid it. So, project managers try to push to geth all of their project changes in before the Freeze window. That means a lot of change and churn in the network.
And that much churn often means stuff breaks as new systems are loaded into the network. And IT wants to be able to fix all that stuff before the Freeze starts.
After all, they broke it, might as well be them that fixes it.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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Pandemic. . .I mean, “What did you do during the COVID pandemic?
My oldest grandchild is six years old. She calls me Papa. For nearly 20% of her life, and for most of the life she can remember, she’s been living under the pandemic restrictions. My youngest grandchild is a little over a day old. His entire life has been lived under the pandemic. But, in fairness, his entire live has also been lived on a Friday. His parents are both COVID+. And he was born premature, so he’s hanging out in the NICU. Utah has several Level 3 NICUs and 1 Level 4 NICU. He’s in a Level 3 on a ventilator and using a feeding tube.
Tomorrow, is my anniversary. My lovely wife and I have been married for more than three decades. Today we did anniversary stuff. We went to a couple movies. We went to dinner. We drove through a Christmas light show.
During this pandemic, our family has had marriages, deaths and births. We have seen kids gain and lose jobs. We’ve built projects, planted and harvested gardens. We’ve had children go on missions.
Christmas is coming up soon. Last year, I made some footlockers, wooden names and letters and handmade wooden gifts. This year, I’m making some footlockers, wooden names and letters and handmade wooden gifts.
The vaccines have finally arrived. They are being given to the politicians and the healthcare workers. Eventually there will be enough for all of us. At least all of us that want to get vaccinated.
The point is that eventually, the virus will be contained and controlled. Life will return to normal. Or, More accurately it will return to an equilibrium that will become our new normal. I would imagine that masks will become more acceptable in general population. Asian countries have been using them for years.
We will probably also, at least those of us who are decision making age, will always be slightly leery of crowds. Terms like “social distancing” will stay in our lexicon although we may eventually turn it into a punch line.
With the new addition we have a total of 10 grandkids. Nine are living. I expect to be telling them stories for many, many years. And they will remember this time. Or, the history books will tell them about this time. And they will ask, “Papa, what did you do during the pandemic?”
The answer will be simple, really. We worked. We got married. We had babies. We found and lost jobs. We went on missions. We celebrated holidays. In short, we lived.
And we tried to stay safe.
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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He’s one of the Facebook friends that you meet because they are a friend of a friend. I wasn’t sure we had much in common, but I’m pretty open on my facebook page. Unless someone is an obvious Bot or Troll, I’ll accept the friend request. (I hide many of them.)
And with the Facebook algorithm who knows which of your friends’ posts you’ll see? So, it was unusual to see a post from him. And the post was even more unusual. Not text. Just a picture. And not like a meme or something. Just a picture of an actor wearing a baseball uniform.
It was Ray Liotta. And although it wasn’t clear in the picture, he was dressed as Chicago White Sox outfielder Joe Jackson frin the movie “Field of Dreams.” He was known as “Shoeless Joe.” Jackson got the nickname not because he played barefoot. He wore shoes like every other ballplayer. But during one game his shoes hurt so he took them off and played the rest of that game barefoot. The nickname stuck.
But, Jackson was most famous for his nickname, of course. He, along with seven of his White Sox teammates, cheated and intentionally lost games in the 1919 World Series. They were known informally as “The Black Sox.”
But, in the movie, Jackson isn’t a villain. He’s not even viewed as a bad guy. He is dead, of course. The movie is set in 1989. Jackson died in 1951. The movie is almost a redemption project for Joe Jackson. Characters talk about how Joe might not have even been in on the cheating, (he was) because he had such a great series (he did.)
That’s not even the worst bits of bad baseball in the movie. Ray Liotta bats right handed and throws left handed. Joe Jackson batted left handed and threw right handed. But in the context of the movie?
No one cares.
Ray eventually invites the other 7 of the cheaters, all banned for life from baseball. They play on the “Field of Dreams” that Kevin Costner built in the middle of a corn field. They play a pickup game. But, it’s clear that one of the players on the field is wearing catcher’s gear. But, the catcher on that 1919 White Sox team was Joe Jenkins. He was not one of the cheaters. In fact, one of the ways the cheaters were found out is that the two pitchers who cheated, Eddie Sicotte and Lefty Williams didn’t throw the pitchers that Jenkins called. But, in the context of the movie?
No one cares.
See, “Field of Dreams” isn’t really a baseball movie. It’s really about parents connecting with their kids. It’s about a romanticized view of America that was all apple pie and dirt infields. Even the big “conflict” in the movie is irrelevant. The farmer plowed under his crop to build the field and now he’s going to go broke.
I lived on a farm in Minnesota for a year. We were just North of Iowa. Here’s the thing: a baseball field is probably about 5 acres. A corn farm is hundreds of acres. No way, a little 5 acre baseball field will make a difference. But, in the context of the movie?
No one cares.
I hit the LIKE button on my friend’s post. As I said, there was no context, not text, nothing to explain by he posted it on a Tuesday in December.
But, the World Series wrapped up over a month ago. Spring Training won’t start for for another couple of months. This is the baseball dry season. So any baseball reference is appreciated.
And it was a really good movie. . .even if it got most of the baseball wrong.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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My son recently left home. Well, sort of.
He’s become a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons. It’s something that many Latter-day Saint young men do right after high school. They are those young men you see in white shirts and ties, riding bikes, or walking around your town.
Missions typical last two years. Although with COVID, nothing is typical anymore. My son has been called to work in Indianapolis, Indiana. He’ll be teaching people about the church and about Jesus Christ.
Missionaries and their families pay expenses during a young man’s mission. Missionaries don’t work at regular jobs during their term of service. They devote 100% of their time to service and teaching.
But, before they can teach, they have to learn. “Back in my day” we attended the Missionary Training Center. It’s located just down the valley from my house, in Provo, next to Brigham Young University. “English speaking” missionaries spend two weeks in the MTC, as it is called. They spend their time learning the doctrines of the church and how to teach.
“Language” missionaries, those called to teach in a language other than English, spent two months at the MTC. The additional time is psent learning a new language. When I served a mission to Chicago in 1984, I spent two months at the MTC learning American Sign Language.
But COVID has changed everything. There are no large gatherings. No classrooms full of young men and women. No assemblies of thousands of young adults gathered to listen to church leaders.
But, life goes on. Work goes on. Service continues. My son entered the MTC today. But, he never left home. He has set up a computer in my lovely wife’s sewing room. He wakes up in his own bedroom. Showers, gets ready for the day. Dresses in his white shirt and ELDER BLISS nametag and then sits down at the sewing table which serves as a makeshift remote MTC. It’s called the “Home MTC.”
He’ll folow this routine for the next couple of weeks. Sometime shortly after New Years, he’ll pack his brand new suitcases with his only slightly less new sits and shirts and shoes and we’ll take him to the Salt Lake City International airport where he’ll board a flight for Indianapolis. He’ll be there for possibly the next 23 and a half months.
I say “possibly” because with COVID, nothing is certain. Nothing except the understanding that life, work, service, us. . .we’ll go on.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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We are a secret society
That scares some people.
We are a fraternity
That angers some people.
We give no concern to religion or politics
That confuses some people.
I’m a Mason. A member of the Free & Accepted Masons of Utah. Specifically I’m a member of Story Lodge #4. Story Lodge is the oldest lodge chartered under the Grand Lodge of Utah. It was chartered on October 8, 1872. The first leader, a position called Grand Master was Captain William Rufus Story.
Interestingly, Captain Story, or Worshipful Master Story, was not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon. In fact, none of the Masons in those early days were Latter-day Saints. Many, like Capt Story, were in Utah due to military service.
In fact, it wasn’t until 1983 that Latter-day Saints were allowed to join the Masons. The two organizations had a pretty significant falling out in the early days of the Mormon church. And the Masons, an organization that is hundreds of years old and traces it’s mythology back thousands of years to Soloman’s Temple in Jerusalem, has a very long memory.
I became exposed to Masonry through my uncle. He was a lifelong Mason. I later found out that my grandfather had also been a Mason all his life. But, simply having family members who were members of the fraternity is not enough to induce someone to make the commitment. And actually carries no weight in Masonic circles. It’s in no way a patriarchy.
In learning about Masonry, from my uncle and from the men who would later become my Masonic brothers, I learned about Masonry. I learned its history, but more importantly I learned its present. I learned about the current state of Masonry.
I’m older than 50 but younger than 60. And yet, I’m the oldest in my lodge. Not only have I been a member of the Lodge the longest, I’m also the eldest. While it may seem like Masons are a bunch of white-haired old men, the truth is that a younger generation has joined the ranks and strengthened the order.
Masonry is specifically designed to make good men better; better fathers, better husbands, better brothers and better friends. But, is that enough to join the fraternity? Certainly there are other organizations that help you become better men. Many civic and church organizations do a great job of helping to better their members.
Masons and Masonry for me transcend both my familial connection and its noble mission. I find I’m drawn to the commaraderie. My lodge is made of men that I like and I care about, and who care about me. They are less than a family but more than aquaintences. They are men with whom I share a mutual trust and with trust, respect.
This year I’m the Chaplain for my lodge. Mostly it’s a ceremonial role. I say non denominational prayers at the start and end of each meeting. But, I’m also supposed to provide comfort for our members in time of sorrow or grief.
This year, that’s a real possibility. One member has a family member dying. There are will many of us that will deal with the COVID virus infecting our families.
I’m thinking that the Chaplain’s role will be more than ceremonial this year. And througout the year when called on, I’ll answer the call. I’ll provide comfort where I can and stand with those that mourn when needed.
And when it’s my turn to weep, when it’s my turn to suffer, I know that these men, these imperfect yet faithful men will stand by me. For as long as they may be needed. After all, Masons have long memories.
That is what induced me to become a Mason.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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We had a family Zoom meeting last night. We haven’t had one in a few months. In fact, I think the last one was before my sister passed away in September. It was the last time some of us talked to her. I guess none of us were interested in addressing the hole that her absence left in the the meeting and in our lives.
My dear mother suggested we start them up again. It’s not a lot of people. My two brothers, my dear mother and we added a new addition this time, my niece, one of my sister’s three daughters.
Like many Zoom meetings we are scattered across multiple states, Utah, California, Arizona and both Eastern and Western Washington. My dear mother did most of the talking the way mothers do.
How’s the job? How’s the family? Howa are the new babies and the baby to be born?
How is the missionary doing? What are your plans for Christmas?
I don’t mean that she was monopolizing the conversation. Not at all. Instead she was simply directing it. And she was absolutely enjoying it. The conversation switched to my brothers’ kids and communicating with Grandma,
But, you know, she doesn’t call. She only texts me.
My brother pointed something out,
It’s actually because she’s being polite.
What do you mean? It’s rude. I’d rather she would just call.
Do you know what the SLA, or Service Level Agreement, is on email delivery? It’s not automatic. It’s within 24 hours. At least it was last time I checked, but granted that has been several years. But, the point is that email was designed as a store-and-forward protocol. Systems talking to each other would pass the email from one server to the next. It would sit in a queue until the next system picked it up.
It was was very much like regular mail, or snail-mail as it was called. When you mail a letter, it sits in your mailbox until the postal worker picks it up and then drops it off at the post office. From there it might get sent to a different post office, where another mail carrier would pick it up and deliver it to your house.
At its heart there are many more similarities between email and snail-mail. But, the fact is that email is not instantaneous. It’s gotten much faster and much more robust since I started supporting WordPerfect Office back in 1988.
The reason email mimicked snail-mail and was a store-and-forward system. It’s a very efficient method. Imagine if the only time you could send someone a letter is if they were at home at the exact time you wrote it? (Okay, first imagine that you are back to actually writing letters. Then imagine if the person had to be home when you wrote it.)
That would be very inconvenient. And further, imagine that if they did happen to be at home when you sent it, they had to immediately stop whatever else they were doing and read your letter. Even worse, right?
Now, let’s talk about my niece texting her grandmother. For that matter, let’s talk about texting anyone vs calling them. If you call someone, they must be at their phone and they need to drop whatever they are doing and talk to you right away. That’s kind of inconvenient for the person being called isn’t it? You might even say it’s rude.
Now, think about texting. You send the text at your convenience. The person reads it at their convenience. They choose to reply, also at their convenience.
My dear mother isn’t completely comfortable with texting. She grew up with snail-mail and telephones. She’s actually very tech savvy at this point. Before she sold it, her CPA firm was one of the first to install email before any of the other firms in town.
But, old habits die hard. It’s ironic that the younger generation thinks it rude to call without texting first, while the older generation thinks it’s rude to text instead of calling.
Remember that the next time you talk to your grandmother. . .or your grandkids.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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