Communicating in the 21st Century

As mentioned in my previous post, I've become internet impaired somewhat. The problem I found was really maintaining communication, primarily with people who live abroad.

I'm trying to figure out a way around this. So far I've got to calling cards and writing letters.

The former wouldn't be such a problem if it wasn't so expensive. £5 calling cards just don't last that long depending on the country you are calling. And it always lies to you too. You'll be in the middle of the conversation and an automated message will promt you that you have 200 minutes remaining then appoximately 20 mins later you're down to 100 minutes. The other problem is that its rather difficult to call someone without arranging a proper time between the both of you to have the conversation, and that's normally done on the internet.

Now letter writing is much cheaper than calling cards but not as free as the e-mailing. And the problem in the 21st century is that letter writing is becoming a long lost art from. With an e-mail you can screw it up as much as you like but the del or backspace keys will always be there for you and bail you out in your darkest hour. Del and Backspace are non existent in reality. Well they are but they exist in more cumbersome forms such as an eraser or tippex and they're just not as clean or time efficient as those two overused keys on my laptop. Those two keys can help you turn your literary skills from Katie Price to Marcel Proust in 5 secs. Pen + Paper = Fend for yourself!

But whilst I curse the time and effort in writing a letter I must praise the beauty of receiving a letter. Really, when was the last time you received a hand-written letter from a friend? And how did you feel when you received it and opened it?

For me receiving a hand-written letter is genuinely one of the most touching and heart-felt acts in this world. It's a beacon of light emanating from dark cloud of bills and final reminders that reside at the bottom of the front door. The time and consideration someone has put into writing to you is priceless. Reading their thoughts and anecdotes that were penned down in their own unique handwriting style is a beautiful thing. Arial and Verdana just don't do it for me like handwriting does, sorry guys!

Now all I gotta do is figure out where these things called "stamps" are sold...