Thinking about epistolary romancing for last week’s column (Please mister postman), I wondered, Do romantic emails excite the same kind of response as the
old-fashioned love letter? I used to think that they could not. Yes, the
process of composing one is letter-like, but the speed of their transmission
puts them into a different category. The young still embrace wanting, they
being young and wanting being instinctual. But the pleasures of anticipation — not
the pleasure anticipated, but the pleasure of anticipating – has to be learned, and
nothing in their world teaches the young how to wait.
On
the other hand, their brains seem differently calibrated than are those of
people of my age. For them, an hour waiting for a reply must feel like a week
does to us. No wonder they text instead.
This article appears in Apr 3-9, 2014.
