anothernoise

There is a particular species of text that tests my patience more than spam calls about new credit cards. It’s the message that contains nothing but a lonely “Hello” or the eternally chirpy “Good morning.”   Don’t get me wrong, hospitality IS lovely. In fact, I enjoy a thoughtful greeting as much as the next person really. But for the love of God, text messages are not phone calls. A phone call thrives on small talk because it’s real-time; a text, however, is a written courier pigeon. You send it with a purpose. Which is why, when that pigeon arrives carrying nothing but a polite throat-clearing, I can’t help but think: What exactly am I supposed to do with this? It seems to be a habitamong public relations people, as if typing “Good morning” into WhatsApp were equivalent to pouring tea and offering a seat.  I imagine them hitting send and leaning back with a satisfied sigh, convinced they’ve already done half the work of persuasion. Hell noooo they haven’t.  A greeting ...