So on this week’s assignment I really wanted to focus on the letters and the assignment, but at the same time I wanted to be able to relate the assignment to the things I learned in the book, that I not only could apply to what I was doing in this assignment, but also be able to use these concepts in other situations in my life. Three terms that really stood out to me while doing this assignment were functional alternatives, specialized channels, and emoticons. I definitely didn’t expect to be able to look at these words and identify my actions with them but I was definitely shocked after I finished this assginment.
The very first thank you letter I wrote was to my mother Deborah Claitt who has been a mother and a father to me since I was at the age of 4. My mom has been my everything and I obviously felt as though I should write her with the letter scenario because it seemed as though the letter would seem more sentimental and have more meaning than an email. As I read the chapter I realized I was using a specialized channel to communicate my thanks and appreciation to my mother because I felt that it would mean more to her if I wrote her and took time out of my day to sit down and write her a nice letter and buy stamps and mail it as opposed to sending her an email in which she never checks. I took a very emotional and loving approach to my letter and I already know she would be able to tell that my tone was so appreciative and that I was beig serious from all the I love you mom phrases.
I my sister Somaiya next and she would definitely have to be the next best influential person in my life. She took me under her wing being a big sister and she always looked after me and taught me so much about women. When I realized I had to email her, I unintentionally used several emoticons to show her that I was saying thanks in a fun goofy way by the lol(laughing out louds) and the smiley faces I left after each sentence. Although I emailed my sister and told her thanks in a more conventional way, I felt as though my message to both women was understood in their own unique way.
My sister replied to me within hours and she sent back a thanks email in return. She asked me why was I being so nice but thinking about the assignment and not wanting to look bad, I told her I just missed her and mom and I decided to write them to express my thanks. It took my mom a few days to get the letter all the way in Florida, but immediately after she read the letter, I received a phone call and she was crying her eyes out to me telling me she loved me and I made her so proud to be doing such a great job out here at OSU. I came to the conclusion at the end of this assignment that emails and handwritten letters are not functional alternatives. As I looked at my feedback and outcome from my letter and email, I could conclude that they bring out different emotions and definitely touch people in different ways.
February 6, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Ricky,
I can relate to your email when you said that you sister called you asking why you would do that. When I wrote my brother a letter he called me and asked why would I do something like that. After a while when you tell them why you are thankful for the things they have done instead of wondering why you thanked them through email or a letter sent them. For me, my brother seemed to be more thankful that I sent him a letter rather than just calling him and telling him.
February 6, 2009 at 8:00 pm
First of all, I really appreciate that you refrained from telling your mother and your sister that it was an assignment, I refrained myself because it seemed to undermine the genuine thought behind both letters.
Also, I agree that letters seem to be more heartfelt. What I find it interesting is that, after reading through a number of people’s blogs, the general consensus is that it feels slightly more awkward to compose a serious letter via e-mail. In both our cases, we received equally appreciative messages in return- but from previous e-mail communications- I can’t help but feel that the instantaneous aspect of e-mail is what makes serious ‘conversation’ to be so daunting. I am not sure how to put the thought into words, but I’ll do my best:
With letters, we can take the time to write them, the review them- perhaps choose not to mail them. Even if we do mail them, there are a number of days in between in which we can sort of rein in our own emotions and expectations for the response we hope to receive, and neutralize them. Often times, the response to letters is- letters. Or even the phone call you received- in both forms of response the return-sentiment is easily interpreted, either because they demonstrated equal gratitude/genuineness by letter-writing, or because you can hear it in their voice over the phone.
With e-mail, however, after typing a message, even if you review it then- the natural thing to do is click send. Which then, can leave you wondering- Oh shoot! Did I really just send that? What if it’s to sappy? What if I didn’t catch some mistake and it’s incoherent?? Then of course, e-mail is ‘instant’, so there is the chance that they will be online right at that moment, and receive it. So then, they could respond quite soon, perhaps too soon for you to really have neutralized your apprehension/expectation. Also, because e-mail is so instant, if they don’t respond for an exaggerated period of time, we cannot assume that it got lost in the mail, took longer than expected to deliver, etc.- we immediately conclude that a) they were freaked out by our message, or, b) they didn’t find it important to respond…etc.
Other than THAT, I think it’s wonderful that your letters were so appreciatively received, looks like you made two very important women very happy