Makin up a song about email in a chat log
#1: my brain is exploding with email, I don’t understand
whyyyyyy
whyyyyyyy so much email
#2: why are you getting so much email?
who is sending it?
#1: many peeps
#2: networking peeps?
#1: all sorts of peeps. Some is forwarded from [university]. Some is colleagues. Some is friends, some is listserv, some is “your order has shipped”, some is my mom
#2: “your order has shipped” is always nice. Does your mom have an unsubscribe button?
#1: hahaha unsubscribe mom from sending me stuff she thought I might like that is either irrelevant or I thought about it 3 years ago. Sigh.
[begin music]
My password expires in 30 days…. would you please allow us to use your stimuli (sure!), would you like to read these books or attend this sale or be a co-author, the conference information has changed….. eeeeeemail.
The third co-author needs to talk to you, here is your lease, here is the name of a headhunter, our baby is cute….. eeeeeeemail.
(Bridge: Here’s your receipt; would you mind taking this survey?)
Your review is due, someone’s changing their email address, times for riding…. eeeeeeeeemail.
Sing it with me, y’all! (#2 also has 200+ emails to go through right now…)
Grumpy Rumblings (of the formerly untenured) 
August 19, 2014 at 5:10 am
“Does your mom have an unsubscribe button?”
I auto-filter certain family members that spam me incessantly. Gotta stay sane somehow.
August 19, 2014 at 5:58 am
F***en A, I wish my asshole mother had a goddamn unsubscribe button.
August 19, 2014 at 6:06 am
My family members email me with their personal problems all day long. I also get a lot of spam. I can relate!
August 19, 2014 at 8:56 am
I wish people would pick up the phone more. I hate when a. If email chain could have been avoided with a live conversation.
August 19, 2014 at 11:56 am
Conversely, I hate the phone. HATE IT. I refuse to communicate at someone else’s convenience. I would always rather deal with the email.
August 19, 2014 at 4:00 pm
Yes! I’m not alone! Our ringer is off for the home phone which I also use for work. I will do anything to not be on the phone.
August 20, 2014 at 2:44 pm
Me too. I can (and do) complain about email, but I’ll take that over the phone almost every time!
August 21, 2014 at 11:40 am
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/05/09/311082149/not-so-social-media-why-people-have-stopped-talking-on-phones
Apparently there’s a generational component to this “I don’t want to talk on the phone” thing. For personal stuff, I much prefer to talk than to text. With a headset on I can be doing other things while I talk: folding laundry, prepping dinner, looking up stuff online, etc.
For professional stuff I often have to conduct a conversation instead of just emailing. If there is going to be a lot of back and forth I prefer to talk it out. If it’s just a straightforward task delegation or something then email usually works pretty good. I guess it depends on the type of stuff I’m working on.
August 21, 2014 at 11:44 am
That’s really interesting! I especially liked the 1944 photo essay link.
August 19, 2014 at 6:59 pm
I wish people would pick up the phone more, too. Because I find it a lot easier to ignore the phone than e-mail. I never pick up the phone, because it’s never ever anything I f4cken want to engage with.
August 21, 2014 at 11:30 am
<3
August 19, 2014 at 10:10 am
My dad email spams me all the time. He forwards on stupid sh*t that is insulting (since we have different political, religious, and social justice viewpoints) or just misinformation about stupid stuff like people whining about the price of gas. The make matters worse, he never calls me but instead tries to guilt trip me when I call him by repeating “I haven’t heard from you in a while. Why don’t you call?” It doesn’t seem to matter when I point out that he could call me. It’s sort of sad to say, but I think I’m done with my dad for now. I had a pretty tense call with him a few weeks ago where I basically kept throwing back at him the burden of the calling and I could tell he was piss*d when we hung up. Ugh!
Email…I gave up on keeping up with email. As long as I get whatever an email relates to addressed before the situation blows up, that’s good enough for me. I am not an “Inbox zero” person at all.
August 19, 2014 at 11:56 am
One time I tried Inbox Zero. The universe laughed at me.
August 19, 2014 at 11:57 am
also this: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/08/18/mr.-popularity
August 19, 2014 at 3:04 pm
I get so much email, it’s crazy. And Google filers out much of the spam before I get it. I will be looking for the YouTube version of your song soon.
August 19, 2014 at 4:04 pm
No jnbox zero for me. I’m too lazy. My dad doesn’t check his email enough my brother checks and doesn’t respond and mom just writes basic stuff so no annoying family email. My extended relatives don’t email me but save all their annoying sh$t for FB.
August 19, 2014 at 10:39 pm
i love the drama all being on Facebook. I can know what’s going on so i don’t step in it, but i’m not really expected to respond or be involved. It’s AWESOME.
August 20, 2014 at 6:31 am
HAHAHAHAHA