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A Joint What? Oh Dear..

Posted: 11-12-06

As I rush, headlong into my thirties and contemplate my body growing absurdly longer nasal hair, yeti fur down my back and increasing numbers of ghost-grey locks on my head, there comes also the increasing numbers of my friends' babies, engagements and marriages (and very often in that order).

Of course, this is an oft-stated gripe of many a person of my age, that their friends start marrying like it's going out of style, but what is becoming increasingly common these days is the emphasising of the 'e' in engagement. The electronic coupling of two people. I am of course referring to that bizarre concept where my long-time couple friends also couple-up in cyberspace and become one – one in a email address.

In the last three months, I would say I have received at least five emails from the likes of johnandsally@gmail and steveandtrish@hotmail.

At the risk of abuse from my very good friends who are party to this phenomenon, but is this not the digital equivalent of those tinted strips with "Barry and Trace" emblazoned across the top of Mark II Ford Escort's back in the 80s? I suppose the next thing is HTML email with embedded fluffy dice graphics or whatever the Web equivalent of an exhaust the size of a Sheffield cooling tower might be..

I also admit to being somewhat puzzled at the question of whose job it is to pick up the mail in the first place. I mean, of all the people from whom I received these joint addresses, everyone also has their own address. I thought email is supposed to make things easier and more efficient in the realm of communication. So how is adding another address to check, receive spam in and have people change their address books to going to make stuff easier?

If you're reading this, you're thinking of being married and thinking about all those lovely, cutesy, little things that couples think they need to do in order to come across as, well – "coupley", then please, please think long and hard over whether a joint email address is really worth the abuse I'm going to have to give you for having one..

Cheers all,
Russ