Why I’m a dreadful correspondent

When your phone announces that a new message or Whatsapp has arrived, what emotion do you feel? Excitement? perhaps the anticipation of new social plans, or a connection with an old friend? Or do you feel dread?

I’m reminded of this 2020 tweet by Philippa Perry, in which she encouraged readers to “don’t think too hard but complete the following sentence: Most people are…” The replies broadly fell into two camps: on the one hand, those who thought that most people are kind, and on the other, those who felt that most people are awful. I wonder if people are similarly divided in their knee-jerk responses to phone ring tones. I wonder if, in one camp, there are those who have overwhelmingly positive experiences of other people and feel a frisson of excitement when their phones buzz; and, in the other, there are those for whom other people - and therefore phones and other communic…