My inbox brings me the entire range of emotions. I open my device (any one of 3 three things I cannot seem to detach myself from for longer than 20 minutes) and impatiently wait for the little number to appear. How many will it be today? I have three accounts. A general one and two work accounts. Depending on how long I have ignored the growing inboxes, I can have a handful of emails or nearly a hundred by the end of business.
My general account has basically become an onslaught of notifications sprinkled with business's begging for my money. Rarely is there a good find in the general account. I keep promising myself I will unsubscribe to the numerous websites I no longer want to hear from again. I keep telling myself to change my Facebook settings. However, neither gets done. I will forever see Jo-Ann trying to craft her way back into my life with enticing coupons I will never use. My general mailbox is now a game of fast can I swipe and delete all these unnecessary distractions without deleting the Amazon tracking your package emails. On a good day, I clean out my general inbox in under 15 seconds. I will unsubscribe. One. Day. Just not today.
My community college email account usually only holds a dozen gems a week. Notifications from the department chair or a few questions by a student here and there. Again, though, I need to unsubscribe to news feed the community college sends on a daily basis. A few minutes of my time, a few clicks here, a few setting changes there and I would have an efficient inbox once again. But, just in case I might want to know the last time the school updated their internet sourcing or when the parking lot on the campus on the other side of town might be paved, I have not changed my settings. So, it too, like my general email inbox is just a daily practice of deleting as fast as I can.
It is my third email account that keeps me hopping. This email is for my main job. The one that is attached to me teaching high school math, principaling the summer school program, and coaching teachers through technology. The one that can have 45 emails added to it daily. Very little junk mail in this one. It is stream lined. No, Red Robin, you can't offer me 1/2 off lunch in this account. I have daily posts from the bloggers I follow in secret and admire for their ability to blog nearly every day. I have posts from teachers, attendance, students, parents, district announcements, etc. Some emails bring me great joy. My former student is now teaching math with me! Joyous occasion!!!! Some bring sad news. A coworker of mine who has had a family member pass away. Some bring me great pride in my job. A thank you from a former student/parent. And some simply break my heart. I'm sorry I am missing your class today. My mom is too drunk to drive me to school.
That last one was in my inbox today. I had to hold back my tears. I just want to hug the student and slap the parent. I am thankful the student is safe, and disgusted and angry at the parent.
Some days it's good to have lots of emails to balance out the good from bad. And in the time it took to write this post, I have received 27 emails in my three inboxes. Starbucks is teasing me with a new bonus game while there has been yet another internet update at the college. I await my student's next reply.
