Dear Queenie,
My elderly mother has discovered the Internet and is drowning me in e-mails. She sends as many as 6 a day. These are not personal messages, they are jokes, articles, urban legends and stuff like that.
I don’t want to hurt her feelings, but I work and I have young children and I just don’t have time to read them all.
Queenie, how can I get her to cool it?—Going under for the third time
Dear Going under,
She may think you enjoy all these items as much as she enjoys sharing them with you. You could tell her – gently – what you have told me.
But there is really no need to tell her anything. You are under no obligation to read all her messages, any more than you are obliged to read every piece of junk mail the postman delivers. Open the ones that look interesting and delete the rest. If you have time, respond to one of them each day, just to let her know you are thinking of her too.
