it's all about who you don't know
The Internet used to be a place to collect acquaintances, or at least penpals. The more strangers you could get in your Inbox, the cooler it was. Now, I can't read through my e-mail without first purging spam. I do it without even previewing what the message is, even though their subject lines try to trick or tantalize me. The whole practice of purging spam has made me very aware of whom I don't know.

I don't care what Romeo Fowler has to say about the nearest grocery store. Sorry, Ernestine W. Grace, I will not give it a try for you. Esperanza Mercado, I do not need to get it up quickly. Nora Crocker, I guess I'm just not that curious about your thoughts on Ottowa. And Nickolas, "BY, because I don't" doesn't even make sense.

I imagine the spammers, putting together random first names and last names, hoping to find a combination that someone might know. But, come on. "Romeo Fowler?"

I hate what skimming off spam has done to me, and what I'm sure it's done to others. My ISP now offers a type of spam protection that rejects mail from anyone not in your mailbox. The joy of reading mail from strangers is over. We'll tell tales of those days just like people used to talk about leaving their doors unlocked at night, with skeptical children saying, "Boy, you've gotta be old."