Don’t you love putting little quotes on e-mails? I especially like Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” you know, the “I took the road less traveled by / And that has made all the difference” part. I got it from my high school commencement speech. And my brother’s commencement speech. Basically I’ve heard that used in a speech four times, and I thought it was good advice. And what better place to give advice than at the bottom of an e-mail? I think perhaps you should take the road less traveled — stray from the beaten path by putting a clever little quote from an Oprah’s Book Club book at the bottom of your e-mails. Even if it isn’t related at all to the content. Hey, that’s how I take the road less traveled by. And it’s made all the difference. Friends, family, everyone…they’ve changed in their treatment of me. They don’t speak to me.
I like to switch it up sometimes, though. My favorite quotes to rotate are, in no particular order: (1) lyrics from songs that appear in Wes Anderson movies; (2) J.D. Salinger, and (3) any line from The Big Lebowski. I want people to know that they are e-mailing me, not just some bozo e-mail troll that is fiddle-fucking around in cyberspace. I want my friends and family to not only receive a message from NaziScience42@gmail.com; I want them to know they received a message from me, Lucy Pillingston, a twenty-three year old single woman who loves her songs, her movies, and has a severe drinking problem. I don’t think the content of my e-mails nor my address itself is enough. I put myself over the rest the ony way I know how: by quoting something someone else said. Works for me; just ask the folks at AA.
I just heard the Road Not Taken at the BU commencement on Sunday.