bringing back ye olde custom

[adrian_turtle]

Somebody sent me a chain letter! Not spam, not advertising, not political advocacy. Not even a joke that had been forwarded a dozen times. An actual chain letter that says to add your name to the bottom of the list, send something (in this case, a recipe) to the person at the top of the list, and pass it on. With various encouragements to play along and not break the chain. Won't it be fun to have strangers email you recipes when people are feeling isolated? (Well, maybe. I'm kind of oversupplied with lasagna recipes, especially since I stopped eating dairy.) Sending a recipe to somebody without even checking if they're vegetarian feels oddly old-fashioned.

Some of my friends will cheerfully send recipes until you beg them to stop. That doesn't feel quite the same as being comfortable with this kind of chain letter. I looked at it and worried that I might send it to somebody who would not just roll their eyes and delete it, but also think less of me for sending it to them. I'll ask right out if any of you want to play this game?

Comments

[oursin]

I had a similar sort of thing except it wasn't recipes, it was an 'Uplifting Exchange' sending 'a favourite text/verse/meditation that has affected you'. I could not even.

[elusiveat]

I feel like email is the wrong medium for this kind of thing. Even though it's the safest way to communicate these days.

[adrian_turtle]

I agree about it being the wrong medium. Standing around in a big room is a great way to feel connected and included, but a terrible way to trade recipes. Everything is either, "it's easy, you just [something that turns out not to be easy]," or involves a detail you can't quite remember.

Now that I think of it, this exchange might have come over from Facebook or something like that. With the "email it to 20 people" being an attempt to make it feel more personal? I don't know. Email is safer than Facebook in terms of protecting privacy, certainly, but my chocolate-marmalade cookie recipe is not private