Email: In the spirit of camaraderie

I am a bit dense about picking up on humor when a comment is short (like "I hate these people") and not followed by a smiley face.

I often speak beyond (or inspired by) a specific instance to address a phenomenon in general. (I call it "pontificating about life" to be self-deprecating.) I know a number of friends who talk about obsessing or becoming "OC" about their [Internet] involvement. Maybe our experience is not as common as I think, or maybe it's just not recognizable to someone personally. (Great if so.) Certainly making a comment on the order of "I hate it when that happens" is not being a crank.

I suppose it could be considered patronizing to presume that anyone else cannot decide to take a break when necessary. All I can say in defense is that I know people who need or welcome that kind of friendly encouragement in a spirit of camaraderie and I am happy to provide it. And when I say "everyone," I mean everyone, I'm not being furtive or passive-aggressive.

In closing, let me paraphrase a recent column I enjoyed about Internet addiction by Houston Chronicle columnist Ken Hoffman: "Soothing thoughts? That's sick. Me and Netflix, we're just friends."