I recently got this email from a friend who I haven't heard from in a long time. He asked me how I was and why I was in Japan. His email seemed fairly long, giving me a quick rundown on his life and then asking me questions about mine. It seemed to me that he wanted to resume contact with a lost friend. We were good friends, and I think we still are, even though I haven't really spoken to him in three or four years.

So I emailed him back. I answered his questions, and I asked him more questions about what he was doing.

I never got a reply from him again.

Really, what is the point of sending out emails to people you have rare contact with in the past few years? Out of the blue, I get an email from a friend I haven't heard from in a long time, and when I send him a reply, we are back to where we were: no contact whatsoever. I'm not mad, but I was hoping to get a reply back, maybe even resume the friendship again.

If you really don't care, don't bother. If you just want to see that my email account is active and that I exist, just send some "TEST--HELLO!!" message. I'll send one back, and at least we made the courtesy to say hi.