Breaking Up by E-mail?

What is the proper way to end a relationship? I know how I end relationships. Face to face or at least, by telephone. It denotes respect for the other individual with whom I had a relationship. Telling my second husband I wanted a divorce to his face was the most difficult thing I ever had to do, but he deserved better than a "Dear John" letter.

When I was a young woman, I went out with a guy a few times. He really seemed to like me but I didn't like him. I knew I wanted to end it. Instead of waiting for him to call me and then breaking off the relationship, I called him. He was a nice guy and I didn't want to add to his humiliation by allowing him to call me and then lowering the boom. I was nice and direct. It hurt me to do this, it was uncomfortable. But it was the right thing to do.

I was raised to have respect for people. Even people with whom I went out with a few times got an explanation. Granted, this was the days before e-mails and text messages, but even had those things existed, I would have never used these methods to end a relationship, no matter how trivial.

About a year ago, I had an online relationship with someone I met on my 360 page. He wanted to come visit me. I realized that I was not really interested. I picked up the phone and told him not to come. He was upset, it was uncomfortable for me, but it was the right thing to do. Even though I had never met him, we had corresponded and, as a human being, he deserved respect. I could have easily ended this by e-mail. But I didn't.