Swinging In The Wind

My mother taught me to write thank you notes. Today's mothers should teach their kids to respond to emails. Trouble is, they don't respond to emails themselves.
I respond to every email I get within 72 hrs. I even respond to the Nigerian scammers: "Thanks for thinking of me, but my mother-in-law always warned against things that seemed too good to be true."
I would like to respond immediately to emails, but don't want to appear needy and pathetic. I send my correspondents interesting emails then hear nothing (with a couple of exceptions). When I see that person I ask them if they got my message. "Yeah, I meant to respond, but your email was so good, I was speechless."
A simple "Thanks" and a brief description of the local weather is all I need. So pathetic.