Some other Takes on the Exclamation Point

Elaine: See, right here you wrote "Myra had the baby", but you didn't use an exclamation point.
Jake: So?
Elaine: So, it's nothing. Forget it, forget it, I just find it curious.
Jake: What's so curious about it?
Elaine: Well, I mean if one of your close friends had a baby and I left you a message about it, I would use an exclamation point.
Jake: Well, maybe I don't use my exclamation points as haphazardly as you do.
Elaine: You don't think that someone having a baby warrants an exclamation point.
Jake: Hey, I just chalked down the message. I didn't know I was required to capture the mood of each caller.
Elaine: I just thought you would be a little more excited about a friend of mine having a baby.
Jake: Ok, I'm excited. I just don't happen to like exclamation points.
Elaine: Well, you know Jake, you should learn to use them. Like the way I'm talking right now, I would put an exclamation points at the end of all these sentences! On this one! And on that one!
Jake: Well, you can put one on this one: I'm leaving!

Jerry: You're out of your mind you know that.
Elaine: What?
Jerry: It's an exclamation point! It's a line with a dot under it.
Elaine: Well, I felt a call for one.
Jerry: A call for one, you know I thought I've heard everything. I've never heard a relationship being affected by a punctuation.
Elaine: I found it very troubling that he didn't use one.

*Pendant publishing. Elaine is at Lippman's office.*

Elaine: You wanted to see me, Mr. Lippman?

Lippman: I was just going over the Jake Jarmel book and I understand you worked with him very closely.

Elaine: Yes, krhm, yes I did.

Lippman: And, anyway I was just reading your final edit, um, there seems to be an inordinate number of exclamation points.

Elaine: Well, I felt that the writing lacked certain emotion and intensity.

Lippman: Oh, "It was damp and chilly afternoon, so I decided to put on my sweatshirt!"

Elaine: Right, well...

Lippman: You put exclamation point after sweatshirt?

Elaine: That's that's correct, I-I felt that the character doesn't like to be ch-ch-chilly...

Lippman: I see, "I pulled the lever on the machine, but the Clark bar didn't come out!" Exclamation point?

Elaine: Well, yeah, you know how frustrating that can be when you keep putting quarters and quarters in to machine and then *prrt* nothing comes out...

Lippman: Get rid of the exclamation points...

Elaine: Ok, ok ok ...

Lippman: I hate exclamation points...

Elaine: ...ok I'll just....

! ! !

Recently a friend of mine and I were on the subject of exclamation marks (don't ask).  How do I feel about exclamation marks?  Said friend likes exclamation marks.  Said friend thinks other people like exclamation marks.

I don't.  I used to.  At one point in my life.  Now they give me anxiety.  They make me think of a) high importance emails and b) people in my life who regularly press the panic button all too easily (perhaps some of them are the ones sending the aforementioned emails).  In short - seeing an exclamation mark automatically causes me anxiety - pavlov's dog style.  

I have a sneaking suspicion I am not alone in feeling this way.  I do believe Microsoft Office may have marred a perfectly good piece of punctuation.  What are your feelings on the good old exclam?