Email

I got an email today that made me think of writing this post. One of the things I hate about email is you can't tell what tone the person sending it is writing in. I've compiled a couple of examples.

#1: The "baby" issue.

I recently got an invitation to a party. The party is over two hours away and it's a girls party. Nik and Dougie are going to come with me and hang out at a family members house while I'm at the party, but I figured, since the party is so far away and Kate is still nursing that I would bring Kate with me to the party. I RSVP'd via email, asking if she minded that Kate would come with me and got this response:

"If there are no other arrangements you can make for your daughter, then
yes, bring her along."

So technically, that's a yes, but the way I read it, it's a no...and I've asked around, other people think she just doesn't want to tell me to "leave the kid at home!"

#2: Mom

I get these ALL THE TIME from my mom. I know she means well, but I can never sense her tone. I have a lot of examples...here's a couple:

"Let's talk about this later, k?" Is she busy? Is she annoyed with my email? or does she really want to talk about it later?

And before I post this one, let me tell you that I just recently had a baby and got A LOT of presents. I didn't have time to send out thank yous (to ANYONE) and got an email asking me to send one out. About 20 minutes later, I got this response:

"FYI: I sent one this morning with a photo of your whole family."

I was confused...she sent one? and yes, she did. After a couple more emails, I could tell she didn't think I would send one, so she did it for me. Even though I'm about to turn 29 (ugh), she didn't think I would send one, even though she asked. (Mom if you are reading this, I love you!)

#3: The Colleague

I don't have any examples, since I regularly clean out my school email. But one of the things I really can't stand about work email is the person who hits "reply to all" when someone sends something out to the district. It happens ALL THE TIME. We get emails that we don't need to read or shouldn't read even. I know one of the biggest culprits is when we offer flu shots...people hit reply to all and we learn all about their medical history, why they can or can't get the shot...blah, blah, blah.

#4: The Mistake Email

Have you ever gotten an email that wasn't meant to go to you? Have you ever sent it to the wrong person?

A couple years back I was having an argument with a friend. She accidentally sent me an email that was meant for her husband...in the email she said some pretty nasty things about me. We aren't friends anymore.

Sometimes people hit "forward" and forget that all the responses to previous emails are contained in that forward...that's embarrassing too. I've gotten a couple...probably sent a couple.

That's all I've got for now. Time to watch Nip/Tuck with Nik...oh, and check my email. :-)