Apparently there are a few email unsavvy people out there who still don't know the difference between "Reply" and "Reply All."
"Reply All" does not mean, "If I click this button, I will be able to reply to the entire email that I just received." Nor is it a request for you personally to take action, as in "Hey! Reply, y'all!" In fact, it means that your response will be sent to every single recipient of the original email.
So if a committee chair, for example, sends out an agenda for a meeting to the entire committee, and you have something to say to that person, make sure you want to tell all fifty members of said committee before you click on "Reply All."
I'm just saying.
If you don't want everyone on the committee to know about your mastectomy and subsequent breast implant troubles, and how they are leaking and you have to have surgery and possibly won't be able to attend the next three meetings, I beg you to simply click "Reply." You may even want to double check the "To" box to make sure it only contains the name(s) of the person(s) to whom you want to divulge that information.
Perhaps I exhibited a lack of integrity in reading about the leaking breast implants, since the opening line of the response was, "May I confide in you?" I experienced a moment of unease as I continued to read, but I just couldn't believe that anyone would be that clueless.
I feel very, very sorry for the person. I don't know her personally, so I won't recognize her the next time I see her (when she eventually returns from her recuperation), but I'm thinking there are many other committee members who will, and they will feel awkward, maybe. Especially some of the men.
And while we're on the subject, don't use the "Reply All" feature unless you have something to say that you honestly believe everyone is interested in. None of us want to know why you're not coming, why you are coming, what you think about the time of the meeting and how it would be much more convenient if it were going to be held at a different time but you're going to make it anyway, etc. If the chair wants or needs to know, tell her. Leave me out of it.
Thank you. And good luck with your breast implants.
5 comments:
Bwah hah hahahahahahah!! I'm sorry for that lady, but I'd feel sorrier if her mammary troubles were related to breast-feeding or something that didn't result from her getting a boob job.
Uh, Nem, I would be the last person to accuse you of being insensitive, but perhaps you missed the part about her mastectomy that made the boob job necessary? So I think she had cancer or something, which I'm confident will secure your compassion. I can ask her next time I see her--if I ever figure out who she is.
For all the irritability still lingering in my soul over my bad day, this exchange between you two made me laugh. And for that I will be forever grateful.
Oh crap. I'm going to burn in hell. I missed the part about the mastectomy, which is yet another reason why skimming is not the best way to read.
Excuse my while I go crawl into a hole and then pull it in after me.
daltongirl, I would never say this publicly, but I'm concerned about the quality of the comments on your blog. I mean, who ARE these people? Don't tell them I said that though, okay? ;-)
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