eMail

Why are some people under the impression that answering an email isn’t obligatory? Is it because emails aren’t disruptive and you can use your own sweet will to completely ignore them without feeling a twang of guilt? Is it because drag-&-drop is a lot easier than typing a response? Is it because we simply don’t feel for others? Or is it because doing nothing comes by default!

I think it’s a mix of all of the above and a lot more. I’ve time and again realized emails generally don’t elicit the response they deserve. Even official mails often go unanswered.

The retaliatory mail I sent to the office finance section today has a rich antecedence in having the desired effect. I had sent a query last week about the status of a package. I received a response from finance asking me to directly email someone in the same section! Couldn’t they simply forward the query to the person concerned? Anyway, I redirected my query last Thursday. No response until today. I resent the query yet again. No response still. I tried calling him up more than thrice, each time the answering machine passively greeted me.

I had had enough. An angry mail to finance and a CC to the erring guy finally evoked a quick response. All he needed to do was punch a few keys. I guess even this begs a Herculean effort.

Last year saw a very high profile and protracted chain of events that finally culminated in me shooting off a venomous mail to the country head. My patience had given way and I was furious at  someone’s non-responsiveness. I even tried SMSing, calling and IMing after the flurry of emails failed to evoke any response. Nothing worked until I hit upon the idea of directly reaching for the helm. It worked wonders!

Something is severely lacking in our work ethic.