I sometimes come across e-mail messages that seem discourteous. I often know the people sending these missives – they don’t strike me as impolite. Yet their e-mails send a certain vibe: “I communicate like a robot, not a human.” There is no greeting, such as “Hi, Craig,” or salutation, like “Regards” or, to get crazy, “Thank you.” Instead, the message is abrupt, even clipped. I think the “disembodied” nature of the e-mail medium is partly to blame (I won’t even address texting or twitter here; that is for another time). You are not communicating directly with a person, but a screen. E-mail … [Read more...]