If an email is misinterpreted, who's at fault: sender or receiver?
If an email is read in a way that the sender may not have intended, who's at fault? I was going to housesit for my parents and my favorite poodles (600 miles away). My mother wrote a few times today, saying, "You won't be able to manage driving back to the airport at 6am. Don't come", and a few more things, always ending with, "Don't come!" So I wrote back: "I get the message. "Don't come", and "you can't handle it!" My mother exploded, yelling via email- "That is absolutely ridiculous, and that's not what I meant. You'd better learn to read emails as they were intended, not as they actually read." My mother vented some more, and I just replied, "That's fine." Then she wrote, saying, "And I'm going to tell those poodles what you think of your mother and they won't like it." I wrote back, "Let's end this conversation". Those were my only 3 responses. I wrote back, saying, "Sorry, I was too terse. My mother is wonderful and I am very proud of her." Mother's response? "Well, I hope you feel better about things." So...if someone writes an email that isn't intended to offend, but by its plain text it is offensive, who's at fault? The sender or the receiver? I cancelled my upcoming few trips to see my parents. Maybe I'll see them in a few months, but no time soon.
I accidentally misinterpreted on my college application!?
I'm applying to the QuestBridge College Match Program, and put down that I'm a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist, because I thought I was - I got a letter in May about NMSQT. However, I figured out just recently that I'm only a National Merit Qualifier - not a semifinalist. But I already sent my application! I sent them an email about it, but they won't change my mistake! I'm soo worried and stressed. What should I do? Please only helpful, nice responses. (About this topic for any college application) THANK YOU SO MUCH
Is it ok to write "Ha ha" in a professional email?
It is never ok to write "ha ha", "LOL", or anything else along that line in a professional email, no matter how casual the relationship. Doing so causes you to come across as unprofessional and immature. Besides that..you never know who else might be "watching". I'm warning you about this b/c I once worked for a company that could intercept any transmission that crossed the company network, including any websites you were viewing. They could also pinpoint anyone who was using Windows Media Player to play audio CDs unless you turned off the "internet data" feature. I know about that first hand....playing audio CDs over my headphones (allowed by the company) but didn't know it was fetching internet data until the IT dept head warned me (1st offense, & also warned me that I would be fired if it happened again).