I’m enjoying a good chicken salad sandwich (what else would I be eating?), and I got really angry about “reply all,” which, frankly, isn’t anything new. I work with some really smart people, but you know what? We have a major problem. I think it’s actually a fairly common office problem, but it still annoys the hell out of me.
People just can’t seem to figure out the concept of “reply all” on email. One of our newest senior fellows, let’s call him “Douglas J. Feith” (it’s not actually Doug Feith, but he is a Neocon refugee from the Bush administration, and I’m SURE, Feith has a “reply all” problem…he is after all the “fucking dumbest guy on earth” (hat tip to Tommy Franks for that one)), has a huge problem with reply all. Since he arrived, I would conservatively say, he’s done it on at least half a dozen emails, usually just to say thanks or to tell us what he’d like on his sandwich — not chicken salad…loser.
Frankly, I don’t need to know that Mr. Feith can’t make the senior fellows’ lunch on April 14th. It just clogs my email and causes me a moment of angina. WTF? Why do seemingly well-educated individuals (Ivy League degrees, etc.) not understand this concept? Is it lost on people over a certain age? If that is true, why the hell are these people allowed to run our government? Seriously. Or, do you just reach a certain age where you don’t care any more? Will I one day be that guy who hits “reply all”? Methinks not.
This is why all old people should make their secretary (not assistant. secretary) print out their emails for them, have them read them, and then dictate the response to the secretary who responds on behalf of: whoever.
That’s sexist. Women can be things other than secretaries. They can also be teachers…and stay-at-home moms.
I find reply-all useful in limited situations (a group of friends of mine who use e-mail rather than actual in-person conversations and/or phone calls to keep in touch uses it – with hillarious results). In the real world, though, the reply-all button should be banned.