Embarrassing E-mail Exchanges

Today, in the English 99 morning section, we talked briefly about what happens when you forget your work e-mail can be sent to, or monitored by, anyone. When you write at work, it's best to remember that you are always writing to your co-workers. If you would not say it to their faces, then don't put it in your e-mail (or on this message board).
This requires a keen sense of audience. You must write as you would like to be seen by the people to whom you are writing. I wouldn't expect my doctor to use words like "dawg" and "bling" during my appointments with him or her. I also wouldn't expect college students to use these words when they're communicating with their peers and instructors in English class. When my doctor goes home, he or she may behave differently.

The stories I mentioned are from an Internet website called Snopes. Snopes examines Urban Legends and researches their origins and accuracy. Stories are labelled with red, yellow, and green lights to show if they are true, cannot be proven true or false, or are false. The stories about the workplace e-mail blunders below are true.

• Paul Kelly Tripplehorn, Jr., an intern for Texas senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, sent all of his co-workers an e-mail where he accuses his girlfriend of being "a pathological social climber." He also explains that he must break off their realtionship because she is morally, socially, and emotionally inferior to him, and that "people like me don't date simple people like you." Tripplehorn resigned after the incident.
• Jonas L. Blank, an intern at a high-paying law firm, sent out a bulk mail message complaining about how stupid and pointless his job was. (He was hired by the law firm after apologizing).
• Peter Chung, who also worked law firm, was not as lucky. He sent out an obsenity-landen e-mail explaining how he planned to "get laid" in Korea. Chung was fired.
• Two secretaries in Australia were fired after having an e-mail fight over a ham sandwich.