A very minor peeve (in three parts)

I digress. Where was I?

Ohh yes, watching the ‘… is typing…‘ message and waiting, waiting, waiting on that third message…

To recap, so far, they’ve sent:
09:14 – Hi
09:14 – Can I ask a question?
09:14 – [… is typing]

Aaaannnnnd finally a third message appears, the actual question that they wanted to ask me all along has finally been unveiled.

I’ve still not seen it as I’m not at my desk, my status is set to Away with a little red circle helping (those who aren’t colour blind?) fully understand that I am not available to have questions asked of me now, forcing me to leave that message unread, unloved, floating in the ether until I deign to reply!

Three separate messages, less than 30 seconds apart.

Why?! Is there some setting I’m unaware of that automatically starts a new message based upon certain triggers? (they said “Hi”, quick start a new message… ohhh they ended a message with a question mark, start a new message…???)

Or as is increasingly the case as I grow older mature, is it just me? Is my approach the wrong one here?

Here’s how I’d do it.

“Hi, was wondering if you can help, I need blah blah…”

One single message; polite (I said Hi!), consenting their time (vaguely), and including the actual request itself. All in one line in one message so that the person who, I am pretty sure, can read English to a competent level, can parse it all immediately before telling me to naff off, or leave the message ‘unread’, or maybe even respond to my request.

Like I say, this is not any real level of annoyance, in fact it’s barely a blip, a quick wondering that I toss aside with barely a second thought.

But it keeps happening, and it’s not just one person and it’s not just my current colleagues. It is, and has been, rife throughout my career.

Did I miss a class in school or something?

Or is the problem me?

Hi.

[insert culturally prominent Taylor Swift reference here]

Answers on a postcard, or in the comments as who can afford to send postcards these days (have you seen the price of a stamp! Bloody Tories!).

Written By

Long time blogger, Father of Jack, geek of many things, random photographer and writer of nonsense.

Doing my best to find a balance.

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