Miss Manners: People don't say "Good Morning" when texting

[cereta]

Dear Miss Manners: When texting or emailing friends or clients, I often start off with “Good morning” or “How are you?” and end with “Have a great day.”

I always get short, right-to-the-point answers back, like “Okay,” and they don’t usually start with “Good morning” or end with “Have a good day.” So sometimes, I sarcastically reply “Good morning to me, too,” which I know people don’t like.

Am I too sensitive? I am old school and I just think people are being rude. They can say a little more than “Be there” or something like that. Maybe my expectations are too high and I won’t expect as much anymore.

Miss Manners: An excess of sensitivity would not be the diagnosis from Miss Manners after you admitted to the sarcastic barb. In the hope of preventing the next one, let her point out that different methods of communication carry with them different expectations about brevity.

While she agrees it would be unmannerly not to say hello to someone to whom you have just been introduced in a social setting, she would prefer to dispense with the prelude when warning someone about a fast-approaching car. Texts fall somewhere in between.

Comments

[ethelmay]

I actually do use a variant of that phrase when I'm approaching people on, say, 23andme, because I know it is weird to be bugged by complete strangers about family details, and a friendly lead-in seems appropriate. But genealogy questions always do sound as if one were Miss Climpson or someone anyway.

[conuly]

I have never been so aggrieved as the time I got an advertisement in the mail, in an envelope, which began with "I hope this letter finds you well".

The one time I ever get a letter that starts that way, and it's not from a person? So annoying.

[ethelmay]

I honestly hadn't even thought of the expression as old-fashioned, but I looked on Google Books and was reminded of "I hope this finds you well as it leaves me," which latter phrase is definitely Victorian-sounding.

[conuly]

You see? Very old-fashioned!

I feel I should offer a correction to my previous comment, btw. Now that I think back, I may have been less aggrieved and more amused. I don't really know anymore.