Tuesday, August 9, 2011

How can people who forward so freely, be so loath to read forwards?

What Bookstore Rep #2 recieved from me:

Dear Bookstore Rep #2,
   In response to the out-of-office auto-reply I received from Bookstore Rep #1, I am forwarding my book order to you (as per the instructions in the autoreply).
Thank you,
         Wombat
__________________
From Bookstore Rep #1
To Wombat
Date etc.

I will be out of the office until [date] please forward orders to Bookstore Rep #2
__________________
From Wombat
To Bookstore Rep #1
Date etc.

Dear Bookstore Rep #1,
    I need to place an order for # copies of [textbook] by [author] ([edition] [ISBN]) for [course number].
Thank you,
 Wombat


What Bookstore Rep #2 wrote back:

Dear Wombat,
    You can place an order with me by e-mailing me the title of your book, course number and number of copies. 
-Bookstore Rep #2

2 comments:

  1. It doesn't matter how early you are with the form, how many times you vet the form, how closely you follow the instructions. They WILL screw it up. As certain as night follows day.

    Bookstore reps drive me ABSOLUTELY NUTS. Nuttier than bad students, in fact, because being a bookstore rep is much, much easier.

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  2. I suspect it comes in part from reading email on smartphones, blackberries, and similar gadgets. If it's not on the first screen, it doesn't exist.

    I'm finding this to be a major problem with online students, who complain of "long emails" (meaning any email that is longer than a screen, or perhaps a text message). Next time I teach an online class, I think I'm going to have to explicitly tell students that, except in very occasional emergencies, they need to plan to access course materials on a device with a screen at least as large as that on an iPad or netbook. I may also encourage them to experiment with boiling down their arguments to be intelligible on smaller screens or even via tweet, but realistically, they need to know how to write, and read, longer formats as well, and you just can't do that on a smartphone.

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