In another thread, a couple of days ago, there were a few ill-tempered[1] accusations thrown around about "rudeness" and "attitude". Please remember that email is notorious for communicating tone of voice very badly. Especially if people overcompensate by trying hard to be extra polite, which makes the tone come across as formal and patronizing. Face to face: "Dude, you need to read the docs." (Yes, I do!) Email: "You need to read the docs." (Really?) Hyper-polite email: "Perhaps you should consider reading the docs." (Oh, I do, do I? What makes you so sure of that you patronizing git?) I know I have a bad habit of over-compensating. Sorry. It is hard to get tone right without slipping too far one way or the other, and phrases which sound "just right" in your head, and the first five times you re-read the email before hitting Send, can sound harsher than intended an hour later. And remember that the writer's attitude is an internal mental state, and judging it from email is not even close to easy or accurate. I mean, sure, you can probably guess the attitude of the author of abusive emails: "Dear Bob, you're a poopy-head filled with poop and your head is poop, you poop." but generally it isn't safe to try to guess the writer's attitude. It is especially not welcoming, considerate, friendly etc etc etc to assume bad faith based on a medium as infamous for leading to over-reactions and misunderstandings as email. So please: - try to assume the author of emails is writing in good faith - especially if the email is trying to express a friendly tone with smileys or winks to soften the tone (give them credit for the attempt even if you think it wasn't enough) - but even without them, it may not always be wise to assume that just because a sentence comes across as cold or harsh that it was intended that way - assume small slights are inadvertent or accidental, not attacks - in mild or borderline cases, don't assume that your judgement of tone is accurate - even if it is, try not to escalate the situation - try to respond to what they say rather than how they say it - and don't make the mistake of thinking that others aren't judging your tone exactly the same way you are judging theirs. They might be just too polite to call you out on it. Even if we *correctly* judge something was intended as a rebuke or snark, so what? Does it matter? We shouldn't be so hyper-sensitive that any and every "insult" requires retaliation. Remember the Englightenment values of *dignity culture* where small slights are beneath our dignity to respond: "Dignity does not depend upon reputation but exists as unalienable rights that do not depend on what other people think of one's bravery. Having a thick skin and shrugging off slights become virtues because they help maintain social peace." https://reason.com/2015/09/11/victimhood-culture-in-america-beyond-dig/ And for the record, I completely acknowledge that I do not always live up to these ideals. [1] And here I am, judging tone and attitude from emails. I know. -- Steven