Do you find that people don't read what you're sending them and it gets really annoying?
I have noticed this all throughout my life. Maybe these people just have trouble reading, but it’s not like they’re stupid or anything, and yet they’re not the kind to have any attention deficiency. Most seem old, so that may have something to do with it, but then again others are spry and younger.
This happened a lot with my teachers though. Both in high school and college. I’d email them something, a question or whatever, and their response would basically reiterate what I had just said or asked. And I’m like “Did you fucking read what I just wrote?”
This happens too on question/answer sites, more so on Yahoo answers but I mean that’s not surprising. You state a problem, mention what you already tried, and someone gives one solution that you already tried, as if they read nothing.
My boss and superiors at work also do this – ALL. THE. TIME. And it gets really frustrating communicating with them because it’s like I’m speaking in another language.
I’m not really going anywhere with this other than ranting and I guess asking if you’ve experienced this before and whatknot.
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Yes, I’ve had this happen and it is annoying. Notice how I answered your question? Sweet.
Here is the portion you didn’t solicit. Sorry. I’ve found that keeping my questions short and concise helps. Some people don’t want to read long explanations. If someone is distracted or has a short attention span, they may not realize you asked a specific question way back at the beginning.
Yes, it happens. People today are bombarded by information. If they didn’t skim, they would drown.
All you can do is be articulate and direct in your follow up communication. You may not like it but we all are responsible for making ourselves clear. Being angry at others is a waste of time.
Ya gotta be a take charge type if you want results.
You mean like the countless submissions I’ve made to magazines over the years? ;-)
Ha. You have no idea though. I don’t use long elaborate questions aside from fluther or Yahoo answers for more obscure questions that I can’t find answers anywhere else
For example. This is in person but this is one that pops in my head as the kind of stuff I’m talking about. I was having a conversation with my boss just naturally. I asked about who owned this radio tower next to the workplace. He blanked out and then gave me a history lesson about radios. I asked again and he even said “well in my day we used to listen to radio.” And I’m like “what the actual fuck are you on? You know what I don’t even care anymore.”
Maybe he has been sitting too close to the radio tower.
All I do is ask a simple question and the answer is something like 42.
42 is a valid response. It is the ultimate answer.
Personalty plays into things as well. More abstract thinkers will not do well with a more linear approach. Linear thinkers can be perceived as slow and boringly meticulous and abstract thinkers can be perceived as scattered and ditzy. Finding out about others communication styles, personality styles in always helpful in any relationship.
I am perfect split between rational and abstract, depending on what side of my brain is in full swing in the moment. haha
I make a lot of seemingly obscure connections that evade most others but make perfect sense to me and would make perfect sense to another abstract thinker.
@ScottyMcGeester: “Do you find that people don’t read”
I believe the adult literacy rates in the U.S. around 85%. So, most people do read. They read books, newspapers, websites, etc.
Yes, I do have that happen, and yes, it can get annoying. Has it ever happenned to you?
snicker, chortle.
To open a whole new can of worms though, do you think the Internet has made people more impatient when reading something much longer than a tweet or a headline?
Nah, I’ve always been impatient.
It makes me want to pull my hair out. It’s often people whom I know have as much education as I do, and sometimes have a higher rank than I. I have taken to whittling down my emails to a couple sentences in hopes of improving the chances they’ll be read, but there hasn’t been much improvement. Just last week the COO misread a 3-sentence email.
Sometimes I wonder if they get so barraged with stupid questions that they automatically respond with the simplest solution. It flabbergasts me.
I once encountered this problem you mentioned @ScottyMcGeester. That time I had to attend a training course organized by my school for a month. But it also meant I had to be skip my Japanese lesson at the language center for a considerable time. The center asked me to sent a “confirmation form” from my school as a requirement to let me continue my learning by the time I got back. I wrote a letter asking for my school’s confirmation and went to the office. I gave my letter to the teacher there after stating that: “I wrote everything here”. I didn’t know how the teacher read my letter, but after a short while she was all like: “You want to avoid our training course because of those Japanese lessons? Forget it! You value those lessons more than a compulsory training course?” although in my letter I had already stated that I just want a confirmation for my attending the course, which meant I still attended the course and halted the Japanese lessons!
It took me quite a while to finally resolve this misunderstanding. And yeah, it was an annoying experience.
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