Hurried reading of e-mail can slow communications

To the editor:

In the last decade, writing and sending letters through the U.S. Postal Service has become almost a thing of the past.

I still prefer to write letters by hand when mailing something to friends, but there are times when I use e-mail to expedite my messages.

While I may be unable to write as proficiently as, say, a speechwriter, I do believe I can write a few precisely worded paragraphs when communicating with others. I have a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Missouri and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska.

About a week ago, I sent an e-mail to a business here in Missouri.

I carefully worded a question for the customer-service representative and received an immediate response.

The problem was, though, the representative failed to answer the one question I had asked her.

While she was prompt in her response, she neglected the point of the e-mail.

The result?

I had to write back to her and readdress the question.

Once she read the e-mail again, she realized she had failed to answer my question. And while the e-mail was supposed to expedite our messages, it did nothing but slow us down.

Misinterpreted e-mail like the one mentioned above is common.

If we communicators want to use e-mail, we can remedy misinterpretation by slowing down and carefully reading our e-mail before responding.

STEVEN BENDER

Cape Girardeau