I had a great conversation over email at work today. It started by someone forwarding an email over the staff list. The email was similar to this one, but modified in ways that didn't improve it. I rolled my eyes a little and ignored it. Another guy responded (to the staff list) with a rebuttal of why the information needed to be taken with a lot of salt, which I entirely agreed with. The following email exchange (summarized) occurred between the two of us (not on the staff email list):
Me: <Joke illustrating one of his points in terms of Toyon's business model.>
Him: That's funny, you should post it to the staff list.
Me: No, the person that posted it already took some flack from you for that email. They don't need any more from me.
Him: Wow, that's a good point. How did you learn to think like that?
Me: I picked it up over time based on how that sort of thing can hurt me and how I know I've hurt others.
Later...
Him: Based on our earlier conversation I changed an email I was writing. <Gives text where he reworded his opinion to remove the words "obnoxious" and "crap".> I'm used to being obnoxious as part of my character. I'll have to see if I can give it up.
It was really neat to realize that I've definitely picked up some sensitivities over the past few years to know how to control my own obnoxious and sarcastic personality when I realize it won't be appreciated. I still have more to learn, but that conversation showed me that more of that is coming to me naturally now.
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