I received the following message (posted below) from a colleague who is not a friend. I had sent the colleague a message asking if they might offer a comment for a story I was writing for my local area newsletter. Yes, I did default to the North American Familiar and addressed this colleague by their 'christian' name.
I did at least say 'Dear,' not Hey.
I am used to getting cranky emails back from time to time. The only way to accommodate such emails, aside from trashing them, is to appreciate them. So let me try.
My original email went out almost two weeks ago. It was one of a small set I sent to academics who had expertise and knowledge regarding civil protest and institutional surveillance. This colleague did not respond until today, after the story I had contacted them about previously, was published.
I note the academic slight of addressing me as Mr, not Dr or Professor. I guess that is to counter balance my faux pas of addressing them by their first name.
Then there's the selective quote: "in support of Hamas." The full quote: "In support of Hamas and the Palestinian cause. Thereafter I use the term pro-Palestinian. Splitting hairs? Some of the people I saw supporting Palestine did say they supported Hamas, some said they did not. In the early days there were clearly people supporting the Palestinian cause who made it clear they had no issue with Hamas.
But what I most appreciate is the effort they went to to track down my story, read it (but not carefully), then pen and send me this dunning note. After all that they break it off as they have more important issues to attend to. Well, I sure hope they do.
Not to worry 'Dear Not Your Friend,' I won't be making any effort to contact you again.
