Is there an etiquette when it comes to responding to Dear Jane* letters? Or emails, rather, in this modern world we live in. "Hello" in the subject line of an email never bodes well; it heralds (a) unsolicited and misspelled shite from concerned strangers about the size of my penis (is it just me? All of my gmail spam relates to penis enlargement) (b) a bollocking from a flatmate about a recent misdemeanour or (c) a Dear Jane. I knew what was coming but my morbid curiosity would not allow me to delete it, unread. Almost immediately I began to hammer out a response but I checked myself before sending it. I find rejection embarrassing enough without exacerbating it with an ill-considered and hasty reply. And that got me thinking: How should one respond in such circumstances?
One could ignore it, and maintain a dignified silence. My garrulousness generally does not allow for such things.
One could rally back with a stream of invective; berating the Dear Jane's author for choosing an email over a call, for leaving it for too long before sending the email in the first place, for not having the energy or imagination to pursue something more.
One could be cheery and nonchalant; thanks, but I didn't care too much anyway.
Or one could be honest, disappointed, and a little relieved.
In the end I replied with the words I had rattled off upon reading the email. It's the only way I know how.
*The source of all knowledge informs me that In more recent times, women have come to be subjected to such impersonal break-up letters as well. These are refered (sic) to as "Dear Jane" letters.
One could ignore it, and maintain a dignified silence. My garrulousness generally does not allow for such things.
One could rally back with a stream of invective; berating the Dear Jane's author for choosing an email over a call, for leaving it for too long before sending the email in the first place, for not having the energy or imagination to pursue something more.
One could be cheery and nonchalant; thanks, but I didn't care too much anyway.
Or one could be honest, disappointed, and a little relieved.
In the end I replied with the words I had rattled off upon reading the email. It's the only way I know how.
*The source of all knowledge informs me that In more recent times, women have come to be subjected to such impersonal break-up letters as well. These are refered (sic) to as "Dear Jane" letters.
