So basically what happened was, my little cousin, got in trouble with some senior family members and when I heard about it, I just knew it was unintentional and was just a communication misunderstanding and decided to make it a teachable moment cos I'm grown and all :).
I had to teach my millennial cousin that tone, context, or emotions not expressed in messages can come off rude or impolite. In olden time (haha) people communicated via nice long, handwritten letters or my personal favourite long-ass emails(gimme a 2000 word email any day over a WYD)But with messages having to be so short because no one wants to come off long winded it is difficult to communicate effectively. Unless you have been schooled by yours truly on composing the perfect, text, WhatsApp or 'whatever messaging app you use' message.
The formula is simply this;
- Greeting(Hello, Hi, Hola etc).
- State the point of the message; You have to get straight to the point here... remember no long-windedness e.g Thank you for blah blah, I'm sorry about blah blah, Reminder for Yada Yada... you get the point. Keep it short and sweet.
- Express a feeling or emotion; This is the most important part of the message, it adds 'heart' and makes you sound sincere(cos you are). The key here is to use a word that conveys a feeling or emotion eg I was happy to see you the other day, I'm excited about our coffee, I feel bad about not getting back to you sooner, I was overwhelmed with work etc.
- End with a pleasantry; Wishing a wonderful week, hope your day is going ok... you get the picture.
I have used this in different scenarios and I believe it works, so try it and let me know.
Nemi