Emails that really cannot go unanswered

Yes, it happens to everyone – every now and then we receive an email that we really can’t leave unanswered.

Whether it’s because of what the sender says, or because our position needs to be noted, or because…

Emails that really can’t go unanswered almost all share two distinct characteristics:

1. They can go unanswered.
2. If we reply, we’ll trigger another reply that really can’t go unanswered.

So, let’s break it down!

Can an email that really can’t go unanswered go unanswered?

Email, as we know and use it, came into the world in 1996. Funnily enough, that’s more or less when I started working too. I can tell you that in the 27 years I’ve been working and using email, I’ve never, EVER seen an email solve anything, but I have seen it create and fuel major problems.

An email may register, but it doesn’t solve.

But registration is very important, right? This has to be registered!

It would seem so, that registration is important, that it will be very useful and that if we don’t do it we expose ourselves to frightening dangers. But the truth is that I can’t remember ever having to use an email to prove anything. It’s extremely rare that a registration email will be used in the future in any meaningful way.

From there, I say that almost all emails that really can’t go unanswered can go unanswered, even if our position isn’t recorded.

It’s not that important, believe me.

Another curious thing that all emails that really can’t go unanswered share is that the reply we give will be seen by the other person as an email that really can’t go unanswered.

So, he writes an email replying.

Since he’s replying to what he sees as an email that really can’t go unanswered (and the reply to emails that really can’t go unanswered is always read as an email that really can’t go unanswered), his reply will be seen by us as another email that really can’t go unanswered.

You see where this is going, right? Endless hours of life and energy are wasted reading, thinking about and replying to emails that really can’t go unanswered.

And, based on my initial premise, the issue, whatever it may be, is not going to be solved by an email, let alone by one of those that really can’t go unanswered.

So, what should be done with an email that really can’t go unanswered!

We have two options:

• If the email really can’t go unanswered, it’s best not to reply.
• If, even so, you get very itchy because the email really, really needs a reply (note the redundancy of “really”), a simple way to solve the vicious circle and avoid wasting energy is to reply saying nicely that, although we don’t agree with the content of the email that really can’t go unanswered, we’re not going to comment on it.

Jaime Quintas

Illustration by Ana Salvado | All rights reserved.