What do you make of this email response

[Yikitty]

Email sent by newish member of staff to senior staff member - 4 others cc’d in

Reasonable run of the mill email - enquiring about confirming a date. Email first line is “I hope you are well”

response:

”You don’t need to ask me if I am well every-time you email me unless you know something I don’t. Yes”

I read it that the new staff member was sending several email a day to the same person and kept sticking it a template (probably learned at school or helpful parent etc). Not a one off.

Some people are so endlessly aggrieved and offended by everything. Imagine getting cross with someone for literally wishing you well!

Everyone knows there’s no expectation of a response.

Very rude!
I'd be tempted to reply stating it was a statement not a question and didn't require a reply or acknowledgement.

Bravo to that!

"It’s such a run of the mill opening to an email"

It's interesting that you say this. In my experience of working over the last 36 years that certainly isn't true.

Perhaps it depends on what sort of industry you work in?

@MaidOfAle because it's erring on the side of politeness.

They are new, they are just building relationships. People can often come across as rude to certain people.

There's no winning really so you can't blame people for being cautious.

"Dear Person's Name" is also a legitimate salutation. There's a difference between being polite and being insincere.

My boss once asked me if I wanted a cup of tea. (I was at her house, as she was also my PhD supervisor). I was quite young and not confident about sticking up for myself.

I said 'I'm fine, thanks'.

She replied (quite spitefully) 'I didn't ask how you were, I was offering you a cup of tea'.

She was a nasty bitch and a bully on many occasions before and after that. she called herself a feminist but wasn't keen on women.

I'll make the point that in the work I did if I was sending an email to a colleague then my email and the response would be attached electronically to a file. The file could end up in court being considered as part of a judicial review. So, I never started any email with a comment like ' hope you are well'. I couldn't remove the email or amend it, we kept it business like.
Now, I realise that it's not the case elsewhere, but that's why I didn't do small talk in emails. Or in actual letters either. And notes on the case were purely factual.

You might have a word with someone because they said 'I hope you're well ' in an email? 😲😮

Awful.

I almost never remember to say "hope you are well/hope you had a nice weekend" etc at the start of emails as I actually just want to get down to business but I (nearly) always make myself go back and type the opening pleasantries because it is how reasonable people interact. I do it as the Newby in the OP does it however - as a statement rather than a question so no effort to actually respond is required.

Person responding needs to stop being an arse, especially with a new member of staff. Are they usually so unpleasant?

Now people who message me on Teams etc and say "Hi Fireflies how are you?" and then wait for a response before saying why they are actually messaging me - those people I could kill, slowly! Crack on with it!

@Another2Cats over here throwing out veiled appraisal threats 🤣 Middle manager madness!!

On the surface I think their response could come across as rude, but I have colleagues that are neurodivergent and may take the “I hope you are well” literally as opposed to standard greeting and then go into what’s going badly in their life. So it could be a confusing message for someone

I would argue that any insincere statement is anything but polite. Wasting another person's time and mind-resources on noisewords shows them contempt.

It could be a generational thing or a cultural thing. Is the sender young or non British? I have German relatives who can be really blunt when they email me!

Rude but funny as hell 😂

Jesus, way to NOT make friends and influence people

I am ND and I don't take it literally, but it does drive me crazy because it's waffle in a context where my brain really needs directness and to the point-ness

Really irritates me too. But it's an unnecessarily rude reply.

Could be worse. I work with a guy who starts every single email with "I hope your well". 😡

I’d say it’s time for a “our ethos don’t align” chat and show them the door…

Getting multiple emails with the same insincere line would irritate me too.

Goodness me, everyone who has such a strong negative reaction to this totally standard pleasantry needs to get a grip! "Showing contempt", I ask you!

Asked DH about this and, while he might not have said anything, the vacuous, nonspecific ‘hope you are well’ irks him too. One thing to comment on ‘hope you had a great holiday’ or ‘hope you are fully recovered’ after an absence due to illness, but the only thing worse is ‘Good Morning’. It assumes he is going to open the email immediately within a timeframe set by the sender. Dear/Hello is good enough.

Gosh. I am glad to have retired! So old I had an all numeric first email address.

Really rude response.

I don't like all the 'How are you' on Teams and emails, I very rarely do it, I just launch straight into what is needed. The rare exception is if it's someone external and possibly a bit old-school. Americans seem to like a bit of an informal starter as well, so I'll do that.

I'm a PA, I told my last 2 bosses that I will never ask them how they are unless I think there is something wrong with them. And for them to feel free to do the same. They both appreciated it and it cut out a lot of the boring froth. We were very friendly, just didn't need the fake pleasantries.