Dave- I have to wonder how many of our resident issues can be solved if we send some Draino down those communication pipes.

Annemarie- I don’t worry about offending the offenders anymore. When you grow up with an English teacher in your home, it’s second nature to correct someone’s grammar or pronunciation for them. I figured it was never going to go away, so I shifted my perspective on it. Now I see it as making the world an better place to communicate in.

Kelly- You may be right about the tendency to vent online, but something that occurred to me last week when I was in Houston for a conference was that it once was that people wanted to complain online because it was anonymous, however now you see people who are very proud to shout the reviews and complaints that they give places. It’s an interesting society shift when you step back and look at it. Being an unlisted complaint may be easier, but I still don’t believe it’s the first stop for most people. Sometimes they’re not an overt complainer, but they try to deliver the message in other ways, ie – body language, subtle hits, etc. Then they go online. You’re never going to catch them all before the aptratings post goes public, but at least it does provide you with the safety net of getting feedback from the ones who might have been ignored before

Marcus- You’re very right on the point that “sorry” can be quite a self serving word, however, I’ve seldom found a time when I genuinely meant that I was sorry, and it didn’t help improve the situation. It’s when you fake that you’re sorry that stuff starts to blow right up in your face. Mean it, or wipe it from the business vocab. Good rule of thumb!

Sometimes they may be scared of somebody, trust me I know because I’ve been there in life, and I still am at times.

But it’s just a way of life because if someone knows that they need to say they are sorry, then that shows me that they are being the bigger person and being very responsible in doing what they have to do without any problems. I’m proud of you whoever you may be.

I do agree that managers should work on their punctuation and present themselves in a professional manner online, given that they have the time to review their answers.

Funny thing about Tony Danza – he lives on my floor and is my favorite elevator companion.

“Realize that if they’re complaining, they’re pretty angry, and if they thought they had to come online to do it, then you’ve got a communication breakdown somewhere. Take responsibility for that.”

So true.