The Dangers of E-mail

电子邮件的危险

陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作。同事Amy在复印间里找到他。

(Office ambience)

A: Hi Chen Hao. May I talk to you for a minute after you finish copying those documents?

C: 我马上就印完了。什么事？

A: It seems that you sent an e-mail to one of your colleagues last week. You said some uncomplimentary things about a co-worker.

C: 什么电子邮件？我怎么不记得。

A: The one you sent to Bill complaining about Sue's work on your current project.

C: 哦，我想起来了，上星期我确实给Bill发过一个电子邮件，因为Sue太气人了。

A: It seems that you criticized her failure to meet deadlines, her inattention to detail and her inability to work with others.

C: 是啊，当时我们刚开了一次特别重要的小组会议，确定项目提案的终稿。

A: I imagine there was a lot of pressure.

C: 对啊，我是组长，所以压力特别大。Sue不仅没有按时完成工作，而且粗枝大叶，又不合作，所以我才发电子邮件给Bill抱怨。

A: Why Bill?

C: Bill做过这类项目，又跟组里很多人共过事。其实啊，我就是想找个人，发泄一下。

A: It is understandable that you needed to vent to someone and get advice on how to handle the situation, but e-mail was the wrong way to do it.

C: 不应该发电子邮件？可是当时你出差，Bill在开会，我没有别的办法。

A: Let's talk more about this later on. I have a meeting in five minutes.

C: 好，一会儿见。

几小时后，在陈豪办公室里。

C: Amy，你刚才说我不应该发电子邮件给Bill，为什么？

A: After Bill read your e-mail, he forwarded it to Lee who has also worked with Sue. I don't think Bill meant any harm. He wanted to know if Lee had had any of the same issues.

C: Bill 看完电子邮件后，转寄给Lee，那也没什么啊。

A: Wait. There's more. Lee and Sue are friends so Lee sent a copy of your message to her.

C: 什么？Lee和Sue是好朋友？这下可糟了。

A: You don't know how bad it is. Sue was upset and passed your e-mail on to several friends in her department. In short you email has created something of an office war. People are taking sides.

C: 什么？不过这可不是我的本意。你说我现在该怎么办呢？

A: You need to go directly to Sue and talk to her.

C: 去找Sue当面说清楚？

A: That's right. You owe her an apology for your bad judgment in involving Bill and not discussing your issues with her first.

C: 一封短短的电子邮件，会把事情搞到这种田地。

A: The point is that e-mail should not be used to send messages that are sensitive or confidential.