A Shorter Route To Communication
Commentator Mark Allen is a writer living in New York. He says there is one word to deal with every hassling request. Can you guess what it is?
Commentator Mark Allen is a writer living in New York. He says there is one word to deal with every hassling request. Can you guess what it is?
Best line of the year for me? Shorter. I sent an e-mail that was four sentences long to one of my bosses, and he sent a one-word reply back from his Blackberry: Shorter—one time he jokingly mentioned that I sent long-winded e-mails (I do, sometimes). This e-mail I sent was just quick, information, work-related...and I needed answers.
At first I thought it was a weird typo, but indeed it was him, telling me to make my e-mail to him shorter. Basically re-type it, shorter, and submit it again for his "is-it-short-enough" approval. And his e-mail was an example for me on how to do that. Because he's savvier than me, that's why. Not even a period, just "Shorter". Even the "Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry" at the bottom was longer. I didn't even respond. It's probably because he's very into the one-sentence blogging social network sites like Facebook and Twitter, which he still uses constantly (but if you ask him, he'll tell you he's "over" them).
Anyway, it's now my new favorite response to anyone, at anytime, for anything. I've been saying it to my boyfriend all day. I just say "shorter" and walk away. Next time someone you don't like hassles you about something and uses more than two syllables to do it, just calmly say "shorter" and walk out of the room. Try it! It's brilliant!
Comments
Please note that all comments must adhere to the NPR.org discussion rules and terms of use. See also the Community FAQ.
NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.