A fact of life in this modern world we live in is that electronic communications have taken the place of many encounters that in the past would have been conducted face-to-face or at least over the phone. In those old-fashioned situations, it is possible to gauge the emotional impact of the conversation and common courtesy usually rules the day. These elements can be absent or subject to gross misinterpretation in an email exchange, an especially good reason, says Eldonna Lewis-Fernandez, to keep emotion out of your own response.
