john maddente | midwestern clarity

W e all use it, but how should we use it and when?  I'm talking about that automatic email feature known as an "Out of Office" reply.   Let's ignore the when consideration for now; but it's the "how" behind the usage of the out of office reply that piques my interest today.  I received one recently that reads exactly like this with nothing added before or afterward:   "I'm ooo."    That's it.  I'm ooo.  First, imagine receiving a voicemail  greeting like that -- spoken exactly the same way followed by a beep to record a message.  As a caller I'd be speechless.   Now consider, that you need something from the email author of that "ooo".  You might reasonably conclude after receiving this sorry example above that he/she:  a) doesn't know when he/she will return  b) doesn't wish to be bothered and  c) doesn't care enough about the email recipient to mention an alternative in his/her absence. I underst...