More Exclamation Points, Please !!!!!!

From Madeleine Aggeler, writing for The Cut:

Few things fill me with a greater sense of dread than getting a message from a co-worker that says:

hi

The greeting — short, blunt — makes me imagine that the other person is taking a deep, weary sigh before delivering a piece of awful news. I’ve made a terrible mistake in one of my stories, or I’m about to be let go, or there have been more HR complaints about me pressuring everyone to get bangs, and this is my last warning to stop, seriously.

But say I get a message from a co-worker that says:

hi!

Heartened by that sliver of punctuation, I prepare myself instead for what I believe will surely be a positive and productive conversation with a co-worker I respect (and love?). And even if they tell me that I’ve made a terrible mistake, or that I’m about to be let go, or that there have been more HR complaints about me pressuring everyone to get bangs, and this is my last warning to stop, seriously, the blow is softened by the fact that they used an exclamation point (!) and therefore I know they respect (and love?) me.

For the rest, click here.