The voicemail messages were from a financial adviser wanting unit prices for a forestry plantation.

I blogged once about failed managed investment schemes, but I don’t own any plantations and wouldn’t have a clue about unit prices.

The web comments and email implied that I run a mining website and wanted information about people and employment.

I have posted here about my experiences in Kalgoorlie, but make no claims to be an authority on mining.

What’s the etiquette here? I replied to the email, which came via a web form, but ignored the phone calls.

I don’t feel any obligation to inform the caller at my expense that he has the wrong end of the stick.

Writing in a web forum, Ebony Jackson says “thank goodness the hanky is history”.

Just hold it there a moment. History? Since when?

Challenged by me on that question, Ebony responds: “Some people especially elderly (I think) still use them. Women who are conscious of etiquette traditions and awareness … baby boomer vintage and earlier, have hanky habits embedded in social graces historically.”

Tissues apparently, are all the go.

Having written once before about my place in history on a “generational cusp“, I suppose I might pass as a late baby boomer. One of my parents was born before the Second World War and one during it.

I can’t remember there ever being tissues in our house when I was a child.

I never leave home without a handkerchief, even in summer. You never know when a random horse might go past and trigger a sneezing fit.

I only use tissues on the rare occasions I forget a hanky, or if all my hankies are in the washing machine.

I dislike the kids using tissues (perhaps that confirms generational change). They leave bits of tissue paper all over the house and I sometimes find a stray piece sticking to my foot after visiting the bathroom.

What is the etiquette with tissues? Are you allowed to blow your nose into one more than once? Do you dispose of them in the rubbish bin or the toilet?

Blissfully ignorant of these things, I’m happily keeping trees alive by not using tissues.

Hankies can get a little messy when you have a bad cold, like I do now, but no worse than tissues I imagine, unless you have to wash your laundry by hand.

I’ll stick with hankies, thank you.

1. Sending group emails to people who don’t really need to know;
2. Attaching large files;
3. Sending an email to someone in the same room about a mundane matter;
4. Asking to be notified when the email is deleted;
5. Phoning to see if the email was received (true)!

MacNevin said the rapid growth of email means that many organisations and individuals have forgotten the business guidelines for written communication, sending, receiving and filing of mail.

“People feel compelled to reply to emails even with just a ‘thanks’ adding to the overwhelming number of emails people receive. A simple ‘NRN’ (no reply necessary) can reduce the overload significantly,” she said.

Before email came along I was a big memo writer. The information conveyed and requests made were precise. In most cases, immediate action was not required. I wasn’t very good at filing memos though.

That’s why I find email useful for retaining a written copy of semi-important things which would otherwise not be recorded, like: did I really approve that request for leave? Scan Outlook to find the answer.

Email demands attention and I agree we’ve become slaves to it. I like MacNevin’s idea to tag emails with NRN if appropriate, and will implement that in my workplace.

As a means of personal communication, I’ve observed that text messaging has overtaken email among young people.

You can make a perfectly audible comment across the office and he just doesn’t hear. To get his attention you have to draw his eye.

He’s not in a job where he has to answer the phone much, or get involved with discussions, but occasionally he is required to engage in dialogue.

Sometimes I see him swaying about the office, and if he wasn’t a non-drinker I’d have every reason to suspect he was intoxicated.

He’s good at his work, and apart from sometimes talking to myself while talking to him, I have no reason for complaint. I’m sure chronic text messagers waste more time than he does.

Is this is a common issue in the workplace? How should I deal with it?