From an unnamed university in the greater San Francisco Bay Area...
We had a little congratulations/going away party for our workstudy students today. We invited any staff, students or faculty that have spent time interacting with these workstudies and would like to say thanks, good-bye and good luck. I sent out the following email:
Hey everyone, as you probably know XXX, XXX and XXX are graduating this year and leaving us for good. We couldn't survive without their hard work and to say thank you, we're having a little lunch for them today at noon. Please come by the courtyard (weather permitting) or our office (weather not permitting) for pizza, drinks, and tearful hugs.
Pretty straightforward, no? I got no fewer than four emails/phone calls asking what "weather not permitting" means.
"Oh I was just being silly. I mean that if the weather's nice, we'll do lunch in the courtyard, but if it's not, we'll just have it in our office."
"Why didn't you just say that?"
"I don't know."
Friends, weigh in here please. Was my attempt at a dumb joke so off the mark that it was actually misleading? I mean I do get that it could be taken to mean that the weather might not be permitting for us to meet in the office, but that's just silly. The weather's always good enough for us to be inside. My feeling is that some of the people I work with are just that dumb. What say you?
Yes, you work with dumb people. What you said was clear and straightforward and anyone with a brain should be able to get what you meant.
ReplyDelete