A MAN’S joy at finally replying to and dismissing an email from a co-worker was ruined in moments when he received a reply.  

It was already a Monday morning when compliance manager Wayne, not his real name, found himself facing five emails which demanded responses.  Yet his strenuous ordeal to reply to the first was met with the unexpected violence of an immediate follow-up question. 

He said: “Since when did getting paid a monthly salary mean I was Martin from payroll’s bitch? What gives him the right? 

“It was barely 10.37am but nevertheless, I took his email right by the reins – a request for my expenses that I’d been putting off for a fortnight – and I blasted through it. Three, maybe even four sentences poured out of me, and I remembered the attachments and everything. 

“So you can understand how I felt when a reply pings in less than a minute later. What kind of person replies to emails as soon as he sees them? Does he have nothing better to do? 

“And what a reply it was. ‘Was I aware of the new expenses policy’ and ‘could I set up a profile on the new portal’. Not only a follow-up question but a demand to remember a new password. I’m just one man, trying to make it in the world, needing a dump break. 

“I don’t believe in revenge, but I do believe in being petty. I’ll reply at 5pm on Friday then instantly log off. Maybe he’ll think twice in the future before being so aggressive.”