Good Manners; Even If It's "Just the Internet"

     I'm kind of a bitch when it comes to etiquette. And it really bothers me when people just don't understand that good manners are important. Now I'm not talking about table manners, although they are equally important, I'm talking about using good manners online.

 
     About 6 months ago, I was in a local barbecue restaurant (They were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and can I just say, GUY, honey, there is MUCH better barbecue than that restaurant, in my neck of the woods. If you would like, I could recommend a couple. Email me babe, and I'll hook you up! Cause I know he totally follows my blog.) with my mom and my kiddos, and the service sucked, the waitstaff was rude and the food mediocre. So I filled out a comment card. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, I got an email back from the owner in response to my comment card. Let's forget about the fact that it took him over 6 MONTHS to respond to me. He sent me an email and he failed to address me in the letter. That bugs me for many reasons.
     One, I was in the food service/PR industry for FIFTEEN years and using a dissatisfied customer's first name helps to level the playing field. It makes it seem like you are at least acquaintances, if not friends. And two, it's just rude not to! Not using my name in the greeting of an email makes it feel like you are either, sending me a mass email or that you don't care enough to look on the card and read my name off of it. In this case the latter was the case. He was a real asshole.
     So after my encounter with this asshole business owner I started looking at my inbox a little more carefully and realized that it's a wide spread problem--among rude people. Very few of my friends forget to address an email to me. Hmm.... Very few of my business associates forget this grammatical faux pas. Hmm.... But nearly every single rude person I receive an email from, leaves off my name.  

Coincidence? I don't really think so!

Am I perhaps a little too fanatical about this? Maybe!

     But I think the real question is why do these people think it's ok to be rude? I don't care if it's just the internet. It's still a reflection of you and your beliefs. And if you think that it's acceptable to demean me by refusing to use my name, then think again. It just makes you look like an ass.
     And this goes for brands too! I know ya'll send out these mass emails hoping that someone will bite, and I get that. But if after you've set the hook, you can reel me in and land my account by using my name. Like how I finished out that metaphor? I can do fishing metaphors all day long. So do us both a favor. USE MY NAME! It's not like it's not all over my blog....

Peace Out!

In case you don't know what my name is it's Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton, Becca Burton.... Get the point?