r/mildlyinfuriating • u/make_me_already • 7h ago
frist of all how DARE yu o This email response from my teacher. š®āšØ
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u/rhinocerosjockey 7h ago edited 6h ago
This happens in business a lot. Iād reply and say āThanks, Iāll proceed to use the topic weāve been working on all courseā.
Youāre CYA by stating what youāre going to do and putting it back on them to clarify if thatās not what they intended.
Edit: As others have point out, and I agree, it would have been better to not send an either-or question in the first place. Something like āTo clarify, use the topic weāve been working on all course. Thatās is my understanding and planā.
That way a āYesā reply is unambiguous. Itās very clear your understanding and plan to proceed. If they never reply you are not stuck waiting since youāve stated your intentions. Youāve covered your ass with a paper trail you can argue and defend your position that no reply was implied agreement. And if the answer is āNoā most people would naturally further clarify what they wanted with a ānoā.
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u/NoCatAndNoCradle 7h ago
I always tell people with work or any element of life where thereās accountability never underestimate the value of a paper trail. If there was a meeting or an attempt at communication always send a recap.
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u/rhinocerosjockey 7h ago
100%. This at least gives you a leg to stand on if you need to defend what you did when someone introduced ambiguity to a situation.
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u/NoCatAndNoCradle 7h ago
And to pile on to this sentimentā¦ when possible always, always get confirmations in writing.
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u/rhinocerosjockey 6h ago
100%. Even when I have a business phone conversation with someone, I follow it up with an email summarizing what we spoke about, decisions we made, next actions and timelines needed by either side, and anything else relevant.
I always prompt the email sign off as āplease let me know if this looks correctā so itās a positive spin vs āplease let me know if anything looks incorrectā.
If they respond, great. If they donāt, they had the opportunity and I have an argument to defend myself.
Dealing with this is mentally draining but it is what it is.
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u/tark561 6h ago
I usually use the "please let me know if anything looks incorrect" instead, because if they don't respond to "please let me know if this looks correct" I already experienced once that they'll argue "yeah I didn't respond, so why did you go ahead" lol
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u/rhinocerosjockey 6h ago
Honestly, thatās a fair argument. That does avoid that situation. Such a minefield to walk in email communication lmao.
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u/Blashtik 5h ago
I learned that after having a boss who I would talk to in person and he'd tell me to do something, then I'd question if that's actually the right approach, he would confirm he wanted that and not the way I thought was better, and then after it was done and he was reviewing it would ask "why did you do it [worse way] and not [better way]?".
(Almost seemed like someone else was upset with him about the decisions and he was trying to push the blame onto me because I was the junior who didn't know any better)
Eventually I decided that any time I thought he was making the wrong choice, I would email him saying exactly what I was going to do and ask him to confirm that's what he wanted. Any time he tried to pull the same thing after that I would dig up the email that showed he signed off on it.
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u/PomeloSure5832 6h ago
I find it changes how people operate with you.Ā
Suddenly, people will remember procedures, and be more open to not knowing for sure.
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u/River_Bass 5h ago
Unless you work for an asshole. I had a boss who would constantly, in writing, give me contradictory instructions and then blame me in front of our CEO for not doing what he'd asked. And when I called him out, I got fired.
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u/Wonderful_Minute31 5h ago
My ass has been saved NUMEROUS times because I keep receipts. Follow emails after calls summarizing. Itās witchcraft in business.
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u/BelladonnaRoot 6h ago
Yup. Business communication 101 is that no one reads a full sentence.
āIām doing A. Let me know if you wanted something different.ā
It also helps managers with inability to make executive decisions. Because it forces them to come up with another course of action if they donāt want yours. If they come back with an āI donāt like thatā, you can reply āI need to proceed. Until someone tells me how I should be doing it, Iām going to do it this way.ā Thatās the best way Iāve found to shut down the people who donāt like my way but donāt have any better ideas.
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u/rhinocerosjockey 6h ago
Would agree 100% here. Sometimes getting stuck in a limbo with no clear direction looks worse on you than stating your intention and proceeding with it if not corrected by your manager, or professor in this case.
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u/BelladonnaRoot 6h ago
Yup. Itās turned out fine so far. Especially the last 4 years
The first majority of my career, I was blessed with pretty clear direction. Or at least enough people that would answer clarifying questions. Then I had a manager with executive dysfunction. Even in conversation Iād ask if A or B was more important and heād say both. So the internal āfuck that, Iām choosing oneā worked nearly flawlessly. Occasionally heād have me go back and redo stuff his way, but he acknowledged it was because he didnāt communicate his way at all, so it was a āunderstandable misunderstandingā.
This job, I got hired on and my manager was out for 4 months on medical. So I changed shit without his permission. When he got back, no one was complaining. Heās practically forgot I exist cuz he doesnāt have to manage my area; I tell him what Iām doing and he says āsounds goodā.
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u/rhinocerosjockey 5h ago
I have a manager now who does the "both" when I ask him what my priority should be. I've learned to give him one shot at making a decision on priority, and if he can't, I tell him, to the best of my ability, what task has the highest urgency, greatest impact, or whatever metric seems important at the time, and why I don't just start on that; if priorities change, he can let me know, and I'll switch gears.
That forces one of two things: he agrees with my assessment and direction (most common by far), work gets done, and we move on. Or he realizes he actually has a preference and tells me right there, and then I work on that.
My manager is a good guy overall and is really good at the work he does, but he struggles with delegating and managing people.
To your second point, I think it's just trust. They're afraid to delegate decisions to others, but once you've proven you can make good decisions, it's not a problem. For various reasons, I've assumed ownership of some aspects of the work and changed the SOP without asking anyone, and it works, and no one complains, and it's what we do now. You hired me; let me use my brain to make decisions.
To the upper brass, company owners, etc., I've always found it is easier to defend working on the wrong thing at the wrong time, or the wrong priority, than not working on something at all. At least you're showing you're putting in effort and have gumption, even if it's not aimed at the tasks they wanted first. It also hasn't failed me yet.
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u/__slamallama__ 1h ago
I tell all my mentees that doing something is always better than doing nothing. Sometimes what you do is wrong and you gotta do it again. That's life.
If you're not sure, ask! But until you get a response, don't just sit on your thumbs. Just give it a shot.
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u/OnTheEveOfWar 4h ago
Exactly. Donāt give options. Tell them what youāre doing and say ālet me know if thatās an issueā. It also makes you look better because managers donāt like when employees are constantly asking them āhey what do I do?ā They want to hear āhereās my plan let me know if you want it changedā.
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u/KonigSteve 1h ago
It blows my mind that so many people just don't read. Especially since I'm a civil engineer and being careful about our words is literally 3/4 of the job.
There's one guy at my new company that I swear reads 40% of my sentence max before he answers the email.
I just don't get it. It'll even be something as simple as him asking me what times I have available for the rest of the week.
My email will say I'm busy Wednesday morning and already have a few meetings Friday morning but otherwise free.
He will email back "ok I'll set something up Friday morning. Thanks!"
Like dude.. very specifically said not to use that period
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u/BelladonnaRoot 1h ago
Yup. Thatās another common one. Only say when youāre free. People latch on to specifics, and read what they want to hear that her than whatās written. Multiple times with multiple people Iāve said āIām free any time except Xā and theyāll book X. After 2-3 times of that, Iāve learned my mistake; always give an affirmative rather than a negative.
And making that assessment of who does and doesnāt read emails completely is one of the first things I do at a company. Cuz it means some people I can send a multi-point email to, and others are gonna only read halfway through the first bullet point.
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u/Iko87iko 7h ago
This person corporates
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u/rhinocerosjockey 7h ago
I am a professional email sender and receiver.
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u/GarageFridgeSoda 7h ago
This is the correct answer. It's 90% what she wants, but regardless you're covered either way.
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u/WoolBearTiger 7h ago
Do you sometimes reply using the second choice just to see if they care enough to correct you?
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u/rhinocerosjockey 7h ago
Not usually, simply because I want to minimize the loss of money or missed expectations. IMO, it's always easier to defend the first option as being the one they wanted by assuming they read it as an option and replied "Yes" before finishing the email.
Going with the second option means you have to have some other logic ready to defend if that was the wrong one.
I'm not throwing shade at OP, but I wouldn't have worded this as an either-or question. I would have asked something like, "To clarify, use the topic we've been working on all course?" That way, a simple "Yes" is not ambiguous, and if that's wrong, they now have to clarify what they meant.
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u/Lauke 6h ago
A professor should be able to parse a sentence containing 'or'.
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u/ProcyonHabilis 3h ago
Yeah but actually getting stuff done isn't about what someone "should" be able to do. That's what you grumble about under your breath while you make the pragmatic choice and do something smart like what the comment OP suggested.
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u/Affectionate_Win920 4h ago edited 4h ago
To be honestā¦ teachers and professors have a lot of email to go through, and a lot of the answers to the questions theyāre asked are self-evident, could be deduced with common sense, or are covered in the syllabus or the instructions.
I donāt think this is as much a matter of being āable to parseā the question so much as very likely reading the first five words and saying āyes,ā because thatās nicer than saying āread the instructions/syllabus/course outlineā or āwhy tf would I suddenly be asking you to cover a new topic instead of the one youāve been focusing on for the entire courseā or āwhy are you asking this at 8:47pm on the day itās due at midnight when itās been assigned for a month.ā
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u/Byte-64 5h ago
As others have point out, and I agree, it would have been better to not send an either-or question in the first place.
On the other hand, I could assume a person holding one of the highest academical degree (or at least fricking high, you probably need some brains to become a professor) is perfectly capable of answering an email.
But yeah, that's also my go-to solution. I tell my boss ahead of time how I understood the task, it's his failure not correct me beforehand.
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u/Catnicorn99 6h ago
Oh, donāt I know it. Itās happened many times when Iāve asked my manager āso this happened. Do you want me to do this or that?ā And the response was āyesā.
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u/jsnryn 5h ago
Iāve had to learn this in business. Donāt ask question in a way that a yes/no answer would be ambiguous.
People rarely read the whole thing. They skim until they have the answer and then reply. Iād assume the yes goes to the first half of the question, but the advice to follow up with the āthank you, Iāll use the topic weāve been working on,ā is really good advice too.
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u/ReserveHour2403 7h ago
Dayummm you smart, aināt you?
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u/rhinocerosjockey 6h ago
Naw, just experienced in dealing with these bullshit situations lmao
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u/Immediate_Song4279 6h ago
For those in the audience, you do this because if they don't correct you it becomes a matter of record, or implied assent.
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u/Mooch07 7h ago
Typically thatāll mean the first thing written is the correct one. They probably stopped reading after they āknew the answerā.Ā
Very annoying.Ā
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u/JTP1228 6h ago
I guarantee that the professor is annoyed because the answer was said in class, in the syllabus, and in the assignment. Trust me, people dont read or listen about 85% of the time
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u/LazyIncome5292 6h ago
In my experience, professors often leave small details of the assignment a little vague and so I ask for clarification. If this teacher wrote the assignment the same way she writes her emails then I don't blame the student for asking.
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 5h ago
Yeah I used to have a boss who loved to come over to my desk and give me a complicated list of things to do. With specific numbers and whatnot for cost proposals. I would take notes and ask him to follow up in an email but he never would. Almost to the point I thought he was dyslexic or just could not express his thoughts in written word. It was super annoying. With written instructions I can refer back to them instead of racking my brain for exact phrasing which can make a real difference in how I allocated costs.
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u/YUNoJump 5h ago
like half of my course's class time has been spent going through the assignments and clarifying what each step actually wants, there's so much vaguery. It's good we get the specifics, but also it's SO annoying that assignments are basically cryptic puzzles until we've gone over them
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u/kt217 6h ago
My exact thought (as a professor). The number of emails I get of students saying āthe assignment instructions say do X, so am I supposed to do X?ā
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u/Nathaniel820 4h ago
When I was in university I noticed LOTS of professors suffered from the curse of knowledge and would give unclear instructions for their assignments, where they would be correct from their point of view in having given the assignment for dozens of semesters prior, but from the perspective of a student reading it for the first time had different interpretations that could also be correct.
I'm not saying that's definitely what you're doing, I also saw many kids raise their hands to ask a question that was answered literally 15 seconds previously, but it's something to keep in mind
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u/Global_Green8231 5h ago
I used to teach undergrad. I could email my students details about something and 100% of the time at least a couple would reply to the email to ask me a question that my initial email answered. Same thing happened when I advised graduate students. I work mostly with admins now. Same shit.
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u/Fair_Ad_9967 5h ago
This is probably because your assignements are unclear tbh.
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u/Aggressive-Hawk-2890 5h ago
Op said it's an asynchronous online course, meaning there is no "class." There are assignments with due dates; usually the instructor keeps virtual office hours one a week to field questions. All other communication is through email typically.
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u/pharoh-king 5h ago
Very annoying.
almost as annoying as people turning yes or no questions into multiple choice for no reason.
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u/foxfirek 7h ago
I was working with a partner at my firm a lot this tax season who I donāt usually work with. I realized she is like this. She will stop reading as soon as she can answer a question. Safest to assume they didnāt read the end.
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u/Siffov 5h ago
>She will stop reading as soon as she can answer a question.
That wouldn't be so bad if she indicated which question she was answering.
How do people not understand that if you get a message with say, three yes-or-no questions, answering "yes" is useless?
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u/foxfirek 4h ago
Trust me, I know. I was wording my questions in a "Hey so do you want me to do X? Or would you prefer I do Y?
Yes.
It drove me a little nuts. I don't think i'm a poor speaker. I try to word things very clearly, but after she did this to me like three times I realized its best to either call her or only ask one question at a time with no options.
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u/NancyMy 2h ago
When I was a fifth year in university, I ended up doing a first year class due to scheduling and all that stuff. It was the most painful class I ever took.
I remember the first day of class, the prof gave everyone the syllabus, then went through the syllabus in detail. She had a powerpoint and everything. Then came the dreaded words:
āDoes anyone have any questions?ā
A dozen hands raised, and each question my fifth year soul died a little bit more.
āWhere is your office?ā
āFront page of syllabus.ā
āWhen is the first assignment due?ā
āThird page of the syllabus.ā
āWhat books do we need for the course?ā
āAll the resources you need for the course is on the second page of the syllabus.ā
āWhen are your office hours?ā
āFirst page of the syllabus.ā
āWill there be TAs?ā
āI introduced them at the beginning of class, their contact info is on the front page of the syllabus.ā
āWill we be discussing (insert archeological dig site here).ā
āAll discussion topics are in the syllabus.ā
āWhere is your office?ā (Yep, someone asked a second time. I considered burying myself so deep in the dirt at this point that in 100 years an archeologist would find me).
āOn the front page of the syllabus.ā
Look, this might not be the case for you OP, but dear lord the amount of people unwilling to even look at the syllabus before asking a question broke my soul in unrecoverable ways, and I wasnāt even teaching the class. The prof spent half an hour answering questions, almost every single one the answer was āFor the love of god, read the paper in front of you.ā
After that class I understood my profs on a spiritual level. And I also understood why half of them were dead inside. I understand it sucks not getting a proper answer, but it sucks a whole lot more when 50 18 year olds refuse to read the instructions, and you have to repeat yourself 100 millions times.
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u/freshlysqueezed93 2h ago
Slightly different, but while I was studying psych the amount of people who would be like "I have X disorder, but I react differently" in class was astounding.
It didn't matter how many times the teacher told people not to bring in personal anecdotes, they never stopped.
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u/Just-Shoe2689 7h ago
"Thanks for the reply. so should I use the topic we have been working on all course?"
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u/such_Jules_much_wow 7h ago
Rookie mistake. Always ask yes/no questions, no either/or ones.
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u/Chilis1 5h ago
Why tf is everyone blaming OP for this perfectly reasonable question not the professor who canāt be bothered to read a single sentence properly?
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u/carloscitystudios 4h ago
One is a perfect world and one is a realistic expectation
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u/SquaresAre2Triangles 4h ago
Because you can't make the teacher or any future idiot to be less of an idiot, but you can save yourself frustration by leaving less room for future idiots you encounter to fuck up. "The teacher sucks" is commiserating, "here's why you should do this instead" is helpful, both are fine.
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u/ModernNomad97 5h ago
When you find the answer, let me know cause Iām right there with you
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u/Scared-Letterhead949 7h ago
Should I email the teacher back to clarify or should I just assume they meant to use the same topic?
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u/Informal-Insurance63 6h ago
You write back saying: 'Thank you for your quick reply. I will use the topic we've been working all course.' or similar. Always get stuff in writing. If they don't reply again you've got your answer.
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u/pbmadman 7h ago
This is the way. Completely open ended is fine too. But either/or questions are the worst in these situations.
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u/Glittering-Device484 4h ago
"Don't scare the professional educator with an either/or question"
What other kinds of questions should not be asked of higher education faculty? True/false? Agree/disagree? If/whether? Pass/fail?
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u/Appropriate-Draft-91 7h ago
Depends. If you need any answer and can blame them if their answer was wrong: yes/no. If you need the right answer, either/or tests whether they at least read the question.
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u/such_Jules_much_wow 7h ago
Congrats, now OP knows they didn't but is regarding their question still none the wiser. For right answers it'd be best to use open questions.
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u/yakimawashington 7h ago
Not always....
Typically, you want to ask questions to professors, mentors, bosses, managers etc. that imply you've put thought into multiple options and solutions. It's not a bad habit to get into, albeit OP's might have worked as a yes or no question.
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u/such_Jules_much_wow 7h ago
You know, typically, you ask questions to professors, mentors, bosses, managers etc. because you have an actual querie that needs to be answered, or you seek written approval for the next course of action.
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u/NeedleworkerHot3957 3h ago
To add to this mildly infuriating post - I also hate that I can't send 2 questions in one email because - nope, only one of them is going to be answered.
Argh! Why do I have to send one email with one question. Wait, then send the other email.
Also, I've learned the hard way to not write 'do you want me to do X or Y?' because they answer, like in OP, 'yes',
I've changed it to 'should I do X?' no options!
Also, extra difficult since it's a student-prof relationship
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u/MrsSalmalin 2h ago
I write emails to doctors who make some decisions for me (in a medical lab). I always write "would you like me to a) do abc, b)def or c)ghi, or d)something else you'd prefer (please detail)
That way they have to respond with a) b) c) or d). I think the trick is providing 3 options at least.
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u/bsharplion 6h ago
I hate how as a society we coddle highly educated people with zero reading comprehension by suggesting "problem-solving" like oversimplification or questions that need yes/no answers. I had a university tutor like this, in that you'd email her a few brief and reasonable questions and you'd get an incoherent single sentence response that didn't answer any of them. Similarly, in the last 48 hours I've had two different corporate managers ask me questions already answered in succinct emails/messages I'd sent them minutes before. It's pervasive both in and out of academia and it boils my piss.
The problem is not people asking reasonable questions, it's lazy people who don't read properly and waste everyone's time by answering with nonsense.
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u/make_me_already 6h ago
But if you ask half the people here it's my fault because she probably told me a million times already and I just wasn't listening.
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u/-Ostrava- 5h ago
OP, I'd just go with the first option. If she has an issue and you haven't been informed in any other reasonable manner, it's whatever.
It could also be that she thinks she is answering your question (at least the first part) with an affirmative. "Are we supposed to use the topic we've been working on all semester?" Yes.
End of thought lol I dunno though, I'd definitely send a follow up and ask her very specifically. - If she answers again like like this, just do whatever. It sounds like the entire thing is up to you at that point! :D
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u/pnwal-junction 4h ago
This is unfortunately an extremely common result from asking a question with <this option> OR <that option>. I ask these kinds of questions all the time and very often do not get the answer I think I requested.
In your case, it could be the prof was skimming, saw the first option and replied yes without even registering the second option. Or, as others have suggested, they may be giving you a non-answer because you should already know.
Of late, I've started being very simple and direct and asking single questions that can be answered Yes or No only. If there are multiple questions or multiple options, I'll split them into bullets the so it's visibly obvious that there are multiple items.
I as
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u/OneBillPhil 3h ago
There are some people at work that never, ever give me a satisfying response in an email if my email is longer than 15 words. You have a list of simple things youād like answered? Forget it and book a meeting because itās the only way youāre getting that info.Ā
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u/lonely_stoner_daze 7h ago
Lmao it's like asking my elderly relatives a simple question.
"Would you like to go to McDonald's or Sonic?"
"Yes" š
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u/CautionIsVictory 6h ago
One of my biggest pet peeves, when I ask someone about options and they just respond yes, yes to WHICH ONE???
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u/Appropriate-Draft-91 7h ago
It's either that, or they skipped the middle and just read the first and last part. And no, the logic will not defend the failing grade.
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u/Apprehensive-Rip6850 7h ago
Ive learned to not ask questions like this because of this exact reason. I'll give one option and if its not correct then they can give me the correct one. There is nothing wrong with your question but people who are busy of who dont care enough to give thoughtful answers will always exist and never give you what you need.
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u/Glittering-Device484 4h ago
No one is too 'busy' to read the second proposition in an either/or question. The word you need is 'stupid'.
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u/Apprehensive-Rip6850 3h ago
Right, but if you ask them, they will say they are lol Stupid or lazy works too
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u/TrickySpite5938 5h ago
As a college instructor, about 80% or more of the emails I get from students are about things that are on the syllabus, have detailed instructions online, and were discussed in class.
There's a new type of helplessness in college students that's troubling. Student expect to be sent reminders for exams, have detailed notes provided, and when a small issue emerges, escalate and rant, instead of trying a little basic problem-solving.
It's great you reached out to your instructor, who sounds like they rushed off an email while trying to help you, but didn't. I don't think students understand how much work faculty do. These days, teaching can seem almost like an afterthought with many new administrative duties piled on and new demands as the world of education shifts.
You instructor is probably really busy, tired, and definitely human!
Resend your message, ask for clarification, and laugh with your instructor about it (instead of venting online). Everyone will be happier and things will be better because of it.
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u/KathyGoby 4h ago
Lmao, read the students email again.
Basically: "What topic are we supposed to choose for the project?"
I guran-fucking-tee you this was discussed in class. Another student probably asked this exact same question in class. It was probably repeated 3 times... IN CLASS.
The professor probably got the exact same email 5 different times.
If OP wasn't present for the lecture, that's one thing, but there's an increasing number of students who pay to be in a course (or parents will pay for them to be in college) and will sit in the front row on their phones, or talk to other students the entire lecture, or work on other things during that time.
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u/ididntknowiwascyborg 3h ago
I mean okay, I'm not sure what this has to do with the professor's answer, though, unless you're saying they are being deliberately unhelpful because OP's question was annoying. If this was the case they could have said, it is in the syllabus. Or something like that. Check in with your classmates, it was discussed in class etc etc etc this genuinely seems like they misread the question and thought they were just being asked if they were supposed to continue the topic from all course. This is a professor who is doing this job because they want to teach people. Deliberately answering a question obliquely would be so counterproductive. Just ignoring the email would accomplish more if this was their mindset
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u/youdontknowkanji 2h ago
The professor probably got the exact same email 5 different times.
A professor with any sort of IQ would sent a detailed response to all students after seeing 2 emails like that, this would've fixed the problem entirely, and save them some work. Because who knows, it could be dumb students, or they actually made a mistake when making up the assignment.
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u/madeyoulookatit 1h ago
A professor is not a nanny. If they think the question is unreasonable they donāt owe any answer. They have other important shit to do than reanswer questions already adressed.
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u/WiseRabbit-XIV 4h ago
There's a new type of helplessness in college students that's troubling. Student expect to be sent reminders for exams, have detailed notes provided, and when a small issue emerges, escalate and rant, instead of trying a little basic problem-solving.
YES.
"Professor, you didn't email us a reminder about our quiz, so it's not my fault I didn't submit it on time." - Yes, it is.
"Professor, are our weekly assignments due every week?" - Yes, that's what words mean.
"Professor, can I get partial credit on this question? I didn't mark any incorrect answers, which is basically like getting things right." - What? No! That's not.... How did you come to that conclusion?
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u/brodoswaggins93 4h ago
I TA a large first year undergrad class divided into sections with a TA for each section. Another section's TA told me that one of her students emailed her because they redid an assignment that she'd marked and given out feedback for and they wanted to know how to go about resubmitting their assignment. This student honestly thought that they could just take the feedback for the assignment, redo it, and get it graded again.
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u/Cross-eyedwerewolf 4h ago
It honestly seems like two different issues are being conflated here. One issue is students waiting to be hand fed reminders and everything and using that as an excuse for not trying.
The other is students asking clarifying questions that either you find stupid or had already been answered in class. The former is way worse and the latter, while annoying, isnāt a big problem and takes like 5 seconds to answer.
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u/TheBSQ 3h ago
do you think there could be a third thing where students could be asking clarifying questions, but the professor thinks itās stupid or believes it had already been answered class?
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u/MutedLeave 6h ago
At my job, generally itās the answer to the first question.Ā
I know that because I noticed that my boss is too lazy to keep reading after the first part of my email. Every time I double check with him, I notice his answer always corresponds to the first question.Ā
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u/Future_Prior3639 2h ago
as someone fluent in asshole managers - this means yes to the using the topic you have been working on all course.
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u/CheesyComestibles 4h ago
I have changed my email layout to try to avoid people like this. I will literally number and layout each question in a way there's no way they can not see and answer them all easily.
They still respond like in the op. It drives my fucking nuts. I have multiple questions. Only one is a yes or no answer, and I'll still get just a yes as a reply. It's some ailment people have, like dyslexia. It needs a name.
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u/Cumdump90001 1h ago
This shit happens to me all the time at my job. I will send out very concise yet very clear instructions on what I need from a client in a numbered list. There is zero room for ambiguity or misunderstanding. And yet they always misunderstand. An exchange will go like this:
Me: āHi, please provide me with W, X, Y, and Z in [specific formats and dimensions].
Them: sends W in the wrong file format
Me: āPlease send W in an allowed format along with X, Y, and Z.ā
Them: sends W in the right format
Me: āGreat, now send X, Y, and Z please. Please provide all items together in the required formats only. Thank you!ā
Them: Sends X
Me: āā¦ Please provide Y and Zā¦ā
Them: sends Y in the wrong dimensions
Etc. etc.
And the worst part is when they get annoyed with me at how much back and forth there is and how long things are taking! Likeā¦ I gave you everything you needed to get this done right the first time in one single mf email. And then repeatedly told you over and over what you needed to do in each message. This is on YOU, so drop the attitude.
I cannot stand these brainless corporate goons.
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u/Vincentamerica 7h ago edited 2h ago
He probably stopped reading after āā¦working on all course,ā so I would go with yes.
Edit: I will leave my error out of shame.
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u/ElectrifiedSword 6h ago
Just like you stopped reading before her signature. The proof is in the pudding people. /j
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u/Shoddy-Desk-6807 5h ago
bro got two degrees in the signature and neither one helped answer the question š
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u/hewasaraverboy 7h ago
I feel like everyone has a teacher like this at one point in their lives
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u/stickyplants 6h ago
And then afterwards itās either a boss, customer, or vendor doing this.
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u/MidnightIAmMid 7h ago
You have no idea how many emails they get like this lol Iām sure they just jumped the gun and read the first part
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u/Zealousideal_Bill_86 7h ago
If this happens to me, I usually will ask for clarification if I can, or will just say, āok Iāll go ahead and [insert my interpretation]ā they can correct me if Iām wrong. If not, I have in writing and gave the chance for a correction that wasnāt taken.
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u/Laststand2006 6h ago
This is particularly fun when it's literally a life and death related question.
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u/Pink-frosted-waffles 5h ago
It's like how older folks always just reply with "ok" no matter what you text them.
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u/Jealous_Corgi_2168 3h ago
If I ask a "option a or option b" type question and receive a single "yes" as a reply, I'll assume they didn't read the second half of the question, and that option a is the correct one. In my experience, the only other response I get is a "no, it's option b".
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u/HistoricalBridge7 7h ago
That is high finance managing director type of response
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u/ausyliam 5h ago
Unless the answer has already been given in a handful of ways by the professor Iād pick whatever is easiest for me and if it ends up being wrong use this response as an excuse to say you thought xyz was acceptable.
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u/MostlyMellow123 7h ago
Dear professor is the assignment related to the class or should I just start rambling about something else. Thank you so much
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u/VolatileCotton 4h ago
I'm going to go on a limb and guess you never got a class where professors do just that, talk about something for the largest part of a semester and then assign a different topic for a project.
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u/didthatthingonce 7h ago
You cannot put two things in an email. Ever. Gen pop is just too dumb to handle it.
You cannot ask 2 questions; they will only answer one.
You cannot ask a this or that question; they will completey ignore one of them.
Every. Fucking. Time.
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u/Pyroluminous 6h ago
I donāt have an MBA, but I do feel itās answering the first half of the question.
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u/imnotgonnakillyou 6h ago
This is training for real life because your employer is going to be just like this.Ā
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u/ChapulineAtHome 5h ago
What are the apologies for?
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u/Parking-Usual 3h ago
With the way the comments are you would think no teacher has ever been ambiguous in human history
I get it OP, teachers are human and some of them make super confusing assignments that not even their own TA's can comprehend, and also somehow are incapable of reading past a 3rd grade level.
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u/mbardeen 6h ago edited 3h ago
As a university professor, this is what I'd reply if I had made it abundantly clear on multiple occasions what the answer was and I knew the student was either on their phone, talking with their friends, or not attending class.
Edit: Since it seems some respondents lack reading comprehension, I highlighted the relevant part of my response.
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Edit 2: Fascinating thread. I love the assumptions about my teaching competence and my vocational aptitude for it, all judged from a flippant comment on reddit. I've been doing it for a long time (20 years now) and my student reviews are consistently high. I'm not arbitrary nor capricious in my assessments of students, nor do I typically give such non-answers to genuine student questions - I take ample time in all my classes to explain all aspects of assignments and I try to ensure the students understand them. I generally have a good relationship with all my students and know most of them by name. I enjoy what I do and I enjoy motivating students to learn.
However, as a professor, my time is split between preparing class, grading, research, university governance, and various other aspects of the job. All these aspects of the job involve time, of which there is a limited amount.
And now for the harsh reality. For a university professor, while teaching (and all it entails) consumes most of their time, it is the least likely aspect of their job to give them job security. Were it a perfect world, it'd be otherwise, but alas it's not.
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So, when a student emails, 2 hours before an assignment they've had two weeks to complete is due, asking a rather fundamental question that was discussed in classes that they didn't bother attending (not saying this is OPs case)....
Edit 3: And while I wish all my students were model students, interested and willing to learn, the sheer number of assignments that I've received that were obviously generated by an LLM tells me otherwise.
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u/make_me_already 6h ago
It's an asynchronous online class I've never spoken to my teacher once.
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u/External-Carpet4215 3h ago
Doesn't that by definition mean absolutely everything is written down somewhere, including instructions for the assignment?
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u/Tight-Purpose-6033 2h ago
I supported software development for decades and you'd be surprised to learn how many people who considered themselves educated and smart would give us extremely unclear requirements. When I would write up the specs for their review they'd say that wasn't what they wanted done because they left half of their wishes unstated and we weren't mind readers.
You are assuming that the professor clarified that information and the student just missed it. You are also assuming that the professor read the email in full and responded as a smarta**, while it's equally possible that they were responding to just the half of the email that they superficially read.
It's possible that the student asked his fellow students and half were using the course topic and half were using a new topic, so they were all uncertain. It's possible that the student had already done the work but was now worried they had chosen the wrong topic.
Would it have been that hard for the professor to just provide the information the student asked for, or point them in the direction where they could find it? It wasn't like it would require a dissertation.
(And I say all of this as the wife of a former professor who would bend over backwards for his students because he wanted them to succeed even when they were PITAs; he would never have responded like that professor did even if the student had emailed the question 2 hours before an assignment they've had two weeks to complete was due.)
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u/Mayfly_01 5h ago edited 3h ago
Just so you know, I'm over 40 and I only recently realized that I likely have something called an auditory processing disorder. My hearing is perfectly good but I cannot process verbal information as effectively as written. In college I always struggled with lecture halls because of this, and survived by teaching myself the material using the book (and later, youtube). I have to repeat instructions when someone verbally gives me a list of them. And it's not a matter of being bored or disinterested either, as I consistently cannot follow tv or movie plots without captions.
My point is, your students may have some element of this going on when it looks like they're not paying attention. I'm sure I didn't look like I was either, because there's only so much you can try to power your way through it before you realize it's not working and give up. I remember being punished for "not paying attention" as young as second grade. But I was a good student and typically made the honor roll and dean's list throughout school.
I would encourage you to give your students the benefit of the doubt a little more, and realize that if they're asking you questions at all, they do care about the material and doing well with it.
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u/Slight-Tomatillo7837 4h ago
Professors getting into pettiness contests with students is unprofessional and frankly pathetic. Do better, act your age.Ā
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u/Careless_Bluejay7877 3h ago
I had an English professor once who held class in a computer lab. Sheād spend the first 15 minutes of class printing and stapling reading packets for us because ācomputers didnāt agree with her.ā Couldnāt use canvas to save her life. On one occasion she had us watch a documentary about a pseudoscientific company called heart math institute proposing to heal people at their expensive workshops and sheād rave about how cool it was. My last straw was when I drove my 15 mi commute to be in her class at 7:30am only for her to show up late and say she didnāt have anything planned and we could just use the time to do whatever we wanted. As soon as she said that I grabbed my shit, walked out and withdrew from the class.
My point is it that sometimes professors are dumber than the people they teach.
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u/Glittering-Cost-3660 1h ago
I think if students go out of their way to ask for clarification, the least an educator can do is provide an earnest response.
OPās professor was being petty and unprofessional.
I hope you see the hypocrisy in your stance about valuing time.
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u/WittyUnwittingly 3h ago
Yeah. This is not absent-minded, and this is not snobbish. This is a "you've been given all of the resources to figure that out for yourself, please use them" answer.
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u/GlitteringEggCarton 5h ago
why are you defending someone you don't even know. are all teachers gaslighters or something
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u/user83726169 4h ago
this is why educators lose credibility. You have a terrible attitude that does not foster learning.
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u/Unfair-Bass-9351 5h ago
Itās always so funny being reminded of how soft Reddit is lmao, based on the replies to this comment
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u/Lahwke 4h ago
As a middle school teacher I have the instructions on the board, I have them on the paper, Iāve said them to the class, Iāve said them to the students individually.
Then they sit there doing nothing and when I ask why they say they donāt know what to do.
Fuck all these people jumping on you for this.
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u/deca065 3h ago
Don't worry about the responses, the average person on here has no idea how to (or desire to) understand your position or the idea of maintaining reasonable standards and expectations in school (stop fucking around in class and pay attention).
Blaming teachers, or whatever authority figure, will always be the answer for them.
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u/mbardeen 5h ago
Well, my students aren't paying $20k a semester. Their tuition is paid for by the state via my (and everyone else in the country) taxes.
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u/Somethingsilly6969 6h ago
So here's what happened, and I drive my wife crazy with this.
You started to ask a yes or no question and then changed it at the end. You should have just left it at "are we supposed to use the same topic as before?". A lot less room for misinterpretation in a simple yes or no when your question focuses on one thing.
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u/Exact_Sign148 4h ago
Do not let people on this thread tell you that you did the wrong thing by asking an either/or question. Your sentence was fine. (The TRUE Business Communication 101 is: DON'T REPLY TO SOMETHING WITHOUT READING IT. This professor failed at that.) The advice to reply with a "Thank you for your reply. I will do [whatever you want to do]." That gives you a trail in case they have issues down the road.
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u/dontkillmecatlovers 4h ago
Iād go with the first option you listed; professor probably didnāt finish reading your email.
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u/Bad-Luck-Guy 7h ago
Well, there you have it. Just do what she said and youāll be fine.