(no subject)

I never feel more like a robot who learned to communicate with humans by reading out of date badly translated manuals than when I have to write a work email.

I mean, all my written (and spoken) communication has a little of that flavor anyway, but in private casual conversation it (hopefully) comes across as quirky, rather than offputtingly strange. I think it's because work emails require me to leave out most of the affectations I add to my speech/writing that make it seem like the strangeness is a deliberate choice, rather than an unavoidable fact.

Using the word "alas" in a work email is probably unprofessional. Alas.