陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作。同事Amy在复印间里找到他。
(Office ambience)
A：Hi Chen Hao. May I talk to you for a minute after you finish copying those documents?
C：我马上就印完了。什么事？
A：It seems that you sent an e-mail to one of your colleagues last week. You said some uncomplimentary things about a co-worker.
C：什么电子邮件？我怎么不记得。
A：The one you sent to Bill complaining about Sue’s work on your current project.
C：哦，我想起来了，上星期我确实给Bill发过一个电子邮件，因为Sue太气人了。
A：It seems that you criticized her failure to meet deadlines, her inattention to detail and her inability to work with others.
C：是啊，当时我们刚开了一次特别重要的小组会议，确定项目提案的终稿。
A：I imagine there was a lot of pressure.
C：对啊，我是组长，所以压力特别大。Sue不仅没有按时完成工作，而且粗枝大叶，又不合作，所以我才发电子邮件给Bill抱怨。
A：Why Bill?
C：Bill做过这类项目，又跟组里很多人共过事。其实啊，我就是想找个人，发泄一下。
A：It is understandable that you needed to vent to someone and get advice on how to handle the situation, but e-mail was the wrong way to do it.
C：不应该发电子邮件？可是当时你出差，Bill在开会，我没有别的办法。
A：Let’s talk more about this later on. I have a meeting in five minutes.
C：好，一会儿见。
******
几小时后，在陈豪办公室里。
C：Amy, 你刚才说我不应该发电子邮件给Bill, 为什么？
A：After Bill read your e-mail, he forwarded it to Lee who has also worked with Sue. I don’ think Bill meant any harm. He wanted to know if Lee had had any of the same issues.
C：Bill 看完电子邮件后，转寄给Lee, 那也没什么啊。
A：Wait. There’ more. Lee and Sue are friends so Lee sent a copy of your message to her.
C：什么？Lee和Sue是好朋友？这下可糟了。
A：You don’t know how bad it is. Sue was upset and passed your e-mail on to several friends in her department. In short your email has created something of an office war. People are taking sides.
C：什么？不过这可不是我的本意。你说我现在该怎么办呢？
A：You need to go directly to Sue and talk to her.
C：去找Sue当面说清楚？
A：That’s right. You owe her an apology for your bad judgment in involving Bill and not discussing your issues with her first.
C：一封短短的电子邮件，会把事情搞到这种田地。
A：The point is that e-mail should not be used to send messages that are sensitive or confidential.