On a topic completely unrelated to mental health but high on the list of heartburn producing activities in our culture: Can people please stop using exclamation points in every other sentence? Especially in a business context, this is ridiculous.
You don’t need to soften me up with a squeaky cheery, “Hope you had a great weekend!!” I know it’s Monday and you know it’s Monday and we both know that Monday generally sucks after the weekend. So please get down to business and tell me what you want, period. It’s business, not the Cub Scouts.
We all do it now because it’s expected and we feel like ogres if we don’t inject that bit of good cheer into the other person’s day. Newsflash: the excessive use of exclamation points does not produce endorphins on either the giving or the receiving end.
Is anyone else on board with this? In the new year, let’s try to use a few less exclamation points and be a little more genuine.