So I just accidentally watched five minutes of Jane the Virgin and now I definitely have to start watching it. Should I go back to the beginning, or can I just jump in?

I'm totally a "hi" person. I never realized it was such an issue! Thing is, sometimes if I have a question, my action depends on the result, and having it asked but not answered is a different thing than never having asked it, so I need to know the person's available before I ask it. That, and I feel really awkward saying, "Hey, [topical and timely joke, comment, or sympathy]" and not getting a reply for a week (or several years, which makes reigniting the conversation particularly weird.)

But I will attempt to be more aware of when I need a pingback and when I just want one so I don't feel awkward. Adjustment made, possibly fewer people annoyed.

I'm going to say this is just a thing at work, not my personal life. When you can tell I'm there!

But I usually write hi or hey or do you have a sec and then pretty immediately send a next one with the actual question.

That's totally fine. And I can see if they continue typing so I will wait for sec before getting my rage on.

But Hi and then nothing until I stop what I'm doing and respond? Nuh and uh. That's way more intrusive than email.

ETA = and yeah, this is all about work. Different rules apply.

I think you can totally jump into Jane the Virgin, but there's also so much fun stuff if you start from the beginning. It's a telenovela, though, and the Narrator usually sums up what you need to know at the beginning of each episode.

I'm going to say this is just a thing at work, not my personal life.

Yeah, I only find it enraging in a work context, because 99.9% of the time someone is pinging me to ask me to do something for them. I'd rather get the information I need up front to expedite the process, especially when I've got five other people also pinging me with, "Hi."

It's a telenovela, though, and the Narrator usually sums up what you need to know at the beginning of each episode.

Jesse! If you have time, go back to the beginning because the Narrator is MY FAVORITE.

Ah, I love catching up on email to find escalations where people were repeatedly asking me to follow up on things when I clearly indicated in my out of office message and calendar that I was unavailable.

I thought this was just my teen age volunteers - who might not know what an out of office message is ... I've started say 'this message means I am not at the library . I will be back blah blah important stuff"

This is out of left field, but you know how people in the Middle Ages and whatnot supposedly drank beer all day, because water wasn't really safe? Did everyone have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome then? Because now they are saying no amount of alcohol is safe?

Oh good, I have been wondering about Jane the Virgin myself

Wait, where are they saying that? The last info I had about drinking was in the Tipping Point, where it was totally "There's a line, not a continuum." Is it actually a continuum?