Email

Have U.S. Americans become too reliant on the exclamation point in electronic office correspondence? A common email I send looks like this:

Hi XXXX --

Yakitate 25 misc text is done! I've left final pdf in your folder for approval.

Thanks!

I don't remember always using the "exclam" in my sign-off and I'm not sure when it became a habit. Anyhow, their response usually looks something like this:

YAKITATE 25 misc text is approved!

Thanks!

Other times it will be like this:

YAKITATE 25 misc text is approved.

Thanks

When I get the last one, it does seem to affect my mood considerably. It makes me feel sullen and unloved. I feel betrayed when they're not sharing in the excitement of this good news. I know it's ridiculous that this one character can make such an impact, but that's where we stand today as a society. Perhaps it's to atone for the lost art of the handwritten letter or the look-you-square-in-the-eye handshake; email can be cold and impersonal--the exclam brings it to life. I feel like I've been to a marvelous party when I get one! Don't you have the same feeling now?

In your inbox
This one ticks me off. Is there any way around saying "I've left the proof in your inbox?" I don't like the two "ins" right next to each other. You can't say "at your inbox."
"At your desk" might work but not if it really is in the inbox. Call me a pervert but you can't say "I've left the proof in your box;" it sounds sexual. You can just leave it on someone's chair, which a lot of people do. But I hate when people do that. It's presumptuous to impose an additional urgency on a project like that. If you put it on my seat, I have to work on it or at least think about it before I even sit down!