陳豪在北京的ABC美國公司工作。同事Amy在復印間里找到他。
　　(Office ambience)
　　A：Hi Chen Hao. May I talk to you for a minute after you finish copying those documents?
　　C：我馬上就印完了。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：什么電子郵件？我怎么不記得。
　　A：The one you sent to Bill complaining about Sue's work on your current project.
　　C：哦，我想起來了，上星期我確實給Bill發過一個電子郵件，因為Sue太氣人了。
　　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，當時我們剛開了一次特別重要的小組會議，確定項目提案的終稿。
　　A：I imagine there was a lot of pressure.
　　C：對啊，我是組長，所以壓力特別大。Sue不僅沒有按時完成工作，而且粗枝大葉，又不合作，所以我才發電子郵件給Bill抱怨。
　　A：Why Bill?
　　C：Bill做過這類項目，又跟組里很多人共過事。其實啊，我就是想找個人，發泄一下。
　　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：不應該發電子郵件？可是當時你出差，Bill在開會，我沒有別的辦法。
　　A：Let's talk more about this later on. I have a meeting in five minutes.
　　C：好，一會兒見。
　　******
　　幾小時后，在陳豪辦公室里。
　　C：Amy, 你剛才說我不應該發電子郵件給Bill, 為什么？
　　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 看完電子郵件后，轉寄給Lee, 那也沒什么啊。
　　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？這下可糟了。
　　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 you email has created something of an office war. People are taking sides.
　　C：什么？不過這可不是我的本意。你說我現在該怎么辦呢？
　　A：You need to go directly to Sue and talk to her.
　　C：去找Sue當面說清楚？
　　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：一封短短的電子郵件，會把事情搞到這種田地。
　　A：The point is that e-mail should not be used to send messages that are sensitive or confidential.