Dear Reader,

How do you start your email? Is "Dear ____" too formal? This Wall Street Journal article suggests that the use of dear as a greeting is incorrect. It is either too initimate, if you don't know the reader, or too impersonal, if the reader is someone the writer already knows. However, just launching into the content of the mail is too abrupt, according to one etiquette expert. Is "Salutations" or "Hey" any better?

Are you unintentionally rude?

Oprah Winfrey does interviews with celebrities for her magazine and television show. She asked Jerry Seinfeld what his pet peeve was, and he said it was a lack of civility. So she did a show with a discussion of rude behaviors that irritate people in customer contact jobs. I bet you can name a few of the behaviors that came up. Hint: a number of them have to do with cell phones and/or driving. Etiquette has been called the lubrication that keeps our interactions harmonious. So there are two good reasons to be polite - first, it helps keep peace and harmony, and second, it can make a business more successful.