Senator,

You’ll have to forgive me as none of the subjects in this form drop-down seemed appropriate for this email, so I picked Campaign Finance.

I sent you a cookie-cutter style letter concerning the Network Neutrality debate; and I received a cookie-cutter response back. This is fine, we both obviously deal with a lot of topics and email. We don’t have time for us or our staffers (thanks to you, by the way) to hand-type emails supporting letterhead-positions. The -only- problem was how you did it. You see, I gave you my email address, the personal line to reach me. What did I get in response? donotreply@warner.senate.gov

Look, I don’t want to tell you how to do your job, but when we enter in this new world of electronic communication it means we need to obey some standard etiquette. After the email that I sent, you had my email address to which you could respond with your thoughts and feelings in that conversation. I appreciate the email you sent, but you broke the potential for conversation and turned information into a one-way-street by sending it from this ridiculous account, equivalent to “donotreply@yourSenatorCouldntCareLess.gov”. I don’t want the email box that your wife sends you dinner with or where you get the daily sports sent, I’m just saying I’d like to be able to reply to something you shoved into my inbox.

I know the Senator’s office is a busy place and you probably never see these emails, let alone care about what email address your emails get sent back. However, I know that Senators are supposed to have an open line of communication with their constituents. In fact, this is the basis for the amazing republic in which we live. This is a brave, new world, Senator. I don’t think I’m asking for much, just that you don’t shut me down by not letting me talk back. It’s only fair.

Your empathy is appreciated,

Raymond Berg
Voter