I see this a lot in west-american culture in general, actually (I'm European). Far more emphasis on form than content whenever communication is expected. As I

I see this a lot in west-american culture in general, actually (I'm European). Far more emphasis on form than content whenever communication is expected. As I constantly interact both with europeans and americans, it's really shocking sometimes seeing the difference and how crippled the communication lines are when constantly worried about the form of the message. The kicker is that communications that don't have that extra layer to them don't feel bad or are offensive in any way, unless people go out of their way to be rude/aggressive. It just feels a lot better: it's more honest, more trustworthy, you're not left wondering if the person on the other end is saying nice things just to make you feel better. This usually leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth where these kinds of relationships have lots of asterisks to them and I don't feel I can trust the other person. I can't even imagine what it'd be like to be surrounded in that environment at work and feeling that way about all my colleagues. (I'll add to that though that as someone who interacts with Stripe a lot, I've had nothing but positive experiences with them so YMMV)