I’d just like to point out that this isn’t always the norm in the business world. I think the real lesson here is that some people are picky about these things, and you need to always err on the side of formality unless told otherwise.
I see a lot of emails between the people who regularly work at my job in the process of filing printouts of them, and often they’re forwards with just “FYI” in the body of the email, or short little one-line questions. But you can bet that my emails are ALWAYS:
Mr./Ms. So-and-so,
I wanted to let you know that ______ and ask you about _______. This is not urgent, so please reply at your leisure.
Thank you for your help,
SusieAnne
Should my boss ever come to my desk or reply to an email and inform me that being so formal wasn’t necessary, then I’d be a lot more relaxed. But until/unless this occurs, I will continue as above.