Introducing Head to Desk since 2003

[dawn_felagund]

Yesterday, I came into work to find my inbox full. Well, relatively full, for me, since I don't get a lot of email at work. There has been a spam email going around the agency, one of those that promises that Bill Gates will pay you $245 per person you forward the email to. (This one!) Well, some employee, in a fit of "intelligence," managed to

Comments

[heartofoshun]

I love it! That one is soooo old. I think I first received it (at work, of course) somewhere around the computerization of the most high tech offices (early to mid-80s? my memory fails me).

I liked the one with the supposed Nieman-Marcus recipe for chocolate chip cookies, which at least had some lasting social value. It claimed that you were getting a copy, "keep it a secret," of a recipe that could only be had by paying $500 to Nieman Marcus for it. (The "keep it a secret" advisory did not prevent people from spamming everyone the knew with it, including the entire email last of the major firms I worked over the course of about 10-15 years.)

[dawn_felagund]

I really try not to be a snob about my mad Internetz skillz ... but really, folks. Think! Even Bill Gates can't afford to give quarter- and half-million dollar rewards to thousands of people ... and how scary is it to imagine if the technology to "track" emails really existed!?

I do often wonder if people sit at home, eagerly awaiting the check Bill Gates owes them. Or if anyone has ever forwarded the email to the entire address book at their workplace and then quit dramatically a minute later.

I've never received the cookie recipe email. I know of it because I used to read on Snopes a lot (read: before I discovered fandom! :^D), but that one has avoided me so far.

I really do find it disturbing that, considering the amount of responsibility some of these people have, they aren't more intelligent. Of course, I suppose this is a symptom of a nation that is considering electing for President a candidate who brags about the fact that he doesn't know how to use email.

[heartofoshun]

It is scary. I have received, over the years, multiple copies of those that say: “Forward this email to 10 people in the next 10 minutes and you will have 10 years of good luck, if you do not you will have 10 years of bad luck.” I would receive it from people I had previously considered intelligent and thoughtful with notes like this prefacing it: “I am sure this is probably b.s., but I got really anxious when I read it and decided I ought not to take a chance. So here it is.” I would write back “Shame on you,” if I knew them well.

Sorry, I do not currently have a copy of the Neiman Marcus cookie recipe, but I still love the one for Toll-house cookies on the back of the chocolate chip package! OMG!

[hrymfaxe]

I would write back “Shame on you,”

Am adopting that answer! :D

[whitewave16]

I encountered something similar to that, only it was all about the end of the world. Quite annoying. ;-(

[heartofoshun]

Now that is downright nasty! As if global warming weren't scary enough! ROFL

[dawn_felagund]

Wow, really? (Of course, a good 20-33% of my country truly believes that God is going to suck all the good people up into the sky some day and leave us "sinners" to our own devices here on earth so ...)

Btw, I've gotten all but one of the postcards! They came en masse today and yesterday! Mine should be arriving to you soon, judging by the pace of things, though the post office is always a mysterious entity. ;)

[whitewave16]

Yey!! I just drank a ton of caffeine before writing that so the notes are worthy of a perky tour guide. :->

I'm excited about your postcards. :-D

[rhapsody11]

Bill Gates giving away money would have made me go like: if he was like that, we would't pay so much for his products. *bin* But the herdlike behaviour is astounding, isn't it?

[dawn_felagund]

I guess we are social creatures ... ;)

I agree that if Bill Gates was interested in giving anything away, Microsoft would be open source. Then it would not only be less expensive but would probably work better to. IE might not constantly screw up my CSS layouts! ;)

[dracoena]

LOL! Reading it as you put it is sooo fun! (That´s what I consider the greatest proof of useful genius: being able to write off stressful or stupid experiences into funny stories).

[dawn_felagund]

It does keep me sane! And it's so much more fun than ranting! :^D

I'm glad others see the humor in it, though. That's the good thing about LJ friends!

[dawn_felagund]

Yes! It's never enough to simply declare your friendship for a person. You must declare your friendship and also place upon them an inane demand, like "FORWRAD TO EVERY ONE U KNOW!!!!11!1!" Add a touch of bland threats and presto! Spam mail!