The dangers of emailing while distracted: now and then, something goes to the wrong person. I got home today, thinking I’d emailed a series of links to interesting things to myself, and I find that it’s not here. Now, this could be because the server at work is delaying outbound traffic (it has happened before). However, I’m a trifle concerned that I let the wrong address slip by in the auto-fill, because I was trying to get out the door quickly (so that I could walk to my car with a friend of mine). Not that the email in question is questionable–it would just seem weird to a recipient on the other end of it. I tend to have a shorthand way of writing notes intended only for my own consumption, so it would seem doubly weird. Well, I hope no one important got that email! (Eeek!)
I can remember quite clearly a couple other times that sort of thing has happened to me, though it was in the context of instant messaging, and the real problem was that I was complaining about one person to another person (and managed to send it to the person I was complaining about). That took some ’splaining! I have learned my lesson since that time, however–I try not to write anything down in emails that can come back to haunt me. Note to self: be more careful when letting the auto-fill do its thing. Even when I’m in a hurry.
Posted by Kjirstin 
