Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Long lost friend

I don't actually sit down to write this blog so much as get inspired to write it. Today I am inspired by having had the opportunity to do something I love to do. As it brings me such joy, I thought I would share it with you. Today, or last night, I got an email from Mitchell Holden (is that a silver spoon name or what). Mitchell dropped me a line to say he was sorry for not getting to talk to me more at a shower we were both at and apologize in general about not keeping in touch. He went on to suggest that we get together to catch up, possibly over coffee, a cocktail, or a bite to eat. He mentioned that he would be in Long Beach at a convention over the weekend, but Sunday or next week would work for him.

I was touched. The problem is, I have no freaking idea who Mitchell Holden is. See he was actually sending the email to Matt. I have no idea who Matt is either. It seems as though Matt and I share a similar email address, and Mitch (I figure he really likes being called Mitch) sent it to me instead of Matt by mistake. That however is not my favorite part. My favorite part is responding. That's right, I respond to the people who accidentally send me email and I do so for a couple of reasons. First, I think it is the right thing to do. For instance, I once received a very nice email and card from a woman who was telling me what a wonderful husband and father I was and how she was so happy to be with me. The problem of course was that it wasn't intended for me, but her husband. I wrote her back and told her I was touched, but that she should say these things to her husband. I mean, really, what future did we have? Any relationship that is that far along before even meeting is doomed. Not to mention, my wife might have a problem with it.

She actually wrote back and thanked me for making her aware of her mistake. I think I probably saved their marriage. I have received several thank yous, in fact. I responded to an invitation to be the chaperon for the local girl scout outing. Again, I was flattered, but I didn't think I would be able to be in Tennessee by tomorrow night. Not to mention, I think there are some cultural, if not actual, laws about such things. On another occasion, I was asked to be on a committee for the local YMCA. I don't remember exactly where it was local too, but it wasn't local to me. I respond to these things so that the people who accidentally send them don't sit around and wait for replies from people that never got the email in the first place. I received thank yous from both of them, apologizing for the mistake. I assume they were then able to contact the correct people. As a result, I also assume, they had a chaperon at the girl scout outing and a committee member for whatever the committee was for, at the local YMCA.

In addition to responding to these accidental emails because I believe it is the right thing to do, I have a great deal of fun being a smart ass. Because ultimately, isn't it about me having fun. It is sort of like a chat room without having to take that first step. (You know the one where you have to convince yourself that it is completely normal to talk to complete strangers about stuff you wouldn't talk to your closest friend about, because these people will never know who you are. Or is that just me. Different topic!) I get to be funny, make smart ass comments and never really have to know who the person is or have them know who I am. Also, it is fun to see who responds to my response. I know you will find this impossible to believe, but not everyone thinks I am as funny as we do. I encourage you to respond and see what you get, you might be surprised and you might surprise somebody else.

Enjoy your day!
-mike

"We rarely think people have good sense unless they agree with us."
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

No comments: