Editor’s Query
Tell us about a time when ... you hit the “send” button a little too quickly
When I was working for the federal government in the early 1990s, a colleague and I were discussing whether to act on a problem with an office policy. I concluded that no action was necessary. Our office was testing a new e-mail system, so I composed a succinct note to let my colleague know what I thought. All I wrote was: “I guess that you can stop worrying now.” I assumed no salutation was needed,
because we had just discussed the issue, and I did not close the message by referencing my name, although with our e-mail system, the only way a sender could be identified was by typing his or her name in the body of the e-mail. When I hit the send button, I
immediately realized that I had not chosen an addressee. The e-mail defaulted to the top of the addressee list. It went to an acquaintance who had been promoted to head up a “problem” branch in our division. Over the previous year, he had encountered almost insurmountable difficulties in solving personnel and other problems. And at the time that my misrouted
e-mail was sent, he had just been removed from his position for non- performance, and he was humiliated. However, word got around that
he drew solace from the kind words that he had received anonymously from within the office. My initial fear that I would be found out and raked
over bureaucratic coals for my e-mail mistake turned out to not only be completely unfounded but to have been an act of unintended kindness instead. Herbert Childs, Stafford, Va.
New query
Tell us about a time when a storm resulted in something surprising.
If you have a 100 percent true story taken from your own experience concerning the above query, send it to queries@washpost. com or The Washington Post Magazine, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. Include your daytime phone number. Recount your story in 250 words or fewer.
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