Thursday, October 20, 2011

Foot in mouth...email style!



The Prompts:
1.) Follow the template I copied from The Pioneer Woman without her permission and list 22 things you’ve never done.
2.) Tell about a time you accidentally “replied all” or sent an email to the wrong person by mistake.
3.) Describe a meal your spouse actually cooks better than you.
4.) Share the story behind your current Facebook and/or Twitter profile photo.
5.) Write a Haiku for Fall and pair it with a favorite Fall photo you’ve taken this year.
While I would love to make a list of things I've never done, I fear coming up with 22 would either depress me or be incredibly boring to you, or both! I might have better luck listing 22 things I HAVE done which might shock the pants off some people, but no...
My hubby does cook one thing better than me - pancakes! Not enough for a post...
I do have a twitter account, but don't tweet very often.  Don't have a clue what picture is on that profile or my FB one currently, for that matter :-)
AND, much as I love poetry, I never really understood the Haiku...I guess it could rhyme, but isn't it more about the number of syllables or something?
So anywho...
I do regrettably have one of those unfortunate, accidental email incidents. To this day, I feel terrible every time I think about it! It was so innocent and so unfortunate, and made an already bad situation WORSE.
So anyway, way back, oh about 7 years ago, I did a favor for a friend.  It involved childcare and I was totally willing to do it.  The issue arose when we had different ideas about payment.  At this point, I can't tell you what was said about it.  I honestly cannot remember.
Looking back, it was so unimportant.  I guess at the time, I was new to the stay-at-home Mom thing and my hubby was new to the "sole-provider" thing.  We weren't struggling, per se, but we had given up several "comforts" in order to cut down on monthly expenses.
My friend, on the other hand, had recently moved into a new house.  She commuted at least 30 minutes to work.  She was driving her child to me everyday to take care of .  Did I mention I lived in the opposite direction from her job? Oh, and, she also packed a full diaper bag and lunch for the child everyday.
So why I felt the need for payment, I'm not sure.  
Anyway, at the end of the agreed upon time (which had increased by a day during the week), she let me know she couldn't pay me (possibly just for the extra day not the whole week; like I said - long time ago!).  She did offer me payment in the form of gift cards.
Again, looking back, it was a really nice gesture because she thought I would really love these gift cards.
I don't remember all the details, but somehow things got all blown out of proportion and before I knew it, we were at odds.  Not somewhere I wanted to be with this friend.
I know, I know! The email...
A while later, I sent out a blanket email to invite LOTS of people to an event at my home.  Very shortly after, I got an email reply from her saying you would probably attend.
I was shocked because I thought she was too mad at me to even entertain the idea. So what did I do?
I immediately forwarded her response to my husband, adding something like this to the top...
"What should I make of this? I never expected her to respond, much less come! What should I do?"
Clicked "send" and it was off through cyber-space to hubby at work.
OR SO I THOUGHT...
I'd actually hit "reply" rather than forward! Yikes!
Know how I found out? She replied back...
"Well I thought you invited me because you wanted me to come, but I guess now I know how you really feel!"
It was a terrible feeling! I really tried my best to explain, I apologized, etc.
It turned out she couldn't come to my party anyway because she had a conflict.
I am happy to say, though, that we are friends again!
No thanks to my mouth!  Well, in this case, no thanks to my typing finger.




4 comments:

  1. Oh man! That's a tough situation to be in! I'm so glad you are still friends. I would feel the same way you do, but I've done the same thing before, only it was via text. Our friendship has never been the same since. :(

    Stopping by from Mama Kat's.

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  2. That would be awful for me... I hate confrontation! But glad it worked out in the end and you two are still friends.

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  3. That would be hard. I've only had one "reply all" situation, but it wasn't bad. I hate confrontation, too, so I'd probably have cried, lol.
    Visiting and following from Mama Kat's. Stop by my page anytime!
    ~SortaSuperMom
    http://confessionsfromboystown.wordpress.com

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  4. I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time, but I had a good laugh. Nice to know you are friends now. I had a similar daycare situation (not email), sometimes business and friendship just don't mix.

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