Slashdot Mirror
Slashdot Asks: Have You Ever Gotten Someone Else's Email? (ieee.org)
Wave723 shares an article from IEEE's Spectrum:
I was scrolling through emails on my phone one recent morning when a strange message appeared among the usual mix of advertisements and morning newsletters. It was a confirmation for an upcoming doctor's appointment in New York City, but came from an address I'd never seen before. And at the top, there was a friendly note: "I guess this is for you :)" The note, I would later learn, was written by a Norwegian named Andre Nordum whose email address is just a few letters different from my own... he'd Googled my name to try to track down my personal email address and forward the message to me.
All day, I thought about Andre's act of digital kindness and the heartwarming fact that a stranger had spent time and effort trying to send me a bit of important information. I also felt a twinge of guilt: I'd received emails in the past -- from car dealerships and daycares -- that were clearly meant for other people, and I'd never forwarded any of them along.
The 33-year-old Norwegian banker later joked that he did it because "I did not want to get emails about your dermatology history for the foreseeable future." But another Norwegian has been returning mis-directed emails for over a decade with mundane stories about the family dog and games of pickleball -- meant for another E. Nordrum.
"It's a little bit like sitting on the bus or overhearing somebody in the restaurant or something," he says, admitting that when they finally stopped coming, "I was a little bit sad, actually." In 2017 the other E. Nordrum flew from America to Norway on a vacation, finally meeting the man who'd been returning all his mis-addressed emails -- and they ended up talking for hours.
The article calls it a reminder "of how downright pleasant it can sometimes be to interact with strangers on the Internet." But it also asks an interesting question: "Do these email mix-ups happen to everyone? " I know I'm still getting emails about a storage space somebody opened 1300 miles away. And Slashdot reader antdude writes, "A few days ago, I got an USC.edu's doctor email (CCed with a few other people) about an upcoming surgery for a transplant. I was like huh?"
How about the rest of Slashdot's readers. Have you ever gotten someone else's email?
All day, I thought about Andre's act of digital kindness and the heartwarming fact that a stranger had spent time and effort trying to send me a bit of important information. I also felt a twinge of guilt: I'd received emails in the past -- from car dealerships and daycares -- that were clearly meant for other people, and I'd never forwarded any of them along.
The 33-year-old Norwegian banker later joked that he did it because "I did not want to get emails about your dermatology history for the foreseeable future." But another Norwegian has been returning mis-directed emails for over a decade with mundane stories about the family dog and games of pickleball -- meant for another E. Nordrum.
"It's a little bit like sitting on the bus or overhearing somebody in the restaurant or something," he says, admitting that when they finally stopped coming, "I was a little bit sad, actually." In 2017 the other E. Nordrum flew from America to Norway on a vacation, finally meeting the man who'd been returning all his mis-addressed emails -- and they ended up talking for hours.
The article calls it a reminder "of how downright pleasant it can sometimes be to interact with strangers on the Internet." But it also asks an interesting question: "Do these email mix-ups happen to everyone? " I know I'm still getting emails about a storage space somebody opened 1300 miles away. And Slashdot reader antdude writes, "A few days ago, I got an USC.edu's doctor email (CCed with a few other people) about an upcoming surgery for a transplant. I was like huh?"
How about the rest of Slashdot's readers. Have you ever gotten someone else's email?
I keep getting emails that are clearly meant for some prince living in Nigeria or something.
The funniest part is, I forward his emails to the Publishers Clearing House!
#DeleteFacebook
I have a similar gmail account name, I got in earrly and got a good one, and I've not only received some juicy emails intended for other "me's", I've been threatened with legal action for receiving them. One guy has also demanded I turn over my account to him, as he is entitled to it, and threatened to sue me if I didn't. Haven't heard anything about that one in a few years.
The most annoying part are the companies who get your address added as a point of contact for something and never accept it was never intended to be you. I got so pissed off with one of my alter egos who refused to fix his mistake, even blaming me for receiving the emails and threatening me, that I cancelled his business broadband...
I got an email where the dude had the same address as mine except with an extra character their system musta not handled right.
I've been cutting down on meat consumption, it's not been easy. The misdirected email was a receipt from a rib joint;
> 10 x Cajun Boneless Wings
> 1 x Louisiana Rub Full Ribs
> 1 x Hickory Smoked BBQ Full Ribs
> 3 x Ranch
> 1 x Large Seasoned Fries
Talk about a sucker punch..
There are lots of me, or at least people with the same first and last names.
I got my firstnamelastname@gmail.com address before all the other motherfuckers but that doesn't stop them forgetting they have to insert an initial, a symbol, a number or whatever.
So, I get mail for a fireman in New Zealand, a photographer in Nottingham UK, some guy in California, and a bird watcher in South Wales, a small business in unknown location in UK permanently late with its bills, an agricultural supplies salesman in Eire, and more. I get all sorts: apple product activation confirmations, hotel bookings, flight confirmations, tax demands, late payment warnings, the latest news on farm drainage.
I have tried to do the decent thing where possible and alert senders that they are discussing finance and business with the wrong person. This usually works out.
The bigger difficulty is when the person making the error is not sending to firstname but is the idiot who believes their own actual email address is firstnamelastname@gmail.com. I tried the polite way but doofus insisted on continuing to try to use my address (his actual real address has the word _info appended to the name but he is too dumb to remember). Eventually I emailed his business address book (he loves cc all) with the title "sorry to be an arse", attaching an image of a hairy arse and describing his idiocy and the fact that attempting to deal with him in a polite and helpful manner and resulted only in sour, moronic responses from him. Problem solved.
RRRRRRING!!!!!
(I pick up the phone)
— Hi! Can I speak to your sister?
— Sure (hands the phone to my sister who was passing by).
They talk for 30 minutes, then realize it was a wrong number
I occasionally get emails about online pizza orders made by some guy in Germany who shares my last name and can't get his email right. He lives somewhere in Berlin and likes thin crust pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms.