Funny

My wife told me a funny story yesterday about a conversation that our children (the triplets, not the newborn, she is not forming complete sentences quite yet) had with her and a neighbor. They were on an afternoon walk and passed by a neighbor’s house who happened to be outside with his new puppy. The conversation went something like this:

“Mommy, I wish we had a house like that.” (Not sure why this was said, our house is equally as nice as our neighbors, but you know kids, they will say the damnedest things). To this statement, my wife’s reply was something to the effect of “Oh, that’s OK, we have a nice house too.” Next comment (from next child in line, remember there are three, so one more coming) “Mommy, I wish we had a puppy like that.” My wife laughed a bit (since we have 2 dogs already, why in the world would we want another) and said “That’s OK, we have Blazie and Sadie.” Now what came next could have never been predicted, especially given the child that said it. She is known to throw out some doozies that just make you bust out and laugh. She looks at my wife and says “Mommy, I want a MAN like that.” My wife was a bit puzzled by that statement, and after a few seconds she realized that what she meant was that she wanted a Daddy like that. My wife then said “Your Daddy is a wonderful Daddy, and he loves you.” (I may be embellishing a little here, but I swear her retort was something to that effect, at least that is what my ears heard when she told me the story last night).

My children are at that age where they say what is on their mind, and do not fully grasp the concept of think before you speak, so you never know what is going to come out of their mouths.

The moral of the story is that kids can get away with this, it is almost expected of them. As adults, in the professional world, it is not that forgivable when we speak without thinking. As a leader, your words carry a lot of weight, after all if you are the CEO or any other CXO level you are speaking on behalf of the company, and a slip of the tongue can have a huge impact. So next time you are about to say something that could have a huge impact, think it through, because once it is said, it cannot be taken back. You can backtrack all you want, but once it is out there, if it was said improperly, it is there to stay.

It is not like it is a new problem, spam mail has been around as long as I can remember. However, it seems lately that I have been receiving a tremendous amount of it at various e-mail addresses and the subject matters seem to revolve around one of two things: sex (and any variation you could possibly come up with) and urgent bank alerts that I need to provide immediate attention to (oh, and there is always the ongoing spam from some dignitary in a foreign country that needs help moving money to the US, but that one has been around for so long, I have almost forgotten about it).

Now I know that there are companies out there that there sole purpose, and obvious business model, is to send out as many spam e-mails as they can and hope that they get some sort of click through rate for whatever it is they are trying to sell. Seems like a simple business model, but do people really click on the links found in spam mail? I know I do not, and I would venture a guess that most others are in the same camp as me. So if the majority of folks that receive spam, do not click through, who in the world is doing it?

I think if the spammer perhaps crafted their e-mails a bit better (by that I mean make them grammatically correct and therefore more presentable, but perhaps they could also use “softer” words when describing what they are trying to huck), they may, and I say that lightly, get a better click through rate, which makes them happier and lowers the frustration level of the recipients (well, maybe).

With that, here are a few that I have received over the last few days that just make me chuckle, for various reasons:

1. Subject: Beneficial Savings Bank - Urgent Notification. That’s funny, last I checked, I did not have an account with you, so why are you e-mailing me telling me there is an urgent matter I need to take care of by clicking on the URL you have provided, RIGHT, I will get right on it.
2. Subject: Make a real gift for your woman - enlarge your male package! Hum, what package are you talking about, and how do you even know that I have a woman in my life (I do actually, we have been happily married for 9+ years, but that is not the point)
3. This one is a favorite - Subject: Rooster-challanged men can now improve their lives! First off, challenged is spelled incorrectly and second, I am not rooster challenged, actually, I stopped chicken farming several years ago.
4. Subject: v{kev{mp. What the hell is that supposed to mean and you want me to open up the e-mail and read it?
5. And lastly - Subject: Nyenhuis??? The body of the e-mail reads: Good night Will, We even got women medicine solutions! Gain an advantage. Well, they got my name right at least, but last I checked Will is a male name, why are they talking to me about women medicine solutions?