PLEASE DELETE ME FROM YOUR MAILING LIST IMMEDIATELY
Hahahahahahahahahahaha.
So, If you have e-mail you’re probably already aware of this, but if not I will enlighten you. There was a course listserv that got set up improperly, such that when the professor tried to e-mail his students, it actually e-mailed thousands of students, staff, and alumni (presumably his class *did* get the e-mail as well, so mission accomplished). Then he sent out an apology e-mail for the first e-mail’s unintended collateral damage on unsuspecting inboxes. Everything up to this point should seem out of the ordinary, but understandable and relatively unremarkable.
Then, self-important professional-types started sending in demands from Blackberries! See, Lewis & Clark College currently does not have a course that teaches “if you hit reply-all, it will reply to everyone, you idiot.” So, today has been full of 70+ hilariously passive-aggressive e-mails sent to literally the entire Lewis & Clark community, rather than the intended recipient–one unfortunate professor who didn’t have any control over the situation in the first place.
From: Barbara Luscher <****************@*******>Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 12:21 PMTo: 10sp-************@lclark.eduSubject: PLEASE DELETE ME FROM YOUR MAILING LIST IMMEDIATELY
PLEASE DELETE ME FROM YOUR MAILING LIST IMMEDIATELY
OK, Mrs. Important-Pants.
Not only has this event been a wonderful indicator of how stupid grown ups are, it has provided the community an opportunity to tell the alumni that right to their stupid faces (on the internet you can say anything to anyone and it is removed from having any consequences in the “IRL world”).
Guys, we have to keep this alive. I propose, as some have already begun doing, that we CC the listserv in question any time we want to e-mail anyone anything. Got it?
Molly Gibson provides proof of concept:
Molly Gibson <***********@lclark.edu> Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 1:32 PM
To: Lindsey <*************@yahoo.com>
CC: “10sp-**********@lclark.edu”
Subject: surprise kitty
[Administrator]
Cary
kennner
dshack
maishaparadox
angelalc
The best video was of the guy “cutting” his hair with a candle.
word is the email was sent to “everyone who’s taken a class at LC since 1995.”
as I understand it, the way listservs function is that when you hit “reply,” it actually replies to the list, not just to the person who originally sent the email (in this case, the professor). Basically, a simple “reply” functions as a “reply all.” So when people emailed in saying “learn the difference between reply and reply all, fucktards,” it was completely unhelpful. Everyone needs a little Listserv 101 lesson.
My favorite (least favorite, if I’m not feeling humorous) part was that at least half of the emails were telling people to stop. As if every single one of those people thought, “My email will be the one to make people stop. Sure, someone just asked the same thing of me, but I just need to get my wording of the request in there and then everything will be resolved.”
The whole thing was a perfect example of natural comedic timing. I would print out the entire conversation and read it when I need a good laugh.