I've been SPAMMED! - July 2008

NOTE TO READER: I don’t have a blackberry or any other PDA, but I do dream of the day our contract with a certain cellular provider ends and I can get a new one that actually gets service within the four walls of our home.

Additional Note to Reader: We have become a people at are VERY dependant upon our PDA’s and I don’t mean “Public displays of Affection”. Even I have become attached to Texting and being able to check the score of the Red Sox / Yankees game from the car or a restaurant. I also LOVE the idea of having the capability to receive happy e-mails from my friends in the most remote of locations.

HOWEVER, it is important to remember that a PDA is not a replacement for the real thing, and FINAL judgments on a sender’s true identity should be held until the e-mail is viewed on a real FULL SIZED computer.

So here goes, this week we held a workshop in Memphis for a few of our regional managers. And as with most of our workshops, a few “BIGS” seam to make an appearance. So I am sitting at a conference table as everyone is being introduced and it comes to me. “Hi, I’m Lili and I am the Field Training and Development Specialist, which basically means I am the ‘On the Ground’ resource for any of your training needs.” A few more introductions, one of which being a certain “Mr. BIG” whom never returned my e-mails, and who I was almost positive didn’t remember me, as I had only met him once in Milwaukee. A couple more people say there hellos and then we’re off to the races.

Through out this segment of the workshop I wasn’t presenting, but only contributing as needed, so I was able to look around and observe some of the participants. Some engaged, some typing on their Crackberries, some day dreaming, and one, “Mr. Big”, burning holes in me, as he is staring at me so hard through his smart man “Mr. Big” glasses. If I had been an ant, well you know the rest of that story. This, of course, sends me into somewhat of an internal panic. What’s wrong..? Why is he staring at me…? What have I done…? By the end of the meeting I was so wound up, I wasn’t sure if I should crawl under the table or run from the room crying. Needless to say, the workshop concluded and I proceeded calmly back to my desk.

About 30 min later my boss appears at my desk with a funny grin on her face. You’ll never believe what ‘Mr. Big’ did.”

“What?” I say with mounting intrigue.

“Well… he SPAMed you!” she said in a fit of laughter.

My jaw dropped “WHAT!!!??? WHY???”

Still laughing she told me the story of how he had stopped her in the hall after the workshop and confided in her the details of the SPAMing. He’d explained that the blackberry screen was very small and often times it would shorten the first name and only give you the first initial of the last name. He went on to explain that for me, that name read “Lil V”. Again, my jaw dropped.

By now my entire team has gathered around my desk and they’ve made two assessments of the situation. One, “Lil V” should be my new rapper name. The second is far more scaring. If you didn’t know, there is a certain small, blue, diamond shaped pill that, on top of changing the lives of men around the globe, is also often referred to as “Lil V”.

Needless to say I have since been UN-SPAMMED and now it makes for a wildly funny story around the water cooler.

Till next time,
Bon Voyage