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This is why you shouldn't read your emails in public

291 replies

Fraca · 23/11/2023 11:52

Just received an email from a colleague - the email was entitled "Shits Today". She's sent it to approximately 100 people and I wish, more than I've wished for anything in a long time, that I could see a) her face when she realises what she's sent, and b) read the replies she gets.

Im in a cafe and am trying very very hard not to laugh out loud!

OP posts:
Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 24/11/2023 22:07

MsAmerica · 24/11/2023 21:55

Am I missing something? This seems to me more about issue of sending than of reading in public. Or are you saying that it's humiliating to laugh in public?

I assume OP didn't want to attract attention and disturb other people. A natural enough reaction, surely?

3luckystars · 24/11/2023 22:09

Well I must be very childish but I can’t stop laughing either, especially at ‘disco c*nts’

MsAmerica · 24/11/2023 22:16

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 24/11/2023 22:07

I assume OP didn't want to attract attention and disturb other people. A natural enough reaction, surely?

I've never run into people so inhibited as to be embarrassed to laugh in public - assuming it's not some official event or ultra-formal setting. In this case, she was just in a casual cafe. I'm always reading books and magazines when in transit, and have never been embarrassed if something makes me laugh - even if it's in the middle of quiet library.

Ofcourseshecan · 24/11/2023 22:26

I’ve giggled my way through this thread. Safely at home, luckily! Thanks OP. And I’m sure you, like me, don’t give a shift what the po-faced critics think of our silly laughter.

MiddleAgedWomanUSA · 24/11/2023 22:32

I see that you were just trying to share a little joy from your day and folks on here either have no sense of humor or have some sort of personality disorder where they can't pick up on social cues. I'd like to apologize on their behalf!
I get you. I was once standing in a slow-moving line at the bank searching Spotify for a version of Ella Mai's "boo'd up" without talking at the end when I stumbled on some sad 50 yo rapper using her backing track to make his own song. I listened (with earbuds in) and it was absolutely something to LOL about. I couldn't stop giggling and suddenly realized there were a pair of feet on the floor directly in front of me. I looked up and realized a banker was trying to get my attention and offer me help. In conclusion, I was smiling all day and wished I had someone to share in the hilarity of it. See: Kevin Freeman73 - though still not sure if he is a parody, and maybe then I'LL be the one guilty of a faulty sense of humor. 😉

Doggymummar · 24/11/2023 22:39

I once sent an email to the Acocunts oops

moonshinepoursthroughmywindow · 24/11/2023 22:40

It was meant to say "Shifts Today".

That would have been my first guess because it's a subject that comes up for me too.

My boss once sent me an e-mail asking me if I could work in a different branch on a certain day because my usual branch was shit. I wouldn't normally pull someone up on a typo, but she's a lovely boss and I just had to add "best typo ever!" to my reply. Fortunately she did see the funny side.

Soonenough · 24/11/2023 22:50

OP , don't ever go to the Sistine Chapel 😱

Fraca · 24/11/2023 22:52

MsAmerica · 24/11/2023 22:16

I've never run into people so inhibited as to be embarrassed to laugh in public - assuming it's not some official event or ultra-formal setting. In this case, she was just in a casual cafe. I'm always reading books and magazines when in transit, and have never been embarrassed if something makes me laugh - even if it's in the middle of quiet library.

But you see MsAmerica this brings me back to my oft repeated statement that we are all different. I do feel silly laughing out loud to myself in public, yes. That doesn't make me odd. And I don't think you're odd for finding me odd, I just think you and I are individuals.

This thread has provoked some interesting and unexpected responses! But it's made me laugh too so thank you for that!

OP posts:
CluelessInLondon · 24/11/2023 22:56

@Fraca The more I read this thread the more disappointed I am that the title of it isn't "This is why you shouldn't read your emails in pubic"...

And I'm firmly of the view that the moment I don't find a rude typo funny, I'm officially a grown-up, and I am not ready for that.

Fraca · 24/11/2023 23:07

CluelessInLondon · 24/11/2023 22:56

@Fraca The more I read this thread the more disappointed I am that the title of it isn't "This is why you shouldn't read your emails in pubic"...

And I'm firmly of the view that the moment I don't find a rude typo funny, I'm officially a grown-up, and I am not ready for that.

Ha! Sorry, next time I start a thread I'll see what I can do!

In the meantime, I saw a thread on here earlier entitled something like "A flip has switched" ... Very apt timing I thought (not the thread content, just the title).

OP posts:
Mamanyt · 24/11/2023 23:21

Well, @Fraca, I am NOT one of those who will be derogatory towards you, although I am also not one who is embarrassed to laugh alone in public. In fact, I'm one of those who you NEVER want to sit beside during solemn events. Nor was my father.

Prime Example:

My father's mother's funeral. She lived in a town that originally had two funeral homes. One family had an only daughter, one family had an only son. They grew up together, fell in love, married, and in due time, combined the funeral homes, hyphenating the family names for the "new" business.

When Gran died, they, of course, handled everything. Dad and I were doing fine, holding it together, until the actual service. Dad was looking at the printed program, and suddenly his shoulders started shaking, I looked at him with alarm, thinking he was crying. Nope. He pointed to the bottom of the program, to the name of the company, and it hit me, too. We KNEW THIS, but somehow, in that moment, it took on highly comedic aspects...my beloved grandmother was sent to her eternal rest by the fine offices of Rideout-Underwood Funeral Home. Thankfully, my mother was able to pass this off as grief, to all but a few.

In retrospect, and after almost 6 decades, I realize it was stress and tension being released, but at the time it was just FUNNY to us.

So, yeah, I get laughing where you think you ought not to laugh.

Ecnerual · 24/11/2023 23:22

At the start of COVID a sports club DH & I are members of sent out guidance and updated their website on how they were responding to CORVID-19. Such a simple thing that brought me so much joy, still makes me giggle 🥲

Literally nobody else found it funny. DH had previously helped them develop the website so went and change it back to 'COVID' there. Spoilsport.

eastegg · 24/11/2023 23:53

FlissyPaps · 23/11/2023 14:26

Did typing out and sending this patronising reply make you feel better about yourself? 🙄

Just what I was thinking. And as for the ‘as a dyslexic’ nonsense, just no. Someone should not be accused of ableism, which is what this post is suggesting, just because they find a typo funny.

eastegg · 25/11/2023 00:05

Werewolfnotswearwolf · 24/11/2023 20:54

Best typo in a work email at my place was ‘drinks and nipples’. Ten years later, it’s still the go to phrase!

Ah yes my DH has been invited to drinks and nipples as well! Excellent.

In one of my local GP surgeries there’s a little plaque on the wall paying tribute to ‘Elsie (not actual name), a friend and valid colleague’ 😬.

Xmaswomble · 25/11/2023 00:07

At the start of COVID a sports club DH & I are members of sent out guidance and updated their website on how they were responding to CORVID-19. Such a simple thing that brought me so much joy, still makes me giggle

what on earth is funny about that? There’s no pun. No funny word? Just an accidental R

CesareBorgia · 25/11/2023 00:09

Xmaswomble · 25/11/2023 00:07

At the start of COVID a sports club DH & I are members of sent out guidance and updated their website on how they were responding to CORVID-19. Such a simple thing that brought me so much joy, still makes me giggle

what on earth is funny about that? There’s no pun. No funny word? Just an accidental R

David Attenborough Life GIF

Corvid

CesareBorgia · 25/11/2023 00:16

@Ecnerual You might appreciate this Classics thread if you're not already familiar with it (you will soon see the relevance!)

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/mumsnet_classics/3402882-What-can-I-buy-from-Argos-for-4ish-to-win-a-bet

CormoranEllacott · 25/11/2023 00:16

ErrolTheDragon · 23/11/2023 13:18

I've seen a few of these in my time. Sometimes for 'birthday drinks and cakes for everyone are on Steve's desk by meeting room 4' - you think 'ooh' - and then realise it's from some random in Aberdeen when you're based in Birmingham.

Yeah, one of the downsides of being a long-time WFHer is being reminded of all the cakes, pizza and happy hours I miss.
Otoh I probably shouldn't vaguely enjoy the missives about the A14 being jammed again. I expect there's a German word for that feeling.

I expect there's a German word for that feeling.

Cardenfreude 😂

SaffronSpice · 25/11/2023 00:30

SerendipityJane · 23/11/2023 13:08

Recalls aren't guaranteed outside the server that sent the mail. And certainly not across domains.

Something quite a few senior managers - and politicians - struggle with comprehending.

I’ve had people try this a few times and all that happens is I get another email telling me the first one was recalled. Nothing like getting an email like that to make you immediately go back and read the first email!

CesareBorgia · 25/11/2023 00:33

SaffronSpice · 25/11/2023 00:30

I’ve had people try this a few times and all that happens is I get another email telling me the first one was recalled. Nothing like getting an email like that to make you immediately go back and read the first email!

If it's unread it will disappear from the inbox, at least, they do on our system. I agree, though, you are likely to draw attention to the erroneous message if it's showing as 'read' (which they do even if only glanced at in the preview pane).

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 25/11/2023 00:37

Best typo in a work email at my place was ‘drinks and nipples’. Ten years later, it’s still the go to phrase!

That reminds me of a thread from a little while back (I forget the title or even the original subject), where somebody staying in a hotel abroad (in a non-English-speaking country) asked the waiter (in English) if he/the hotel had nibbles, and instead of bringing them the bar snack menu, he was about to take his shirt off to prove it to them Grin

Xmaswomble · 25/11/2023 00:42

That reminds me of a thread from a little while back (I forget the title or even the original subject), where somebody staying in a hotel abroad (in a non-English-speaking country) asked the waiter (in English) if he/the hotel had nibbles, and instead of bringing them the bar snack menu, he was about to take his shirt off to prove it to them

I’ll file this under things that didn’t happen 101

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 25/11/2023 00:46

Xmaswomble · 25/11/2023 00:42

That reminds me of a thread from a little while back (I forget the title or even the original subject), where somebody staying in a hotel abroad (in a non-English-speaking country) asked the waiter (in English) if he/the hotel had nibbles, and instead of bringing them the bar snack menu, he was about to take his shirt off to prove it to them

I’ll file this under things that didn’t happen 101

Maybe it did; maybe it didn't - still funny, though!

CesareBorgia · 25/11/2023 01:01

You're really not having a wombling merry Christmas tonight, are you, xmaswomble Xmas Wink