We’re all subjected to the sting of embarrassment. We may flounder amid an awkward silence or flush in the face of a social slip up. It happens. It seems to happen to me a lot.
I have a knack for saying the wrong thing—a joke falls flat or I call someone by the incorrect name (turns out I’ve been calling my neighbour Leanne for over a year. Her name is not Leanne).
I’m quite skilled at plunging feet first into graceless situations; falling off curbs, walking into sign posts, exposing body parts or food wedged between teeth.
I bring these blunderments upon myself. I often half pay attention in social situations and it bites me in the butt. From forgetting names to joining in and laughing at an inappropriate part of a conversation. It’s not that I’m disinterested. I’m just easily distracted. I’m a poor multi-tasker. I end up doing too many things at once and my focus becomes fuzzy, resulting in a multitude of clumsy missteps.
Updating my Linked-In account tonight (while talking on the phone, cropping photos and chatting on Twitter) I inadvertently sent out an invitation to EVERY SINGLE PERSON on my email contact list. “Come on over and connect with me on Linked-In everyone!” This may not sound horrific, but keep in mind, Gmail keeps track of everyone who’s passed through your outbox…that’s what she said.
I invited everybody from my children’s school; parents and staff. I sent out a friendly invite to two girlfriends who are no longer my friends. In fact, we can’t stand each other. That will be well received don’t you think? The invitation went to the dozens of strangers who contacted me regarding my items for sale on Kijiji. I’m so happy to update them with my professional information. I threw a surprise party for a friend a while back and invited all of
HER friends to the party by email. Guess who also got a Linked-In invite
from moi? That makes me a friend-stealing-stalker. I also connected with the interview panel who turned me down for a job I applied for. Not embarrassing at all.
When I saw what I had done, naturally I jumped up, screamed and paced around the room cursing. Then I turned to Twitter to announce my gross error. A smart Tweep came to my rescue and told me there is a way to withdraw invitations. I scrambled to retract as many as I could. Each has to be done individually. I erased a few of the most horrendous invites, but for the most part the damage was already done.
I’d like to say, “Lesson learned” and move on. However, I know me. I am a repeat offender. Another mortifying moment is surely just around the corner.Have you ever been digitally disgraced? Rogue text, email blast gone wrong? Feel free to share so I don’t feel like such a loser.
*Addendum: I’ve made a pile of new connections because of this faux pas. Granted, some are with complete strangers, but hey, I’m always looking to get to know somebody new. Also several of my non-techie friends (including my dad) have signed up for LinkedIn and connected with me upon my accidental request. I guess that makes me kind of omnipotent? And then there’s my brother. My dear, sweet, innocent brother Linked in with his big stupid sis and….wait for it….also sent out a request to his entire email contact list! Bwah hahahaha! Hey, you must be a little bit happy to be in contact again with that lady who sold you that plexi glass five years ago though right? No? Sorry.
