Caught with my pants down …
Okay … not really. The reality is that I screwed up one day at work a few weeks ago. Now, because I KNOW I’ve piqued your interest, I’ll tell you what happened.
– I wrote an email.
– Said email was full of frustrated commentary.
– Said frustrated commentary was meant to go to an internal person.
– Said email went to a client instead.
Even worse … if the client read it, it would look like I was yelling at them … but I wasn’t.
Right here is where I insert my witty method to making amends, but I gotta say, I haven’t been so utterly embarrassed and remorseful in ages and worse … a simple apology was totally not going to be enough.
Hindsight is 20/20 as the old saying goes, but in the split second that I hit send and realized it went to the wrong person, I thought to myself:
- Why didn’t I check that To: field?
- Why didn’t I just not send it?
- Why did I write it in the first place?
- Why doesn’t the ‘Recall’ feature in MS Outlook actually WORK?
Okay, that last one is place blame somewhere it’s not deserved. The problem was all mine. 100% mine. I wasn’t careful enough.
Now, I will learn from this little adventure, that’s for sure. And then I’ll make it stick. As a writer, I have the prime opportunity to teach myself a lesson and never forget the error of my ways.
We sometimes say that we’ll forever immortalize an enemy by writing them into a scene. I immortalize my own failures in conflicts for my characters. Then when I read my stories 8-gazillion times in drafting, editing, revising, editing more, etc. I will be reminded of the problem and my solution.
Yes, putting my own errors into my characters is a bit cathartic and a bit self-serving, but hey … that makes my characters more real, doesn’t it?
I could immortalize my enemies (though I have to admit, I really don’t have enemies) but really, pulling from my own life’s experiences and adjusting them to suit my characters is even more fun.
Now, of course, with the exception of this little (or rather big) oopsie(!) you’ll never know what my foibles are. I have many flaws, that I will admit to. But you’ll have to read my stories to see if you can find out what they are. 😉
Writers, you have a prime opportunity for some self-therapy here.
Now, for non-writers, how can you take and ‘error-of-your-way’ and turn it on its head? How can you learn from your mistakes and ensure (or try!) you don’t do that … again?
And yes … all ideas are subject to use in a future story. 😉
Share!
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For Charley Randall … time is her greatest enemy. The love of Wyatt Moreland is her ultimate reward.
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3 Things for you:
1. Always start an email by NOT putting anyone in the TO: fields. That way if you go to send it you have to think really hard about who you are going to send it to. This has saved me more than a few times. Don’t bother with reply either. simply copy the subject and start a new email. Saves from the dreaded Oops Reply All
2. Never write anything you are going to be embarrassed about or not willing to explain/apologize profusely for later. You’ll still mess this one up, everyone does.
3. Never tell me that you write about your personal blunders after I read a chapter outlining Charley’s first assignment with Wyatt in the book. It really makes me wonder how much is fiction and how much derived from your previous experiences. ROFLMAO
As far as error of my ways goes…I’m still trying to make my angry face and frustrated face distinctly different so that if I’m simply frustrated people don’t think I’m actually angry. I’m a silly simple man though so it’s not easy. It usually ends with me having to state…”I’m not angry, I’m frustrated. They are different.” For example…needing to put the square peg in a round hole frustrates me and some slamming and hammering may occur but that doesn’t make me angry. telling me said peg needs to go in said hole and not being able to find said peg; that will eventually make me angry. 🙂
Josh, that is priceless. And as for that scene with Charley and Wyatt … well … I shan’t share whether there is any truth to that one. 😉 Ha!
Oh Aimee! I’ve done that before! I meant to send the email to my mom and somehow it ended up at the head of IT’s inbox. He came to me, face pinched in confusion, and asked what it meant. I had no idea what he was referring to until I read what I’d sent. MORTIFICATION!
I feel ya. 🙂
That’s the worst part — when it LOOKS like the content COULD be directed right to someone important but it’s NOT. ::blush:: 🙂 Now you have a perfect scenario to write into a novel! 🙂
Yep, yep, BTDT! Hehehe. And I dived for the ‘cancel’ button but the darn thing NEVER works, lol.
As for blunders. I’m horridly good at putting my foot in it. I say the wrong things AAAAAAALLLLLL the time.
Eg, we were once out for dinner with some folks. I didn’t know them all. We got to talking about jobs. I said how I’d hate to be a waitress. Something stamped on my foot. I didn’t stop. More pain shot through my foot. I didn’t stop. Mr B insisted I go the bar with him. Um …. turned out the lady sitting next to me was a waitress. Thing was, I didn’t say it to be horrid–I’d done way worse jobs than waitressing–I just didn’t like the idea of waiting on people.
Eg, SECRET (<<key word) party booked for a wedding anniversary. Me? Right up to the woman it was supposed to be kept secret from: Hey, looking forward to you party. Then this prize a$$ spots folks behind said woman's back doing knife cutting motions across their throats, and I swiftly change the subject …. That time I got lucky because I wangled my way out of it so she didn't suspect a thing, but it looked pretty ugly for a way-too-long-split-second.
Now?
Well, since the surgery I can no longer speak. It's safer that way.
“… since the surgery I can no longer speak. It’s safer that way…”
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha. Now you’re just a big liar. 😉 LOL
Foot in mouth. It’s so apt in these cases! 🙂
I am frequently tempted to put some of my own mishaps in my novels… but so many of them just aren’t believable for a character. For example, the time I ended up lost on a road that didn’t exist whilst following Yahoo! directions, or the time a crayon mysteriously fell from the sky onto our picnic table, or the time I accidentally broke time to publish a blog post ten days in the future… Yeah, real life is just a little too strange for fiction.
On the other hand, sometimes I just can’t resist throwing little bits of reality in. Highly considering adding the tomato guillotine, if I can just find a place that it fits.
Do it, Rebekkah! Do! 🙂 And I too have driven down a road that Google said did not exist only to have Google tell me to turn onto a road that did NOT exist. 😉 LOL
I did this once. My boss gave me a Coach bag for a Christmas present and I was so ecstatic that I sent a friend of mine an e-mail telling her how elated I was and what a fab boss I had. I then proceeded to tell her what I got for my boss that I was going to give her that Friday. My boss’s name and my friend’s name were both Judy S in my contact list. I thought I sent it to my friend, Judy S. Instead, I sent it to my boss who got the full run down on me singing her praises and telling her all about her Christmas present. Talk about embarrassing!!!! it taught me to look at full names from now on when I send e-mails.
At least you got a Coach bag! 🙂
I can’t tell you how many times my big mouth and stubborness have gotten me into trouble. Maybe I should practice separating my angry face from my frustrated face as well.
Being charming and funny helped get me out of trouble on several occasions. Trouble is, I’m not sure if I’m more charming and funny in my own head than I am in real life.
Mabye some illusions are best kept intact 😉
@Dale, you are tooooooo funny. Oh! So, see? Perhaps it’s not just in your head. 🙂