Over ten years ago, I worked at an Apple Store and my job title was “Creative” but that pretty much just meant I spent all day teaching cute little old people how to use their new computers.

One day, this sweet little old man came in for a lesson (we’ll call him Bob). Bob wanted to create an email address so he could email his granddaughter.

We pulled up the page (let’s call it email.com) and Bob started to enter his info and he came to the username section and asked what he should put so I said “oh, you know, something like [email protected] but more unique because that’s probably already taken.”

In order to give him privacy, I was looking away from his screen when he finally proclaimed “I got it! I’m [email protected]!”

I was absolutely shocked, so I looked over at his screen and that’s when I realized Bob had become the proud owner of [email protected].

@Alice I joined GMail during the private beta days, and at the time, I thought it would be a great idea to set up my account with just my nickname as the username. It was fine for the first 10 years or so, but now I receive more misdirected email every day than legitimate email. Not spam, but real emails intended for some other person who goes by that same nickname. Travel reservations, medical appointment reminders, e-receipts, etc. This email address is the electronic equivalent of living at 123 Main Street. 🤦

Moral of the story: It's probably a good thing Bob didn't get [email protected].

@JamesDBartlett3 @Alice my name is so common, I get emails across the globe to come pick up kids I don't have, reservation confirmations for corporate axe throwing (excellent idea, other me)

And racist fash memes from somebody's grandma who can't spell their name

(She stopped when I sent HER an offensive meme from MY generation. Something about what a goat can see.)

@DebonaireToast @Alice
Oh, that's hilarious! I might just have to do that the next time some evangelical hits me up for donations.
@JamesDBartlett3 @Alice same, I’m pretty sure I have enough information for identity theft on so many people
@haloedrain @Alice
I have a form letter that I use to reply to all of these types of emails. It informs them that I'm not their intended recipient, that they are likely in violation of one or more data privacy laws, that they should modernize their data entry process to include an email address verification step, and that failure to do so could result in serious legal consequences. Believe it or not, I've had a fair amount of success in convincing these orgs to straighten up and fly right.