wompyFeb 4, 2023
Alice McFlurry 

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].

Feb 4, 2023 at 3:57pmWeb
Show threadJakeFeb 4, 2023
@Alice as someone who has owned [common Brazilian first name]@gmail.com since gmail was in beta, I think Bob dodged a bullet. Unless he likes lots of spam in Portuguese.
Show threadMartin MarconciniFeb 5, 2023
@Jakeline @Alice I hear you. Signed: someone who got his "moderately common last name in Italy"@gmail ...
Show threadIrisFeb 4, 2023
@Alice Love it.
Show threadPerplexingSophistryFeb 4, 2023
@Alice would be genuinely delighted to receive an email from such an address
Show threadbazkie bumpercar | unfluencerFeb 4, 2023
@Alice 😂
Show threadKyle BradburyFeb 4, 2023
@Alice my wife’s grandfather has his email as [email protected] to this day. Funny enough my wife was also a Creative.
Show threadAlice McFlurry Feb 4, 2023
@kylebradbury I love this!
Show threadHarish NarayananFeb 4, 2023
@Alice Ok this is the cutest post there ever was ☺️☺️☺️
Show threadMrCFeb 4, 2023
@Alice my Gmail address is pretty much my name, but somebody with the same first and last somehow settled on "[email protected]" so when he gives people his email over the phone they hear "email FirstLast@gmail" so the just put in FirstLast and I get their hotel confirmations, tax returns, etc. It's been years and they haven't caught on.
Show threadAlice McFlurry Feb 4, 2023
@ScotttSee If you share the full name with this person and you have the confirmation/ticket info, you should start going on some of those trips!
Show threadDGPFeb 4, 2023
@Alice @ScotttSee “WILL THE REAL SCOTT SEE PLEASE (NOT) STAND UP (and the fake one get off this plane???)”
Show threadMrCFeb 4, 2023
@Alice considering at various times I've gotten things with his SSN on it, it's a good thing I can't be bothered to be evil lol.
Show threadElaine RiguesFeb 4, 2023

@ScotttSee @Alice I have been dealing with this for a long long time. My Gmail is widely misused by people that aren't computer savvy or just give zero fucks. I change the password and keep the ones that I like. Google sucks for allowing people to register usernames with dots and at the same time making it go to the same inbox.

My ethics keep me from using the credit card, social security or medical data they keep sending my way. Even their children's!

Show threadElaine RiguesFeb 4, 2023
@ScotttSee @Alice Once I changed their username on an educational platform to "stop putting your child's information at risk by using my email address, this isn't safe" but this particular American woman gives zero fucks and keeps doing this. I've dealt with her for decades.
Show threadDeus Ex MacGuffin Feb 4, 2023

@Alice

[email protected] is the hero we deserve.

Show threadnaught101Feb 5, 2023

@DXMacGuffin @Alice

[email protected] sounds more entertaining though

Show threadSomeGadgetGuyFeb 4, 2023
@Alice that's adorkable!
Show threadShankarFeb 4, 2023
@Alice that’s a beautiful story!
Show threadJared Zimmerman ✨Feb 4, 2023
@Alice during college we thought it was a great idea to buy I'lldotcomyoudotcom.com
Show threadChoobsFeb 4, 2023
@jaredzimmerman @Alice I was always partial to dotslashdotdotslashdotcom.com
Show threadJoris MeysFeb 4, 2023
@Alice I laughed out loud. Thx for this gem.
Show threadJamiepullmanFeb 4, 2023
@Alice That’s brilliant!
Show threadJames Bartlett Feb 4, 2023

@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].

Show threadDebonaireToastFeb 5, 2023

@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.)

Show threadJames Bartlett Feb 5, 2023
@DebonaireToast @Alice
Oh, that's hilarious! I might just have to do that the next time some evangelical hits me up for donations.
Show threadPamFeb 5, 2023
@JamesDBartlett3 @Alice same, I’m pretty sure I have enough information for identity theft on so many people
Show threadJames Bartlett Feb 5, 2023
@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.
Show threadKennoFeb 4, 2023
@Alice 😂 Ata bouy Bob!!!
Show threadVerilog Connoisseur  Feb 4, 2023
@Alice I love this so much it is so so cute
Show threadHera [Yaseenist] HarperFeb 4, 2023
@Alice Well, he’s not wrong
Show threadOpaliumFeb 4, 2023
@Alice this is honestly a great address. I'm a fan!
Show threadJamesFeb 4, 2023
@Alice 😂🤣
Show threadAdams ImmersiveFeb 4, 2023
@Alice A truly great email address! Almost as good as capital_b_bob_but_the_capital_doesnt_matter_smith_with_no_space_just_bob_smith_all_one_long_word_no_underscores_at_aol_dot_com@aol.com
Show threadDB SchweinFeb 4, 2023
@adamsimmersive @Alice
I once didn't get my hotel receipt, so when I showed up I asked and the desk clerk literally snort laughed because my email was entered as DAsInDeltaBAsInBravo etc. It's a short email address and they managed to make it the longest thing ever!
Show threadAlice McFlurry Feb 4, 2023
@deirdrebeth @adamsimmersive I’m still laughing about this.
Show threadJason MeadenFeb 4, 2023

@Alice @siracusa This gives me flashbacks to when I did phone support for OS/2 [way more than 10 years ago!] ..

“Sir, please type C:\“

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap ..

“Err .. Sir, what are you typing that’s a lot of keystrokes .. can you read every character out to me .. “

C C O L O N B A C K S L A S H

Show threadAlice McFlurry Feb 4, 2023
@meaden 🤣
Show threadJonathan PeelleFeb 4, 2023

@Alice reminds me of the classic:

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/e-mail-addresses-it-would-be-really-annoying-to-give-out-over-the-phone

E-mail Addresses It Would Be Really Annoying to Give Out Over the Phone

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] One1TheFirstJustTheNumberTheSeco...

McSweeney's Internet Tendency
Show threadAlice McFlurry Feb 4, 2023
@jpeelle [email protected] 🤣🤣🤣
Show threadMikeUnderscoreDadJokesFeb 5, 2023
@Alice @jpeelle
Glad you enjoyed it!
Show threadJonathan PeelleFeb 5, 2023
@correspundit that has seriously been one of my favorite things on the Internet for the last 20 years. I come back to it every year or two and it never gets less funny!
Show threadMikeUnderscoreDadJokesFeb 6, 2023
@jpeelle
Thank you! That’s nice to hear
Show threadVeronika CheplyginaFeb 4, 2023
@jpeelle @Alice this reminds me of a student football competition where one team was called "Correction on field 2" 😅
Show threadadamriceFeb 4, 2023
@jpeelle @Alice this inspired me to get the domain name (since lapsed) wdoubleudoubleyou.com. Of course my email address was adamatwww@…
Show threadJonathan PeelleFeb 4, 2023
@adamrice @Alice Brilliant!
Show threadrickybrightFeb 4, 2023

@Alice

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/e-mail-addresses-it-would-be-really-annoying-to-give-out-over-the-phone

E-mail Addresses It Would Be Really Annoying to Give Out Over the Phone

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] One1TheFirstJustTheNumberTheSeco...

McSweeney's Internet Tendency
Show threadAlice McFlurry Feb 4, 2023
@rickybright yes! Somebody just linked to it and there are some real gems in there! Especially [email protected]
Show threadCrystal Huff (they/them)Feb 4, 2023
@Alice @john_chu this is so wholesome and pure. Thank you for sharing!
Show threadMichael McAuleyFeb 4, 2023
@Alice Great story! I was also a Creative for a couple years and I definitely had similar experiences helping non tech savvy people sign up for email accounts and other services… it was always super interesting trying to help them understand the scale of the internet and how unlikely it was that any simple username wasn’t already taken.
Show threadAlice McFlurry Feb 4, 2023
@michaelmcauley ❤️ them SO much. It took a lot of courage for them to be of that age, long out of school, and to be like “I am going to LEARN this!!”
Show threadPhilip Mallegol-HansenFeb 4, 2023

@Alice @siracusa All the hubbub about migrating to Mastodon has me more convinced than ever, that many “non-techies” just don’t internalize what a domain is.

On multiple coassions when I’ve had to verbally spell out my email address, which is at my own domain, people have waited awkwardly for a moment, and then asked “Is that @gmail.com, or something else?” when I *just* told them the full address, including the domain.

These days I just pull up the “Me” contact on my phone, and show them.

Show threadRob Vincent (OLD ACCOUNT)Feb 4, 2023
@Alice This reminds me how many years ago there was a horror film called "Fear Dot Com" and the film's official website was at FearDotCom dot com.
Show threadSte megsmagikFeb 4, 2023
@Alice my ex boyfriend did something like this, his email was [email protected] because he thought email addresses had to start with “www” like websites, but he was 20 years old at the time so not excusable!
Show threadEd RossFeb 4, 2023

@Alice reminds me of some of the addresses people used when signing up for the email service I used to work for (not one you probably would have heard of).

So - did they manage to get in touch with their granddaughter?

Show threadAlice McFlurry Feb 4, 2023
@edaross yes! We didn’t have time in that session since they were only an hour long and the poor guy took a LONG time just to create the email address, but we had a follow-up session and he did email his granddaughter!
Show threadEd RossFeb 4, 2023

@Alice
Ah good.

Reminds me _another_ incident, when I was the tech helper at an Over 50's Coffee Morning where they also had access to computers. I spent an entire summer teaching one of the visitors how to use the Web mail system they'd signed up to. And then that Web mail system changed their interface and she had to re-learn how to use it!

Show threadAlice McFlurry Feb 4, 2023
@edaross ohhhh, poor Beatrice!
Show threadTim FredeFeb 4, 2023
@Alice That’s awesome! My dad’s email is [email protected]. 😂
Show threadJoshuaFeb 4, 2023

@Alice as a Genius from 10 years ago, I always got the harder ones..

One day I was asked off the queue to assist an elderly lady with a Pages problem. Turns out it was helping her write her daughters obituary and posting it to an online newspaper. I took an hour off sitting in the Managers office after that. It was one of the hardest days I had there.

Show threadAlice McFlurry Feb 4, 2023
@Joshua ohhhh no. I feel you, bud. I definitely had those. Also, helping them make memorial videos in iMovie is ROUGH.