Oh, the hilarity. I saunter in this morning – feeling a little dangerous because I went with Pumas today instead of heels – only to find that my e-mail filter has decided that a message from Richard D. Parsons “appears to be junk e-mail.”
Amusing? Yes. Ridiculous? Even more so. Yesterday, I said the next boss I mentioned would be a jerk. Apologies for having to renege on that, but a boss that’s “junk”? What kind of a world do we live in when the CEO of our parent company Time Warner (TWX) can’t send an e-mail (or have one sent with his name on it—whatever) without the indignity of being called junk? Suddenly, instead of making me feel hip and cutting-edge, technology has forced me to admit that I have a little less faith in the universe when Dick Parsons is made junk. It hurts my feelings. And it proves, sadly, that I’m not dangerous at all. I might as well write “company man” over my nameplate. And it’s all thanks to the damn filter.
Never mind that I can’t for the life of me get the thing to recognize actual junk. I’ve gone in and checked the boxes that ostensibly tell it who to keep. And I’ve diligently clicked the junk button every time something junky appears, in desperate hopes of training it. And yet, it keeps press releases from five-person footwear companies, but won’t suffer the guy who signs the proverbial check.
Obviously, it’s driven me over the edge. Tell me I’m not alone.