The XX Factor

The Worst Part Is He’s a Tech Consultant

Here’s one for the Awkward and Wrong Hall of Fame: John, a (married) tech consultant at Cornell Business School accidentally forwarded his long, dirty-talking e-mail exchange with Lisa, another (married) business school employee to the entire school. It’s pretty painful, less because of the exposed adultery than the emoticons, exclamation points, and insistence that e-mails like “Yes, you CERTAINLY WOOD Baby!!!” are just about the funniest things ever. You’d think Cornellians (full disclosure: I was one) would be particularly careful with the send button, given the gaffe from a few years back when the admissions office sent acceptance e-mails to about 550 high schoolers who had actually been rejected. But clearly John, who told Lisa in an e-mail that she was “pushing buttons that are getting me WAY TOO FUCKING HORNY for being stuck at work!!!” was less than attentive with the button that matters: Send.

Have any of you ever had an e-mail thread like John and Lisa’s (although I reckon with a good deal fewer ALL CAPS WORDS and less overblown punctuation!!!!!!!!) get accidentally forwarded on to an uncomfortably wide audience? Send your story-and, if you dare, the e-mail chain-to doublex.slate@gmail.com .