by You never know when or where a blessing will come your way. The trick of it is to not expect a blessing — just do the right thing — and let the goodness flow over you.
In the past, I’ve written here in the Boles Blogs Network — even though I can’t find the actual article right now to link it — about other “David Boles” people in the world or “Danny Boles” or “Doody Boles” or “Debbie Boles” or “Davon Boles” or or “Dennis Boles” or “Declan Boles” or “Damnyou Boles” who use my Gmail address as their Gmail address because they are not paying enough attention to what their email address really is as they are typing.
Getting someone else’s email happens as a daily part of my routine. I get bank notices and overdue insurance bills and military savings plans payouts and a whole host of other highly private and embarrassing legal and medical miasma from people that should never end up in my Inbox.
Usually, I just get the wrong email and trash it because it’s almost always a service registration that gets sent to my email address. The unfortunate part is that when that person tries to make any account change using my email address, that change notification verification comes to me, and not them, and they get locked out of their account because I’m not verifying anything I haven’t done. That’s actually a good thing — for them! — because then they might finally start to realize their mistaken email address. I can’t contact those false users because to reply to their email notification would mean me replying to myself.
The other day, I received a flood of new service registrations for a bank, a lawyer, an online pharmacy and a bunch of other, Southern, local businesses. “Here we go again!” I shouted at my Gmail Inbox.
A few days later, I received an email reply to a “David Boles” in the South and, this time, that David Boles filled in a contact form that the business was using to process his request for service. I saw a phone number! Ah-ha! I finally had a way to call one of my Gmail imitator nemesisii and tell him to knock it off and to learn his own email address and stop using mine!
As his phone rang in my ear, a weak voice answered.
THE REAL DAVID BOLES: Hello, my friend! Is this “David Boles?”
THE SOUTHERN DAVID BOLES: (Long, long, long, pause). Uhm. Yes?
THE REAL DAVID BOLES: Hello, David Boles! This is the New Jersey David Boles! You are the Southern [actual State and city name redacted for privacy] David Boles and it is a pleasure to finally meet you. Do you know [redacted]@gmail.com is not your email address, because it is my email address?
THE SOUTHERN DAVID BOLES: Oh, no. I am so sorry. I am so embarrassed. The second you read the email address, I knew what mistake I’d made.
THE REAL DAVID BOLES: I feel for you, because I’m getting all your service registration notices and, until today, I didn’t have a way to get in touch with you to tell you what was happening.
THE SOUTHERN DAVID BOLES: I’m sorry. I was in a car accident several months ago and I hurt my head and my back and my leg. I’ve been laid up in the hospital for four months. My pastor visited and told me I had to get on with my life and to get out of bed and walk. He said I couldn’t heal myself from a sickbed. He was right. I got up and I walked. And I started to get back into my life. But I remembered my email address wrong. I’m so sorry to have bothered you.
THE REAL DAVID BOLES: It’s not a problem. I’m glad you know now and I hope you feel better soon.
THE SOUTHERN DAVID BOLES: I’m embarrassed, but I feel better, yes. It was a blessing to have you call and I’m thankful. That road has given me many blessings because I know where I’d be if I didn’t end up in the hospital. So, thank you again, and if you’re ever down my way, you always have a place to stay.
THE REAL DAVID BOLES: I thank you for the offer and if you’re ever up here, you’re welcome to stay with us, too.
THE SOUTHERN DAVID BOLES: Thank you. I really do thank you.
Never question the mystery of the blessed road — just accept the goodness and keep flowing down the path — and, also, keep checking every now and again to make sure you’re still using the right email address.
Great article and I’m glad you were able to help the gentleman. I regularly get misdirected e-mails and as often as I try to help the people in question, I rarely get even so much as a head nod of gratitude — but I’d rather help and get nothing than not help and let someone wonder why they aren’t getting their email! 🙂
I recently received a legal court document that was sent to my email address with about 50 people on the CC: list. I did my generic, REPLY ALL tactic telling them they were emailing the wrong person, and the lead lawyer who originally sent the email and attachment and replied to me alone saying, “You are removed, and NEVER EMAIL ME AGAIN!”
That was nasty — AND ALL CAPS, TOO! Would he have preferred I just keep quiet and keep reading his secret legal documents?
So, I went back and copied all the CC: people in the original email message and pasted them into the CC: window of my reply to his private email message. I told him there was no need to get snippy because I was only trying to be helpful.
He did did not re-reply.
HA! (amusing) 🙂
I LOVE THIS ARTICLE (caps intended) – nice story!
Thanks, Nancy!
Great to hear from you again!
I hope you are doing well.
There has been many times I have ‘re-directed’ a misdirected piece of information, and I have been amazed, as you are, at the snippy, ungrateful, responses I’ve received. It’s as if to them I have intruded, when it’s the other way around.
That’s exactly right, Lillian! Some people appear to live lives of constant inconvenience — and they will not hesitate to hassle us for their implied, ongoing, peril!