I'm not Al

Oh, say, don't you remember, they called me Al
It was Al all the time
Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal
Brother, can you spare a dime?

~ E.Y. "Yip" Harburg & Jay Gorney

Have you ever received email meant for someone else?

Yeah, I know that fake mis-dials and mistaken phone numbers are a ploy for fraudsters, but what about your email? Have you ever received email clearly intended for someone else?

I have three email addresses and use each for different things. The Gmail is the "good" address. That's the one I want the kids and friends to use. It is the one where the system is pretty good at sifting through the junk and the valuable. My old work email has been cancelled and I was allegedly issued a student email for the college which rarely works.* It's the old, old address I want to talk about. You know the one - You've got mail!

I've kept my AOL address for many reasons. It is a safety net for anyone who doesn't have the new address and it is the one I give to all the catalogs, weird accounts, politicians, and gimme people. It's  my own method of sifting out junk.

Some years ago I started getting notices on my AOL from a lodge in Pennsylvania. I was invited to  their movie nights. I was asked to pray for sick lodge members. I was advised of funeral services for deceased lodge members. I was DOGGED by the state organization to review and confirm my contact information for the state directory.

I spent a lot of time writing them back. "Dear lodge brothers, I am not Al from Pennsylvania."

Once I ended up exchanging a half dozen or so emails with a lovely pastor (apparently one of Al's lodge brothers). Sharing that I did indeed pray for whomever they requested I pray for, I still thought that they needed to use Al's correct address as he was missing out on his messages.** I was invited to visit if I ever got to PA.

I finally gave up and just deleted the emails. And they have become less frequent. I think I may have gotten a note within the last month or two, but that may be the first in over a year. Today I received another message entirely.

Today I received an email from a law firm. The message asked me to review and approve the attached will.

That freaked me out a little.

I debated. Do I ignore this? [Yes, I was curious. Yes, I thought about reading the will. I used to write them and I am always interested in such things.]

I decided to respond to the firm and let them know I was not their client and that they needed to contact him for the correct email address. I further reassured them that I did not open and read the attachment (First, it would have been unethical. Second, don't they tell you not to open attachments in emails from people you don't know?). Then I deleted the email. Yup, all the way...emptied the trash.

I received a lovely email back from the firm thanking me and reassuring me they would contact their client by phone.

"Great!" I replied. "Tell Al I said hello!"


NOTES: 

*I have about given up trying to communicate with the college. It's best I don't discuss it or I will lose my temper.

**I wonder how many events Al missed. People must have wondered just where Al was and why he was not communicating.