#dumbass
Things that make you go more than “Hmmm”
It’s just another ordinary work day. I have my morning coffee at my desk, log into my computer and all the necessary accounts I’ll be using throughout the day. Perhaps my “few” are like yours: email, LinkedIn, Twitter, other social media accounts, a bunch of analytics dashboards, Google Apps, internal apps, the website content management system or blogging platform, a few mobile apps, the company file server, the accounting software — Ah, the little things I need to just get to business.
So there I am, cranking away, trying to make some progress when out of nowhere I’m blindsided by another one of those stupid people tricks that make you want to just scream at your screen.
C’mon, you know what I’m talking about.
Like, the person who, in 2013, is still sending emails with their entire address book visibly cc’d...including yours. (And we wonder how spam became so prevalent)
Or, how about the person who you bcc on an email but who replies back to everyone, defeating the point of the bcc and putting you in the potentially awkward position of explaining why that person was copied in the first place?
Or, the person who seems to have set up a non-stop, repetitive auto-tweet including you in a way that’s no longer relevant.
Or, the person from Nauru who sends you a LinkedIn connection request for no apparent reason.
Or, the email thread in which someone wanting to schedule a meeting with someone else in your organization has cc’d you even though you’re not going to be involved in the meeting, but no one ever bothers to remove you from the eight responses back and forth it takes these stupid people to plan their damn meeting. (No, this one doesn’t annoy me in the least)
Or, the people who keep misspelling my name, assume I’m a man, or repeatedly botch something about me or my name despite having been told otherwise.
Or, the job seeker sending you a cover letter and resume so replete with grammatical and spelling errors that there is no way in hell you’d ever want this person working for or representing your organization.
Or, the person who lists their Twitter handle on their LinkedIn contact information only to have their tweets protected (why bother?!).
Or, or, or! I’m sure you’re already coming up with some scenarios of your own to add to this list. (And please do by leaving a note; I’d love to hear them.)
I have decided there’s a succinct and simple way for me to cope with this plague. Though it’s not an original creation, I’m merely going to have a non-verbal moment and tweet the hashtag
“#dumbass.”
It’s pithy, it’s easy, it’s effective, it’s light, and yet very solid. Yes, folks, #dumbass is going to take me far.
Now, perhaps you think I’m being too harsh, too cranky or setting my expectations too high. You might be right. But I’m tired of settling and allowing the spread of stupidity and mediocrity. I’m tired of us all being so politically correct that we can’t call someone out for their random acts of idiocy. I’m tired of us lowering the bar instead of raising it.
First step? #dumbass
