Gather ‘round and I’ll tell you the tale of a girl’s email misadventures.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who had a little Mac and a little time on her hands before a trip home for the holidays. Being the clever and professional girl that she is, she decided to take a few moments to set up her out of office email.
Now, this little girl is what some would call a Mac “n00b”. Yeah, she used it on a daily basis, but she, as you’ll learn, wasn’t very good at it.
After searching the Mail toolbar for 15 minutes, she finally decided to Google “how to Mail ‘Out of Office’.” Upon choosing the most credible source, she followed instructions listed to a T. Well, at least she would have, had she not decided halfway through that she totally has this and doesn’t need no stinkin’ instructions.
So she opened the text box and carefully crafted a clever message to refer incoming mail to a coworker:

Happy with her message (and that she actually remembered to set up an out of office reply), she clicked “OK” and went about her other duties.
Then there was a silence and a shudder coming from her MacBook Pro. Her screen flickered. The Mail program froze. And that “Oh, crap” feeling sank in.
It started with undeliverable messages – 63 of them, to be exact. Soon, she was getting replies from coworkers “Um, is there something wrong with your computer?” And replies from vendors. And, well, everyone else she’s ever had an email conversation with.

Everyone in her entire mailbox was well aware that she was going to be out of the office – multiple times. In fact, Jennifer, her most frequently emailed coworker, was informed no less than 172 times.
So, the little girl with the MacBook Pro, curled up under her desk in the fetal position and wished away the rest of the day until she withered away and died. Coworkers and friends build a funeral pyre for her on the front lawn, and fueled it with pages and pages of botched Out of Office reply emails.
The end.
Okay, so maybe that last bit was an exaggeration. Oh, and if you hadn’t noticed yet, the little girl in the story is none other than yours truly – marketing genius, design maven, and total Mac n00b.
Why am I sharing this embarrassing (and hopefully entertaining story)? Well, friends, there are a few things we can all take from this incident:
– When in doubt, ask.
– When asking, follow directions.
– When following directions, follow ALL directions.
– And, when all else fails, don’t forget to laugh.
PS – If you got my oh-so clever Out of Office message, many apologies. I would have sent you that in an email, but, well, me and Mail aren’t really on speaking terms at the moment.

Even superheroes need sidekicks. While she’s not quite ready to throw on the unitard and mini-cape just yet, Aimee Brock (aka Jill of All Trades) steps into the spotlight in this week’s Reman University to share a tale of email woe. Want to hear more from Aimee? Email her or leave a comment below!