I’m not a techy person, but I do like technology. I enjoy the way it works to make life easier, and I’m generally interested in the newest gadgets. That being said, technology doesn’t always like me. Or at least it would seem at times to be less friend and more foe.
For instance, you may have been the recipient of emails that were clearly meant for one individual, but instead, went out en masse. Cringy, right? Yeah, well, I’ve had a few of those cringy moments myself.
One of them occurred years ago, when I was a newish insurance underwriter. I was going to be out of the office, and needed to send an email to the girl covering my desk. Wanting to give her a heads-up about an agent who was known for their adversarial approach, I mentioned the underwriter may want to be prepared, because the agent could be “a real witch.” Not one of my finer moments, clearly. And while, thankfully, I didn’t send the email to the whole company, you can probably guess what happened. Yes, instead of sending the email to my coworker, I sent it to the agent in question.
The worst part is that I didn’t realize my mistake until I received a response saying, “I’m assuming you didn’t mean for this email ABOUT me to go TO me.”
Sadly, that wasn’t my last technological faux pas. A few years later, I was speaking with my boss about updates needed on a project I was leading. My boss was on board with the changes, and asked me to cover them in a (virtual) stakeholder meeting we were heading into.
Shortly thereafter, everyone was logged into the call, and my boss turned things over to me. I started going over the proposal, also sharing my screen, so everyone could see the metrics I’d be referring to.
To my surprise, my boss reacted as though he knew nothing about the changes. So again, not one of my finer moments, but I started messaging one of my colleagues on the side. I was asking her what was wrong with our boss, and telling her I had just talked to him about some changes – and now we were on a call, and it was like he’d never heard of them!
About that time, I heard someone on the call saying, “Kendra, you’re sharing your screen.” I vaguely recall thinking, “Well, of course I am,” as I continued the diatribe with my coworker. Finally, the person on the call said again, “Kendra! You’re sharing your screen!” Then she quietly added, “We can see everything.”
And indeed they could. Everyone on the call, including my boss, could see what I was saying… about him.
I learned some hard lessons through these situations. Namely, to be diplomatic and to be kind. And that perchance, if something unkind does run through your mind, you don’t have to share that thought. You can instead refute the thought with grace toward the other person.
Lessons aside though, every once in a while, I think of these stories when I see a blooper here in the blogging community. Which then reminds me that while technology can be a great friend, it’s not a very forgiving one. So, does that make it more foe and less friend? I guess it just depends on the day. Oh, and in my case, maybe also the person using it.
For more posts about God and life, you can find my blog page here. I can also be found on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. Thank you for stopping by. Blessings!
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An Audience of One 
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