I Have A Massive Bee in My Bonnet

Gentle Reader(s),

Perhaps you are luckier than I, and have never had to work in an office. Perhaps you were born after 1970, and have never heard of a "mimeograph" or a "carbon copy." These two factors together have lead to an unfortunate breach of email etiquette that I simply must, ah, address.

DO NOT REVEAL YOUR CONTACTS WHEN SENDING MASS EMAILS!!

"But how can I control this?" you say. "Why, it's simple," I reply -- enter the addresses in the field labeled "BCC". That's B as in "BLIND," C as in "CARBON" and C as in "COPY." "Oooooh, I always wondered what that was...." I can hear you saying.

"But why the big stick up your ... I mean, why the big ol' BEE in your bonnet, about this?" you ask.

Because I've grown bored with worrying about the world getting blown to bits and I need to return my attention to the petty irritations of daily life.

And because I get too much freakin' spam, and I would like retain the illusion of control over my personal email address. That's why. It also strikes me as truly bad manners to know that many people, receiving an email with addresses revealed, see this as an invitation to lift the names and add them to their own list. I don't think your fancy-pants critics, collectors and museum director friends enjoy this either!!

Still not convinced? Just as an example, consider this: You apply for a grant. You get rejected. The rejection letter goes out as an email and all of the rejected artists' addresses, some with their names attached, are revealed. Oops! Yes, that's right! Somebody forgot to enter them in the BCC field. Yes, it was an accident. Yes, there was a very contrite email apology. But still.

So to all of the rest of you out there: STOP IT!

You know who you are. And so do I.

Disproportionately Annoyed,
That Broad