Theme for Sept 20, 2013 'WOW' : ‘The ‘SEND’ Button!’ This weekend your post should begin with, And before I knew it, I had hit ‘Send’.
And before I knew it, I had hit ‘Send’!
This was crazy, yet I did it. I was perspiring with what had just happened. Well, things were getting weird the last couple of weeks, and today, it had hit its extreme. My computer had been acting freaky since last few days or maybe I should say my email ID rather. Or maybe both! I hadn't noticed it before, but it was only since the complaints started pouring in, did I observe. The emails sent from my computer were always mysteriously abusive, full of expletives and slangs. It was puzzling and eerie too, 'cos I never intentionally typed those. My work included, sending emails to clients and staff throughout the day updating events, schedules etc. And on receiving such emails from my computer, and from my email ID to be precise - everyone was now looking at me with suspicion, as though I was upto some mischief. Of course, I wasn't. Why would I be? I had no reason to be. I wasn't aware of it all, until I saw some folks at my office giving me really nasty looks and had strangely begun to avoid me. They'd do a hush-hush as soon as I appeared in their radar.
Michael, my Boss's P.A, one day came up to my desk with an annoyed expression on his face, which pretty-much made the situation clearer.
"You should stop fooling around," he said, in a very sober tone, "this joke is not funny anymore. You're lucky that I'm the one opening those. If Boss finds out, you'll be fried alive for sure."
"What joke?" I asked, totally clueless.
"This sending of senseless, stupid abusive emails. If you have something against the Company, Boss or anyone - just speak out frankly, instead of indulging in these stupid immature games."
"But I didn't do anything...," I was still very confused.
"Oh yeah..sure you didn't. Maybe some ghost did it then, haan? Just stop the mischief, before any serious action is taken against you," saying this he strode away, leaving me baffled.
I checked some print outs of the emails he left at my desk, and yes, to my horror every single email was sent from my email ID. And they were full of expletives, confirming his accusations. Who could it be? Have I become schizophrenic or split personality all of a sudden, I wondered. I called the office technician to check if there was any problem in my computer, connecting wires or my email-box too. But after a day long investigation, he had found none.
"Everything is working fine, Ma'am," he said, "Maybe you are just over-worked and simply need some rest. Things will be alright then."
Well, thank you very much! I don't need your smart advice, I wanted to yell at him.
Was I the one going crazy or was everyone else? Things were certainly wrong somewhere. If I wrote completely sensible office related emails, doubled-checked, proof-read et all before hitting the 'send' button, how come the received letter would be filled with abusive slangs. Who did the mischief in between? Did any of those Gmail/Yahoo Mail server people ( whose email services I used ) had any enmity with me, and wanted me to land in trouble, hence changed the content in between en-route its delivery? But I was just an ordinary office secretary with no high connections, working in quite an average position. Why would anyone want to defame me this way? I lived a quiet, dull life, causing no trouble to anyone. Then why was I being subject to these strange occurrences. I wanted to get to the bottom of it. But how? If those emails reached the overseas clients or head-quarters, we'd be out of business soon. And me, definitely out of my job as well. I needed to find a solution fast. But where do I begin, to get the proper answers? How do I convince everyone, that it wasn't me? I tried to introspect as well.
I knew, I was being extremely moody of late. I abhorred the cubicle that I was asked to shift to recently, from my original work station. My boss had shifted my place hastily, when some lady client of his, snidely remarked that my appearance hampered the posh office look. Well, I was no glamorous diva. I was more the plain-Jane kinda, with my big specs balancing on my nose. Anyways, I was in that office to showcase my work, not my body. And my work was always prompt, perfect and meticulous. Was someone jealous of that? But why? I wasn't the one anyone would pay a second glance to, much less be jealous of. And I didn't earn that great either. My Boss didn't have any problems earlier with me for 3 years that I worked in the same place, just outside his cabin, but of late had become extremely conscious and started shifting or changing things around. And I was the first casualty of his whims. Not that I minded change, but, the new place where I was put, bugged me no end. I simply hated it, and it was making me crankier every day. Was the place somehow responsible for those emails. Seems unlikely, but....the more I thought of it, I was starting to zero on it. It didn't make much sense, yet....my own behaviour too, of late, were admittedly bit strange.
I'd get irritated as soon as I'd reach office and sat in my cubicle. It was in the quiet deserted corner, near the backdoor that led towards the lavatories. Maybe, it was because of that reason, my subconscious mind hated it so much, and made me act weird. But our office was epitome of cleanliness, and a constant room freshner and air filter always kept the room feel fresh and sparkling. My corner though deserted, was also always clean and smelt good, albeit was a bit darker than the rest of the brightly lit office front. It was also the space, where most of the important tall steel file-cupboards/cabinets were located, that mostly kept the place shadowed. And I somehow didn't feel comfortable at all, ever since I was told to work here. I'd always be finicky and looking for excuses to move out of that cubicle. I'd get claustrophobic.
Moreover, my desk was previously occupied by Jacob, a co-worker, who had mysteriously died in a nasty car accident, two months ago. That incident doubled my edginess. I didn't like occupying, what was once his space, as we weren't really in greatest of terms. We hardly talked to each other. Infact, the only time we spoke, we had fallen out on each other in an heated argument, which ended up creating quite a scene. And we avoided each other ever since. He'd scowl at me whenever I passed by his corner, on my way to the lavatories outside. His eyes looked cold, cruel and full of hate. He wasn't much friendly with other staff members too, but I seemed to be the one, whom he despised the most. Maybe, because I tried to put him in his place, on that argument day.
Luckily, he was in the logistics, that didn't require me to interact with him, except sending out the usual office mails. And now that he was no more, it was infact, quite a big relief for me. His cold brooding gaze no longer was tracing me all over the place. But, still the feeling of weirdness never left. Every time I sat on the chair ( that was occupied by Jacob earlier ), I felt as though he was leaning over me, breathing cold chilly air down my neck or even chuckling and sneering at me from atop one of those tall cupboards, mocking at me. It made me feel very queasy all the time, of being watched. Of course, I tried to brush away these thoughts as work of my own over-active imaginations. But it was disturbing. And the mystery of these emails, was beginning to unnerve me. It had started to happen only after I shifted to Jacob's desk.
I watched the 'message sent' auto-alert that popped on my screen, after I had hit enter. Did I do the right thing? Yes, I had read the short message ( which I typed hurriedly ) carefully, was going to proof-read too, but already had hit the 'send' button. I couldn't undo it now. I was too nervous and panicky. However, I was sure, the content was okay and nothing abusive. I simply hoped, my Boss would read it and take the appropriate action, immediately. Maybe, it was too much an expectation, but I just had to send. And this time, I sent on my Boss's private email, which would go as an SMS to his mobile as well. We were hardly supposed to use it, except in emergencies. Well, this too was an emergency. I was requesting my Boss to shift me out of this corner, at the earliest. I could've sought an appointment and asked him face to face, the next day. But, timid and scared out-of-my-wits me, chose this option. Moreover, it also happened because of what occurred a while earlier.
I was working late as usual. Everyone had already gone. The watchman, came up thrice to remind me that we had to close down for the day. But I had piles of work to be completed. Hordes of emails to be sent. And just as I was completing it, hoping no error occurred, I got a strange email in my inbox. To my surprise it came from my own email ID -
Only one name came to my mind. Jacob! I panicked. It was him. It had to be. Nobody had such hatred for me, except him. Though it seemed impossible, yet I could feel it was him. Infact, I was sure. I stopped all work and typed this last email to my boss, hoping for once Jacob won't mess with it, since I was requesting my boss to move me out from there, as he wished ( in the email ). And in that panic, before I knew it, I had hit ‘Send’.
~~~o~~~
This was crazy, yet I did it. I was perspiring with what had just happened. Well, things were getting weird the last couple of weeks, and today, it had hit its extreme. My computer had been acting freaky since last few days or maybe I should say my email ID rather. Or maybe both! I hadn't noticed it before, but it was only since the complaints started pouring in, did I observe. The emails sent from my computer were always mysteriously abusive, full of expletives and slangs. It was puzzling and eerie too, 'cos I never intentionally typed those. My work included, sending emails to clients and staff throughout the day updating events, schedules etc. And on receiving such emails from my computer, and from my email ID to be precise - everyone was now looking at me with suspicion, as though I was upto some mischief. Of course, I wasn't. Why would I be? I had no reason to be. I wasn't aware of it all, until I saw some folks at my office giving me really nasty looks and had strangely begun to avoid me. They'd do a hush-hush as soon as I appeared in their radar.
Michael, my Boss's P.A, one day came up to my desk with an annoyed expression on his face, which pretty-much made the situation clearer.
"You should stop fooling around," he said, in a very sober tone, "this joke is not funny anymore. You're lucky that I'm the one opening those. If Boss finds out, you'll be fried alive for sure."
"What joke?" I asked, totally clueless.
"This sending of senseless, stupid abusive emails. If you have something against the Company, Boss or anyone - just speak out frankly, instead of indulging in these stupid immature games."
"But I didn't do anything...," I was still very confused.
"Oh yeah..sure you didn't. Maybe some ghost did it then, haan? Just stop the mischief, before any serious action is taken against you," saying this he strode away, leaving me baffled.
I checked some print outs of the emails he left at my desk, and yes, to my horror every single email was sent from my email ID. And they were full of expletives, confirming his accusations. Who could it be? Have I become schizophrenic or split personality all of a sudden, I wondered. I called the office technician to check if there was any problem in my computer, connecting wires or my email-box too. But after a day long investigation, he had found none.
"Everything is working fine, Ma'am," he said, "Maybe you are just over-worked and simply need some rest. Things will be alright then."
Well, thank you very much! I don't need your smart advice, I wanted to yell at him.
Was I the one going crazy or was everyone else? Things were certainly wrong somewhere. If I wrote completely sensible office related emails, doubled-checked, proof-read et all before hitting the 'send' button, how come the received letter would be filled with abusive slangs. Who did the mischief in between? Did any of those Gmail/Yahoo Mail server people ( whose email services I used ) had any enmity with me, and wanted me to land in trouble, hence changed the content in between en-route its delivery? But I was just an ordinary office secretary with no high connections, working in quite an average position. Why would anyone want to defame me this way? I lived a quiet, dull life, causing no trouble to anyone. Then why was I being subject to these strange occurrences. I wanted to get to the bottom of it. But how? If those emails reached the overseas clients or head-quarters, we'd be out of business soon. And me, definitely out of my job as well. I needed to find a solution fast. But where do I begin, to get the proper answers? How do I convince everyone, that it wasn't me? I tried to introspect as well.
I knew, I was being extremely moody of late. I abhorred the cubicle that I was asked to shift to recently, from my original work station. My boss had shifted my place hastily, when some lady client of his, snidely remarked that my appearance hampered the posh office look. Well, I was no glamorous diva. I was more the plain-Jane kinda, with my big specs balancing on my nose. Anyways, I was in that office to showcase my work, not my body. And my work was always prompt, perfect and meticulous. Was someone jealous of that? But why? I wasn't the one anyone would pay a second glance to, much less be jealous of. And I didn't earn that great either. My Boss didn't have any problems earlier with me for 3 years that I worked in the same place, just outside his cabin, but of late had become extremely conscious and started shifting or changing things around. And I was the first casualty of his whims. Not that I minded change, but, the new place where I was put, bugged me no end. I simply hated it, and it was making me crankier every day. Was the place somehow responsible for those emails. Seems unlikely, but....the more I thought of it, I was starting to zero on it. It didn't make much sense, yet....my own behaviour too, of late, were admittedly bit strange.
I'd get irritated as soon as I'd reach office and sat in my cubicle. It was in the quiet deserted corner, near the backdoor that led towards the lavatories. Maybe, it was because of that reason, my subconscious mind hated it so much, and made me act weird. But our office was epitome of cleanliness, and a constant room freshner and air filter always kept the room feel fresh and sparkling. My corner though deserted, was also always clean and smelt good, albeit was a bit darker than the rest of the brightly lit office front. It was also the space, where most of the important tall steel file-cupboards/cabinets were located, that mostly kept the place shadowed. And I somehow didn't feel comfortable at all, ever since I was told to work here. I'd always be finicky and looking for excuses to move out of that cubicle. I'd get claustrophobic.
Moreover, my desk was previously occupied by Jacob, a co-worker, who had mysteriously died in a nasty car accident, two months ago. That incident doubled my edginess. I didn't like occupying, what was once his space, as we weren't really in greatest of terms. We hardly talked to each other. Infact, the only time we spoke, we had fallen out on each other in an heated argument, which ended up creating quite a scene. And we avoided each other ever since. He'd scowl at me whenever I passed by his corner, on my way to the lavatories outside. His eyes looked cold, cruel and full of hate. He wasn't much friendly with other staff members too, but I seemed to be the one, whom he despised the most. Maybe, because I tried to put him in his place, on that argument day.
Luckily, he was in the logistics, that didn't require me to interact with him, except sending out the usual office mails. And now that he was no more, it was infact, quite a big relief for me. His cold brooding gaze no longer was tracing me all over the place. But, still the feeling of weirdness never left. Every time I sat on the chair ( that was occupied by Jacob earlier ), I felt as though he was leaning over me, breathing cold chilly air down my neck or even chuckling and sneering at me from atop one of those tall cupboards, mocking at me. It made me feel very queasy all the time, of being watched. Of course, I tried to brush away these thoughts as work of my own over-active imaginations. But it was disturbing. And the mystery of these emails, was beginning to unnerve me. It had started to happen only after I shifted to Jacob's desk.
I watched the 'message sent' auto-alert that popped on my screen, after I had hit enter. Did I do the right thing? Yes, I had read the short message ( which I typed hurriedly ) carefully, was going to proof-read too, but already had hit the 'send' button. I couldn't undo it now. I was too nervous and panicky. However, I was sure, the content was okay and nothing abusive. I simply hoped, my Boss would read it and take the appropriate action, immediately. Maybe, it was too much an expectation, but I just had to send. And this time, I sent on my Boss's private email, which would go as an SMS to his mobile as well. We were hardly supposed to use it, except in emergencies. Well, this too was an emergency. I was requesting my Boss to shift me out of this corner, at the earliest. I could've sought an appointment and asked him face to face, the next day. But, timid and scared out-of-my-wits me, chose this option. Moreover, it also happened because of what occurred a while earlier.
I was working late as usual. Everyone had already gone. The watchman, came up thrice to remind me that we had to close down for the day. But I had piles of work to be completed. Hordes of emails to be sent. And just as I was completing it, hoping no error occurred, I got a strange email in my inbox. To my surprise it came from my own email ID -
"Subject Line - Open up you bitch."Nervous, I opened, not knowing who sent it and what to expect. I surely didn't send any emails to myself. When clicked open, the email further read -
"Get your fat ass off my chair. How dare you sit in my place? Get the hell out, you ugly creature. I never liked the sight of you. If you continue using my place, whole office will get these emails, and they'll screw you hard. And..."it ended abruptly.
Only one name came to my mind. Jacob! I panicked. It was him. It had to be. Nobody had such hatred for me, except him. Though it seemed impossible, yet I could feel it was him. Infact, I was sure. I stopped all work and typed this last email to my boss, hoping for once Jacob won't mess with it, since I was requesting my boss to move me out from there, as he wished ( in the email ). And in that panic, before I knew it, I had hit ‘Send’.
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very nice......lovely article.
ReplyDeleteWow...an x-file. Nice idea :)
ReplyDeleteWow...an x-file. Nice idea :)
ReplyDeletethanks for reading @preethi :-)
DeleteNIce work of fiction :) a bit spooky I would say
ReplyDeleteGlad that it's a work of fiction :p.. The way you write is captivating indeed.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!
Bookmarked.
haha..yea it is fiction...else would be too creepy :-p thanks @Nikhil!
DeleteI'm so happy that this creepy experience is just a story. It would be terrible indeed if computers, under evil influence, did their own thing.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading this story.
thanks for reading @Cynthia :-)
Delete