starting rumors

A fellow co-worker called me today and said, "Hey, did you know that Eric Zocher is no longer with Plumtree?!?" For those of you who have no idea what that means, Eric is the EVP of Product Development, and a kick-ass one at that. My eyes got about as big as they ever will, as I exclaimed, "What?! WHAT?!?!"

Then, after a moment of thought, I asked, "Wait. How did you hear that?"

My co-worker, who shall remain nameless, replied, "Well, I went out to lunch with some ex-Plumtree people, and they mentioned it. So I looked him up in the directory, and he's not there."

Pause. "Wait, let me check again."

Pause. "Oh, never mind. I spelled his name wrong! I spelled it with a 'k' instead of an 'h'."

"[Name]!" I exclaimed. "You almost started a rumor that would set off widespread panic!!"

"I know, I know," [Name] sighed. "Don't tell anyone - I feel like such an asshole."

"Duh, well, its going on the blog," I said. "But I'll keep your name off, to protect your stupidity."

Lesson of the Day: Check your spelling before you start calling people. This is how rumors get started.

By the way, can you tell that I have much more free time on my hands this week? Its mostly because ppl at work are at Odyssey, Plumtree's famous customer and developer conference, so its super quiet here in the office.