Chronicle - Email

Spam? Gibberish? AI Bot? Aliens? Ok, maybe not aliens. These are some of the thoughts that went through my mind after I received an email from someone who wanted a pen pal. Even with the potential for spam, I wrote back.

There's nothing special about this email conversation, but it is a good example of why I don't make a very good "E-Mail pal". I like getting emails with programming questions or suggestions for MREDKJ.com, but a pen pal I'm not. That's what I get for using my real email at various places like the ULRP Message Board.

other person	Sunday, May 19, 2002 5:13 PM I am looking for an E-Mail pal, if you have time write me, I would like to hear from you.
keith	Sunday, May 19, 2002 10:07 PM What do you want to talk about?
other person	Sunday, May 19, 2002 10:13 PM anything, I would like apen pal.
keith	Sunday, May 19, 2002 10:22 PM Ok, I'm a 25 year old programmer, so if you want to know something about programming, I can oblige. Otherwise, I won't be of much interest. Maybe you can explain your situation first. Like how you found my email.
other person	Sunday, May 19, 2002 10:28 PM @ URLP Message Board. I like to write people.
keith	Sunday, May 19, 2002 10:30 PM Have you been at snopes long or are you just crawling the profiles for people to write? Did you find something I said at the board interesting, or just randomly click on my profile? Are you going to keep writing short messages or do you have some questions for me?
other person	Sunday, May 19, 2002 10:40 PM Have you been at snopes long or are you just crawling the profiles for people to write? Answer:I got it today, and I need email pals, since I'm new. Did you find something I said at the board interesting, or just randomly click on my profile? I clicked on a lot of people, and still am. Are you going to keep writing short messages or do you have some questions for me? A/S/L? Can u send me a pic? Do you like Zoog Disney?
keith	Sunday, May 19, 2002 10:48 PM A/S/L? I've already established 2/3 of this, but here goes: 25/M/Connecticut Can u send me a pic? Sorry, I don't exchange pictures, but if you'll note the domain of my email, that's a web site I maintain. Just in case you're wondering, it qualified as "family friendly" by ao-soft.com Though since you're hanging out at snopes, I don't think you'll be offended by non-family-friendly content. Anyway, in the about page, there is a simple drawing of me and my friends. That's the closest you'll get to a picture of me. Do you like Zoog Disney? No. sorry. Any particular reason why you asked specifically about Zoog Disney? Is that the site you frequent most? If so, I don't think we have much in common.
other person	Sunday, May 19, 2002 10:55 PM Why dont u think we have much in common? Naw, Zoog has some cool movies.
other person	Sunday, May 19, 2002 10:56 PM how do i get to your pic on that site?
keith	Sunday, May 19, 2002 11:06 PM http://www.mredkj.com/aboutus.html Now that I look at it again, the drawing looks pretty stupid. Feel free to laugh at my expense
other person	Sunday, May 19, 2002 11:13 PM u wear glasses?
keith	Sunday, May 19, 2002 11:25 PM u wear glasses? true. Is that a bad thing. Why dont u think we have much in common? maybe it's the glasses. How goes your search for pen pals? If you've written other ULRP board members like you've claimed, then someone might have discovered a pattern by now. They're very keen like that. However, I don't check the board frequently enough to notice every conversation. How did you find the ULRP, anyway. I have a feeling Zoog Disney does not link to them.
other person	Sunday, May 19, 2002 11:32 PM no, glasses r cool
other person	Sunday, May 19, 2002 11:36 PM My search is fine,zoog disney doesnt relate to them. I did an aol search for message bords and came across this one, it was big so I decided to look at it, and so I looked up the people's emails and started writing them I think I have written about 60 people, so I expect my inbox to be packed.
other person	Sunday, May 19, 2002 11:36 PM like you've claimed Do you think that im lying?
keith	Sunday, May 19, 2002 11:39 PM > no, glasses r cool ok, so what about my other question. How's your pen pal search going? Does your tactic of random emails usually work? Am I the only one who was lured in? I have to admit, I don't check my email all the time, which means I'm not going to make a very good pen pal. Especially since you write in an IM-like, short blurb sort of way.
other person	Sunday, May 19, 2002 11:47 PM Is blurb bad? My search is fine,zoog disney doesnt relate to them. I did an aol search for message bords and came across this one, it was big so I decided to look at it, and so I looked up the people's emails and started writing them I think I have written about 60 people, so I expect my inbox to be packed
keith	Sunday, May 19, 2002 11:51 PM I think some of these emails are out of synch, so I've condensed some: Do you think that im lying? Lying about what? About the only thing you've said is you've emailed a bunch of people and you like Zoog Disney. I have no reason to doubt either statement. Is blurb bad? Blurbs aren't bad for IMs, but for an email, it's tedious. Here's some more questions for you. What do you hope to accomplish with your mass emailing? What do you hope to accomplish with emailing me? If you haven't noticed by now, I'm not a master conversationalist, especially when it comes to gibberish. I've pretty much run out of questions to ask you.
other person	Sunday, May 19, 2002 11:59 PM Gain friends, and gain u as a friend. If you've written other ULRP board members like you've claimed, LIKE YOU'VE CLAIMED?
keith	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:00 AM "Gain friends, and gain u as a friend." I'd consider myself more of a well-wisher. "If you've written other ULRP board members like you've claimed LIKE YOU'VE CLAIMED?" Ok, you caught me in a contradiction. That sentence implies I doubted that you wrote other ULRP members, but I didn't mean it to be interpreted that way. I hope you realize that we are talking about nothing, and I've admitted I have nothing more to ask. But I'll give this a try. You don't happen to be a runner (e.g. track & field), do you?
other person	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:06 AM No, but I do play basketball and football @ my school.
	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:08 AM Received a forwarded email
other person	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:09 AM i am sending every one that i have written, u justgot ur first 1.
keith	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:10 AM "No, but I do play basketball and football @ my school." Basketball is a good sport to play. I'm not very interested in football. The thing about football is a lot of the players will run track to stay in shape for the fall. And I don't even mean just sprinting. I remember one of them running the 5000 meter race. I suppose you've probably run a mile some time in your school career. What time did you get for that.
	Between Monday, May 20, 2002 12:10 AM and Monday, May 20, 2002 12:15 AM Received 28 more forwarded emails
other person	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:16 AM ru getting the emails?
	Between Monday, May 20, 2002 12:16 AM and Monday, May 20, 2002 12:17 AM Received 4 more forwarded emails
other person	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:18 AM u know we started talking like over an hour ago?
keith	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:16 AM " ru getting the emails?" Yes. That was unnecessary. I believed you.
other person	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:22 AM k thanx i just dont want you to think im lying.
keith	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:20 AM " u know we started talking like over an hour ago?" Yeah, but has it been worth the time.
other person	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:25 AM so, why is that?
keith	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:24 AM " so, why is that?" I don't think anything productive has been said. You could try to prove me wrong, but please don't send me a batch of forwarded emails.
other person	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:31 AM why has it been worth the time if we didnt get anything productive done?
keith	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:31 AM "why has it been worth the time if we didnt get anything productive done?" I was asking a rhetorical question "but was it worth the time", implying it was not worth the time. Then when I said to prove me wrong, I just meant perhaps you found something interesting in this exchange of emails.
other person	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:41 AM interesting, like what?
keith	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:39 AM Ok, [email name], I think it's time to complete our correspondence. If you want to keep writing, that's fine. I don't normally check my email this much. Sorry if I've been rude. Good luck with your search for a pen pal. -Keith
other person	Monday, May 20, 2002 12:45 AM write me back soon.
keith	Saturday, May 25, 2002 1:13 PM Can I have permission to publish at mredkj.com the emails you wrote to me on May 19 - May 20, 2002? I won't include your name or email address.
other person	Saturday, May 25, 2002 8:03 PM What EMAILs ru talking about?
keith	Sunday, May 26, 2002 8:50 PM "What EMAILs ru talking about?" The emails are transcribed at the following URL, but not linked from anywhere yet. Can I have permission to post the emails you have been sending me? http://www.mredkj.com/other/email.html
other person	Sunday, May 26, 2002 11:46 PM Yes, I guess so.