FISH = Death

I hope you're all having a good Saturday so far!

It's been a quiet morning at Nutwood, reading the paper, catching up on blogs, and watching a couple of early football games (ND vs Navy and Illinois vs. Ohio State). Tonight is our dinner event at Studebaker National Museum, and I'll probably start getting ready after the games are over. Tonight I'm channeling Hillary in my double-breasted pantsuit of medium blue. (I'll have to see if I have a flag pin for the lapel. wink) We're supposed to get 1-2 inches of snow tonight, so I definitely don't feel like wearing a suit with a skirt, or other dress. I'm hoping to get lots of dinner and museum pictures, especially of the utterly cool Packard Predictor.

I didn't hear from either Peggy at the Museum or Debbie at the caterers yesterday, so I'm assuming that everything is a go and that there are no problems. I was starting to wonder earlier in the week...after I took care of the balance of the catering bill, based on 100 guests, on Monday, I had an email from Ken when I got home saying that we needed to up it to 110. Now, the deadline was the previous Thursday, but people were still signing on Monday morning. You don't know how tempting it was to say, "Well, I guess they're just SOL, aren't they?" But I didn't...I called Debbie and she said it wasn't a problem, and "Just keep talking to me!" She said that a hundred extra people would be a problem, but not 10, and we could just pay the balance tonight. I told Ken that if all goes well tonight, and the food is great, I just might have to write some letters to both the Museum and the caterer, as well as the local paper. I've sure been impressed so far, and isn't it great to deal with people who are so helpful?

Along about mid-week, Ken informed me that he'd had a discussion with one of the guys at work who is coming to the event. Apparently, his wife has severe food allergies, and the guy wanted to call the caterer and talk to them about what she couldn't eat. (!!!) Ken said, please don't call the caterer directly, we'll check into it and find out more information. In other words, WE will deal with it, not you. The guy sent Ken an email, which Ken sent on to me, and the guy listed what she cannot eat and what would "be acceptable." The part that got me was when he wrote "FISH = Death." All dairy products cause "instant migraine," and processed wheat products are also out.

I put together a list of all the menu items and stated that there would be options, including the grilled chicken breast, grilled vegetables, etc., and that the chef would be available tonight, and Ken forwarded that email on to the guy. The guy wrote back again, detailing why or why not the various items would be acceptable. On the list of hors d'oeuvres, by the Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms, he typed "Almost certain death." [rolling eyes] Well, I guess she'd better skip those, huh? I wrote to someone that I had a mental image of her raising a Crab-Stuffed Mushroom to her mouth, and me smacking it out of her hand, yelling, "NOOOO!"

Well, come to find out, the guy had already called the caterer and talked to them about the dinner! Ken said he told him, "So why didn't you tell me that to begin with, and save my wife the time and trouble she went to?"

I'm truly not making light of food allergies--I know they're very serious. A former coworker found out that her daughter had several food allergies, and it's not easy to find things that you can eat. But isn't it kind of weird to expect a buffet dinner to conform to your dietary rules? Especially when someone has already sent you something showing that there are other options? And I think that noting that the Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms would mean almost certain death is a touch of hyperbole that wasn't really necessary. So don't eat 'em, already.

I think disaster was averted...but if Ken introduces me to this couple tonight, I'm sure I'll have that "FISH = Death" phrase running through my mind. I'm glad I've got a great poker face.

A Public Service Announcement

In the past couple of days, both Ken and I have received a couple of mass emails that contained some cute pictures and funny stuff. That's not a problem. However, that email list was copied by someone else to send out another mass email that contained a link to a website which apparently contained a virus. That resulted in another mass email, using the same email list, that included a website to get a free anti-virus program. Yet another mass email, again using the same list, stated that the anti-virus program had completely locked up their computer. I think there might be a couple more waiting for me when I check.

I respectfully submit that any mass emails we send out should use BCC rather than CC. Some people do not want their emails shared with the public at large. I do occasionally send out mass emails or forwards, but it's either an email group in which we just share with each other, or I send it to my own email address first, and everyone else gets a BCC. Think about how some of those forwards make the rounds, and do you really want your email address up there for people you don't know to see? Please don't subject others to spam or unwanted forwards and junk mail. It's bad enough as it is, and we need to respect each other's privacy.

And one more point: be very careful when hitting "Reply All." Are you sure you want your reply going out to everyone on that list?