It was a day that started out just like any other day, as most days are prone to do. A cranky old coffee with steel cut oatmeal. Wordle in three, accompanied by a fist pump. My days are a series of not so serious senior moments.
I sat down at my desk and after looking up my once again forgotten password, I opened up old Dell company laptop and got down to business. My inbox had the usual assortment of junk mail directed at men of my vintage, Viagra ads and bitcoin offers. But one email caught my eye. It just happened to be from the richest man in the world! That’s right, Elon Musk.
Perhaps a special offer for a Tesla? A SpaceX voyage to Mars? An offer to buy my vote in the next US election? *
Nope, none of the above. This wasn’t an inconsequential email by any means, no siree. The header read, and I quote “Donation Fund to You 55 Million Dollars”. My first thought was a pedantic pause about the poor grammar, but my second thought was I hope they’re US Dollars. I did some quick math and depending on the tax implications and the exchange rate that kind of money could keep the Department of Procurement in the lifestyle she always wanted for at least 3, maybe 4 years! I didn’t have to check the horoscope to know it was my lucky day.
But there was a problem. As luck would have it, the Business Technology Group (BTG), a fancy pants name for the IT department, had quarantined my windfall, saying it could be a phishing attempt. They even spelled “fishing” wrong.
I surmised that the only plausible reason they were holding out on my good fortune (literally and figuratively) was Othello’s green-eyed monster, jealousy. **
An easy enough fix, I’d call them to get the quarantine lifted and then provide the basic banking information the sender had requested, a reasonable enough request since they would need some place to deposit the money. Unfortunately, the BTG department was not in a cooperative mood that day and their go to advice of “turn it off and turn it back on again” didn’t seem to apply in this situation.
I offered them a share of my hard-earned winnings that were a direct result of my recent friendship with Elon, but they weren’t buying. I was reminded of the old saying” If your luck seems too good to be true, the IT department will make sure it is”. ***
Alas, it was all for naught and for the rest of the day I wondered how I could let Elon know that I couldn’t accept his kind offer without hurting his feelings, hoping it wouldn’t affect our newfound friendship.
Editor’s Comment: A more appropriate title for this piece would be “Fortune Smiles on the Foolish”.
*Editor’s Comment: Elon Musk has in the past provided monetary incentives through PACs (Political Action Committees) for people to vote or sign petitions, putting into question both the legality of doing so as well as the credibility of any petition that people get paid to sign. The program in 2024 helped the Republicans win Wisconsin, but a similar program in 2025 aimed at Supreme Court candidates was not successful in securing a Republican in the role. A number of people who signed up for these incentives have claimed they have not been paid.
**Editor’s Comment: From Shakespeare’s Othello (Act 3, Scene 3) when Lagos tells Othello “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”
***Editor’s Comment: The actual saying “If your luck seems too good to be true, it probably is” is an old adage not specifically attributable as a quote to anyone in particular but used by many.
0 Comments