I'm flipping out right now. Completely flipping out. I deleted an email account a couple of weeks ago and switched my amazon TEMPORARILY over to my work email address to be sure that it was secure. Then I forgot that I switched it momentarily while I was ordering some books for my kindle..... most of the titles are not obvious but there are a couple of pretty big clues. Nothing dirty or bad but I am NOT READY to be out at work and I'm pretty sure that the random book I added on a whim called, "Everybody's Gay" is a complete giveaway and will stick out. I didn't realize this was even in my work email until today and it's been there for a couple of weeks. I deleted the confirmation emails (with the titles of the books in the subject of the email.... :*** :bang::bang::bang::bang::bang::bang::bang::bang::bang::bang::bang: :tears:
Okay, take some deep breaths, it's going to be alright. I don't know the chances of anyone else seeing it, but if anyone says something about it you could just tell then that a relative or close friend came out and you're trying to deal with it and learn more about it
Thanks. I do appreciate you taking time to respond, really. Idk my closet may be glass as it is and my area is NOT LGBTQ friendly. I work in a school that is charter (not part of the public school system). The contracts mean little- it could simply not be renewed next year and no questions would be asked. Not only that but it's a small town and word spreads like you wouldn't believe. I cannot believe I was so stupid. I can only hope that the IT guys never look through emails and that if they did they will be kind enough to keep it to themselves.
My mom works for a school system. They only check the emails when teachers (or staff) are being investigated for something. So, I doubt that anybody outside of you has seen those emails. I would change the address on your Amazon though
Not the same, but related: Several years ago, we got Netflix and I added Brokeback Mountain to the instant que. My mom was like "Who added this?" I explained that I added it, and I wanted to watch it because it's one of those movies that if you don't watch it, you'll never understand the jokes or references, like Star Wars. That squashed any suspicion she had. Another example: I'm a history geek. In 11th grade, I chose to read Mein Kampf so that I had a good grasp of Hitler's feelings and ideas when researching/studying about Nazi Germany. I'm not a Nazi, but I find the 3rd Reich extraordinarily fascinating, both the rise and the fall of it. A few people at school saw me reading it, and they confronted me angrily asking if I hated the Jews. After I calmly explained that it was more the satisfuinh of a curiosity and reading for research, they said "Oh, alright, that's ok I guess" and left me alone. So just because you have a few books like "Everyone's Gay" a casual observer wouldn't go to red alert and assume right away that YOU are gay. They might think you just have a wide range of literary taste! Besides, if the account is password protected, the only people who can see into it are any admins or IT techs that need to work on the server or the account. I'd be surprised if any casually glancing through everyone's email would bring up the fact that they saw those emails, since it would surely be cause to blame them for snooping. If, by incredible coincidence, the admin needed to get into your account for a legit purpose, there isn't anything to say really other then to shrug it off and explain that "wide ranging literary taste" to them.
I doubt anyone will see it. They probably only look at emails when there's some kind of investigation going on. IMO, they have no right to access them at all. If you are confronted about it, though, tell them you suspect a friend is gay, and you aren't sure what to think, so you're reading up about it.
I would start coming up with the best possible excuse.. I'm the type of 'worst case scenario' guy and I tend to plan around it.
say you ordered it for a friend who's gay who didn't want anyone to see that they had ordered it? I don't think it's likely that anyone will confront you though. Just delete the email.
Okay after today... I don't THINK anyone saw it. They wouldn't have any reason to search my account anyway. The IT guys have apparently been totally swamped because a bunch of staff got locked out of their email and the phone lines were down so they wouldn't have had time to casually glance through stuff anyway. Sorry I panicked. It really would be less stressful just to be out, I think. Maybe. Thank you everyone!! You helped keep me grounded there.
My Dad is an IT guy, and from what he's told me, keeping stuff private is a big part of the job. For example, porn sites are lousy with viruses, so often when he's treating an infected computer, he'll find evidence that someone's been surfing porn. He'll gently take the person aside and let them know what he found and that porn sites have lots of viruses, but he doesn't tell anyone else. (He would if he found child porn, because that's illegal.) So a decent IT guy wouldn't out you if they came across evidence of it. Chances are, they know dirty secrets on a lot of your coworkers already.
