You Have to Be Careful with Eggs . . .

I aged about a year this morning.

Round about 8 am, I got a call from Human Resources at BYU-Idaho, where I teach online English. The very nice fellow on the other end of the line said a student had sent HR a message, claiming that at the end of a texting conference with him the evening before, I sent him a naughty anime picture, then said "Oops, wrong text."

We quickly figured out that the number the student texted and mine did not match up -- at one point, it was one digit off. I was lucky because:

1. The HR rep was already skeptical about the situation

2. While I recognized the student's name, I knew for a fact I had not conferenced with him by text or any other way the night before

3. The HR rep called the number the student texted and the person on the other end got really cagey and tried to disguise their voice.

I got two calls, in rapid succession, the second saying the matter was closed and that there was no wrongdoing on my part. He said he didn't want me to spend the day worrying over the event.

Nevertheless . . . that was a long ten minutes between phone calls.

Now, I do not blame the student for anything other than not double-checking the phone number he was texting. I was not made privy to the conversation he had with the other number about his paper, but apparently enough inroads were made he felt like he'd had a discussion with me and then was shocked when I texted the naughty picture.

He did what he should have done -- he contacted HR about the situation.

But I'm glad, in this cancel culture we live in, that the matter was resolved quickly and in my favor. It could have swung the other way quickly and ended up a lot uglier than it did.

This evening, I had a text conference with the student. He rightaway apologized if I'd had a scare, and I told him -- honestly -- it wasn't that big of a deal. We went on to conference about his paper -- for which I gave him the title, hoping he'd take that as a sign that I knew what his paper was, even if the other person he'd texted with the night before didn't, but was vague enough about things -- or said, remind me -- that they were able to bluff their way through.

Lesson learned?

Get that number right when you text.

And if you get a wrong number text, remember any jokes you play, thinking you're having a lot of fun, might very well have real-world consequences.

And act stunned enough when HR calls that they realize you don't have the brains to successfully pick your nose, let alone send someone a naughty anime picture.

One final lesson: Don't reveal the number the student texted so they get spammed with all sorts of crud. But really, really consider it.