Et Al.  

Have you ever been called something that you really, really, REALLY hated?

I mean, after you have been called this name, you want to make sure the person who uttered it has something unfortunate happen to them? I mean something really unfortunate. Let’s choose them getting run over by a bus for this example.

For those of you who are not in the academia world, et al. is used when there are so many authors that contributed to an academic article that to write out all of their names would be abuse to the writer. Et al. actually stands for “and others” for a more direct definition. According to one of my professors, it is only appropriate to write et al. when there are six or more articles (this can be debated and feel free to tell me what number is the correct one). This background information will be useful for you to know as to why I would love for this unnamed person to be run over by a bus.

The story begins with myself and a friend of mine. We shall call her Pauline. We have been working in conjunction with this unnamed person who will unfortunately be hit by that proverbial bus in the near future. Let’s call her Wanda. Wanda and I apparently do not get along. From the moment I met her, I felt as though she was a very pushy woman who had an agenda. As soon as I meet people like Wanda, I automatically decide to be completely against what they stand for. So even if they were pro-choice, I would probably just play the devil’s advocate to piss the royal shit out of them (royal shit is yay more shittier than regular shit, trust me).

So Wanda and I do not go together like peas in a pod, or any other idioms you would prefer to use. In fact, I think we have a silent agreement that we do not get along. Anyway, Pauline and I have contact with Wanda and others through email, which is my preferred way of communication. On emails we send to Wanda and her crew, we sign my name and Pauline’s name (i.e. The Jaxster and Pauline). Although Pauline was Wanda’s first contact person, she still has not addressed any emails to myself, and that in itself bothers me. But what has really gotten under my skin is in the last two emails Wanda has sent, she has addressed the messages as Pauline et al.

Et al?!?! Are you kidding me? There aren’t six or seven other people that are working with Pauline. There is one and it’s me! My full name consists of six letters. Is she so lazy that she can only type four? Or is she blantantly being obnoxious? Because I already have this great dislike for the woman, I prefer to choose the latter. It angers me that this woman who I already have issues with is so rude. We do not sign the emails “Pauline et al.”

So what did I do?

I emailed her back as “Wanda et al.”

And if she does it one more time, I am just going to email her “et al.,” and write the message. Although I think the best way to communicate with this aggravating woman is to just not email her at all and say cie la vie. Wanda et al., which will now be her permanent nickname until she pulls a bigger and better stunt, will have to direct all of her communications via email to Pauline. Poor Pauline.

In the meantime, I hope she has a very lovely Thanksgiving and for her own safety, she should probably not venture out where there are buses, though that would entertain me to no extent. So Wanda et al., if you are out there and reading this, I hope your holiday is a smash hit. Literally.