"Lighten up, Liz!"
Posted on 06/17/2009 5:12:13 PM PDT by Dallas59
If you want to score a meeting with Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), know this: His scheduler/office manager, Elizabeth Becton, is to be addressed by her full name — not Liz or any other variant.
An executive assistant at McBee Strategic recently learned this the hard way. A few weeks ago, the assistant e-mailed Becton seeking a meeting with McDermott and a client, JPMorgan Chase. Days later, the assistant checked back in and unfortunately began the e-mail with “Hi Liz.”
Becton curtly replied, “Who is Liz?”
When the assistant wrote back with an apology, Becton turned up the heat. “I do not go by Liz. Where did you get your information?” she asked.
The back-and-forth went on for 19 e-mails, with the assistant apologizing six times if she had “offended” Becton, while Becton lectured about name-calling.
Becton told the assistant that if someone said using “Liz” was acceptable, then “they are not your friend”, and “If I wanted you to call me by any other name, I would have offered that to you.” Plus, it’s “rude when people don’t even ask permission and take all sorts of liberties with your name,” she said, adding: “Please do not ever call me by a nickname again.”
But the tirade didn’t end there. Becton continued her riff — responding that the assistant “got played” by someone who was trying to “tick” Becton off. Becton’s final, searing missive stated: “In the future, you should be VERY careful about such things. People like to brag about their connections in D.C. It’s a pastime for some. It’s also dangerous to eavesdrop, as you have just found out. Quit apologizing and never call me anything but Elizabeth again. Also, make sure you correct anyone who attempts to call me by any other name but Elizabeth. Are we clear on this? Like I said, it’s a hot button for me. And please don’t call the office and not leave a message. My colleague told me you called while I was away. ... I do sometimes leave my desk.”
McDermott spokesman Mike DeCesare told us Tuesday, “An apology is being issued as we speak,” adding, “This isn’t reflective of the way we do business in this office.”
It's like the Mayflower Madam said, "Don't say anything on the phone that you don't want your mother to hear at the trial. That goes double for Email."
I just don't like her attitude. She's not elected to anything, but I'm paying her salary, and I expect her to conduct herself with a little restraint.
For later.
Who is apparently a Dem lobbyist. And anonymous. They put Becton out there, without her permission, and sit back and watch. If it was this person in the exchange, I'd say they got their revenge.
I don't think you (or I!) will be paying it much longer. If she's been in DC for eight years, she certainly should have remembered this:
http://www.snopes.com/embarrass/email/tripplehorn.asp
That email chain went ALL over town. A couple of years ago, one of our employees became disgruntled and sent a vindictive email to the person s/he blamed for the disgruntlement, cc'ing the entire firm. THAT email went all over town as well, and the plans that person had made for a career in the legal field went POOF!
Also not getting her RI/M(Required Inches Per Month).
The anonymity must have been given by the paper that reported it - even if the sender redacted his own information from the rest of the chain, the sending address would have appeared on the email that came to the reporter's inbox.
ping!
I checked and her pay rate is a matter of public record.
She’s making over $100k per year.
Maybe she should consider applying for a job with Madam Boxer...
Maybe. I still wonder what is going on here. I’m the suspicious type. She tells the anonymous person about influence peddling in DC and that they were being played. The more I read the emails the more suspicious I get. We’re talking about a Dem lobbyist that wants influence and got a lesson about presuming. Wonder if more info will ever come out?
What I see is a low-level flunky trying to make herself far more important than she actually is. All the original sender wanted to do was make a simple appointment. That’s what Ms. Becton’s job IS - to make appointments for Rep. McDermott. Meeting with a Congressman is not evidence of influence-peddling.
She’d better hope he’s not embarrassed enough by this to find her services unnecessary now, because she’ll have a hell of a time finding another job at that level with these emails circulating.
And I am done with this topic. Hope your day is blessed.
I just read the article that you linked. That was a fairly interesting story. Thanks for posting it. I also noted that Tripplehorn, the author of that missive, passed away in November 2008.
It was a suicide. I don't know how much the infamy he brought on himself contributed to that. I hope not as much as I think. The Internet really IS that 'permanent record' our teachers warned us about.
Wow. That is sad. I hope that email he sent wasn’t his undoing.
You’re right about the permanent record. Maybe I should stop typing... nope, I just can’t help myself.
Same here I am Miss Kalee or Mrs.____.
This may have a bearing on the letter and -- if it is true he committed suicide, which was not clear from what I have read -- his untimely demise.
I prefer the Claire Swire letter, because nobody suffered anything but well-deserved embarrassment.
Cheers!
Yeah, I’ve been blowin’ those out the door at that price.
And mea culpa, I was also behind the whole chain-yankin’ thing that tortured poor Lizzie to the brink of suicide. :’) Or more like homicide, considering the length of reaction.
She should be told to break the Prozacs in half from now on, and to not come in anymore.
Check my posting history. I don't do that kind of thing.
It's obvious you have some emotional stake in this issue
Not anymore than you do. Why did freepers email a stranger over a situation that did not involve them? Are they emotionally involved? I expressed an opinion which is the point of posting on a forum.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.