Why not tell the truth?

Back almost longer ago than I can remember I used ICQ daily (some might say hourly). Though I don't remember the logistics, ICQ had some sort of sleep mode that went into effect if no keystrokes were made on my computer for (let's say) ten minutes. Someone sending me a message after those ten minutes would get back an automatic reply to the effect that I wasn't at my desk. That same reply would be accessed if I put someone on my "reject" list. Even if I was in front of my computer, if someone on that list sent me a message, the automatic reply would be that I wasn't at my desk at the moment.

That reply was editable, and for quite a while the message that people would get back went something like:

Actually, I'm not away from my desk at all. I'm only purposefully avoiding you.

I figured that this was what people were going to think anyway, so why not say it.

Go to: Confessions of a conservative technology freak.