by: Joan Pasay

I signed up for an e-newsletter today - at least I hope that is what happened. I am actually not entirely sure. I was going about my day and thought I would go to the website of one of the major political parties in Canada and signup for their e-newsletter.

Unlike our cousins to the south Canadians head to the polls quite frequently because no one really knows who they want to lead the country and our ruling party is a minority. It makes for heated questions periods full of shouting, insults and frequent threats of looming elections. Being a responsible citizen I thought I should get informed, and how better to than to start getting the opposing party's email marketing messages.

I'm really serious about this and I assumed this political party was too. I just have one problem. I think the e-newsletter signup form ate my email address. The signup form was on the homepage and was easy enough to find. I entered my email address and pressed ‘go'. And ‘go' it did! Where, I might never know. The page reloaded and my email address vanished. I checked to see if the leader of the party had changed to David Copperfield. Who knows, I might have missed something while I was on summer holidays. No such luck, it was still the same guy with the same suits that matched his boring hair color.

But where did my email address go?

-Did a thank you page appear to let me know I'd been added the email list? No, the page just reloaded.

-Did I get onto the email marketing list? I have no idea.

-Did I get an opt-in email to confirm my participation? Nope.

-Did I get a ‘welcome to the email list newsletter' email message? Nope again.

Now I don't know what to do. My confidence has really been shaken. I think I might not get a good night's rest tonight. That form ate my email address and it is really bothering me. I guess I will wait and see if I ever get an e-newsletter from this political party. Will I vote for them in the next election? I'm not sure. If their form ate my email address what will they do with my tax money? Will that disappear too?

Maybe I should try to find a contact email address on the website and ask them if my email address got added. Or maybe I should forget the whole thing and rent Dr. Strangelove and make a batch of popcorn.

I wonder if there are other political parties out there who might want my email address?

I know what I am going to do tomorrow – sign up for the other political party's e-newsletter.