E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Courtesy of the Salazars
The next time you make a particularly strange typo, don't throw your keyboard out the window — instead just smile. Smile, because it's possible for a simple typo to lead to a marriage.
After all, it was a typo that brought together Rachel P. Salazar and Ruben P. Salazar despite the fact that they lived about 9,000 miles apart and were "completely unaware of each other's existence."
Apparently an email intended for Rachel accidentally went to Ruben — thanks to their similar email addresses and some sloppy typing skills — in Jan. 2007. Ruben politely forwarded that email along to its intended recipient and began an email chain that led to a marriage proposal.
You can hear Ruben and Rachel share the details of their love story in the video below. It is an animated clip created by the folks behind StoryCorps, a non-profit organization with a mission of providing "Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories" of their lives. (I strongly recommend checking out the organization's YouTube page after you're done watching the video. There are many more gems to be found there.)
Related stories:
- For a fun time (and a fake girlfriend), text this number
- 'Words With Friends' game leads to marriage
- StumbleUpon helps man propose to best friend
Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.
Leave a Comment:
How wonderful! The amazing nuances of synchronicity at work in real life.
I think you mean serendipity.
I think he meant synchronicity. Although it was also serendipitous. And downright Salaz-icous. Smarty pants.
Don't hassle him about it, he may have just created a marriage with that typo.
Well-played, Mr. Chops.
Too cool. I love the way fate works when it's to our advantage. When it goes the opposite way...not so much. Then again, when it's to my disadvantage it may be to the other's advantage. Anyway, fate is cool.
Dude. Fate is so like, destiny. You know when you know. You know?
Destiny is the lady that stands in front of you and lures you to your death. Fate is the guy behind you that kicks you into the pit.
No - I meant synchronicity. (Coined by Carl Gustav Jung.)
Look it up!
dragonmaster - I had to post your comment on facebook. Hilarious!
Aww.
choo...
Awwww....and it just happens to be connected to some internet company looking for exposure. I KNEW there had to be a catch to this drippy story.
That "N" stands for "Negativity," right? Buzz-kill for the FAIL, dude.
To the happy couple - CHEERS!
StoryCorps is not some internet company. It's a non-profit organization that places booths around the country and let people tell their life stories for years. Some of the stories are aired on NPR occasionally if you don't want to go their YouTube channel. They're not selling anything but the preservation of memories. The recordings are actually held at the Library of Congress. You can hear the stories at storycorps.org
And before anyone accuses me, I don't work for the organization. I just really enjoy hearing people's stories. I guess that makes me "drippy."
Jenni -
Not for profit organizations get their operating funds from somewhere. Generally from grants or people donating money. In this case they're trying to get money donated based on this "news story", sometimes referred to as a press release.
sourpuss.
It's funny how negative Mike is...yet I have a feeling he's probably right. Hahahaha!
Brian: Before your piss-poor attempt at being a smartass, do you know the difference between a non-profit organization and a not-for profit organization? the IRS does offer a practical distinction in their own definitions. According to the Infernal Revenue Service, "not-for-profit" refers to a specific activity, such as a hobby. "Nonprofit" refers to an organization established for purposes other than turning a profit.
Jenni- if your comment makes you drippy - then you just go girl,' cause I'm right there,too! I love personal narratives.Thanks for mentioning the storycorps.org - I'm gonna check them out.
Isn't luv wonderful? <sarcasm>
this is an old news story.
I'm going with Mike N. It's being rehashed for a reason.
Thanks. A few more and we can call it a movement. This isn't a story so much as a press release.
So sweet :)
fark
Creepy.
Uh, how come it never says how he knew what address to forward to? People make typos all the time, but how would you know the typo made or email address they meant to send it to? Had this happened before? Did the sender tell him who the email was meant for? Or was he stalking her to start with?
Huh?
@Quantumtrials...I wondered the same thing...How can someone figure out what the correct address was? Unless, as you suggested, the sender reviewed his SENT emails & caught the mistake. But, then at that point, as the SENDER, you would simply forward the email to the correct recipient. Why would you contact the WRONG recipient, & inform them that you'd mistakenly sent an email that should have gone to another & give THEM, the original recipient's address? (Does that make sense???...okay, I'm stressing over something, that quite frankly isn't worth it...but, I agree...I hate when things are not explained...
or perhaps the origninal sender referred to her first name in the salutation or the body of the letter and so he took a chance and sent it on..
My guess is that the correct email address was somewhere in the body of the email. It could have been a response or something, where there's a chain of conversation below (and that generally includes email addresses). Usually in a response, you just hit "reply" but I've done that and mistakenly erased the "to" field, and ended up having to retype the email addy in.
Or it could be that the email was to "Rachel" and referenced her city and some other information, so he hit google or facebook to find her, and then sent it on. That's how my friend met someone with her same name. Someone sent her an email and she googled the other person and found him (yes, a man with the same name as a female) and started a correspondence. They didn't fall in love, though. ;)
Who knows, though.
The last time I was involved with a typo I had a speeding ticket dropped.
Hope thier marriage last as long as mine. 59yrs-7 mo. 13 days. Good luck to that young couple. May God Bless them.
This is a great story! Over the years I've made a futile effort to meet the right guy. I've decided to just relax and not worry about it. The "good luck" that this couple had inspires me!
As a technical editor, I've made a pretty darned good living from typos. Go typos!
Not do you sea the romance this in?:)
:) chuckle
Something that started with an error turned into something that is so right. Sometimes we should not curse errors because they are there to direct and not to harm.
i met my wife on YouTube from my mohabbatein violin video which now has 170k views
this is a great story but not so unique ... I called the wrong number in 1968 and eneded up with a lovely wife. Don't tell my wife but I was calling another girl but man I am glad now I did not marry the other girl.
I love that story.
Congrats to the happy couple!
Another funny one... Friend of mine called a girl to ask her out. When he got there to pick her up he realized the wrong sister (twins) had answered the phone - not the one he intended. Well he and the 'wrong' sister are happily married now!
Kinda nice to hear some good stuff happening in the world instead of all the negativity. Congrats!
Now go make a lot of babies.
Sounds similar to my story.
2 years ago in May, I was on Omegle, and started to troll some users, until this one person came up. We talked for around 2 hours, before we added our emails and IM data with eachother, and I asked her to become my girlfriend that night. She agreed. We are still together. We sent eachother pictures, and she has been on webcam several times, so I know she is real. I live in Massachusetts. She lives in Indonesia, and I am unsure when I am able to visit her, or if she could visit me.
This was all due to me deciding not to troll one Omegle user after doing an entire night of that.
lol ...what a bunch of LOSERS!!
What I really want to know is how did he know where to forward the email to. This does not make sense. I have had emails delivered to the wrong person with no way to get the email to the correct person. How did he know who it was suppose to have gone to.
Ren and Stimpy.
Gr8 story....I met this guy from UK...he actually liked my comment on wall street journal post on facebook..and added me to facebook. and after few months of ph talking & skyping he proposed me. He tried to come to US but they refused to give him Visa. Now he wants me to come to UK and to marry him. I am confused :(
Roxanna79, wonder why the US wouldn't let him in with a Visa, something's not right.
He's wanted by Interpol. Or he's not for real, since a for-realzies British guy would be commenting on the Financial Times web site.
Sad life these people must have had...
dom azzes...
That was a typo too...