Emailed response

Don't know what I'm referring to? Read my first update from Friday, then this morning's update...

My email this morning:

Dr. Johnson,

I was an attendee at the FPA meeting in Indianapolis last week where you spoke. I have been struggling with whether or not to write you since that meeting, but I do believe that I need to address one topic you touched on.

In your talk, you discussed how men’s speech centers are in one area of the brain (Broca-Wernicke’s area) and how if a man has a stroke in this area, he’ll never talk again, but that’s okay because if he has a recliner, a remote and some chips he’s good for a decade.

My 33 year old husband had a left MCA ischemic stroke on February 15. After arriving at the ER paralyzed on the right side of his body and unable to speak, he has made a pretty remarkable recovery. He still battles some aphasia (he is classified as mild dysphasic) but physically has completely recovered. He does indeed have a lesion where cell death occurred in Broca’s area.

Which brings me to the point of this email. First of all, your statement that a man having a stroke in this area of the brain will not speak is false. My husband is living proof. Additionally, May is National Stroke Awareness Month, and it might behoove you to consider removing a reference that may offend any of the millions of people whose lives have been touched by stroke from your talk. As the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability in the United States, I can’t be alone in being offended. And as a sales coach, I’m pretty sure you know what offending your client does to your ability to close a sale. At this point, I could not be less interested in purchasing anything you are selling, regardless of my need for it.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Erin Robertson

The response I received:

Hi Ms. Robertson,

I am really sorry to hear about your husband.

the point of my comment was the psycho-biological and mental superiority of women and how men need to be less parochial about how they sell. I am also sorry that my attempt at humor struck a nerve with you and I apologize.

Kerry Johnson

Remember that this man is a psychologist and a sales coach. And a jerkface, by the way.

You know, I just hope this man remembers my email EVERY TIME he makes that comment in the future. I sent him the link to this blog (it's in my email signature); I hope he visited and saw pictures of my children and our family and that they flash before his eyes with every talk he gives.

But now, I'm letting it go. I did the best I could do, and life is far too short to harbor ill will toward someone I'll most likely never encounter again...