I know the feeling. A few months ago I randomly got a video call from my boss. Both he and the owner of the company were in the line. They let me know that they unfortunately had to let go of almost everyone on the dev team. Some funding had fell through (gotta love startups). Fortunately, I got to keep my job that day, but I can’t shake the feeling that another layoff is right around the corner.
I have a fairly unusual, albeit not unheard of, first name. As far as I can tell, I’m sharing my first and last name with 5 or so people in the US. Back in 2008 or so I nabbed first.last@gmail.com (I also own www.firstlast.com haha). Every so often one of my brethren will use my email at dicks sporting goods or something. I always finish activating the account for them and sign them up for text alerts or something. Nothing evil. I figure they can just reply “stop” to opt out.