Nothing hurts worse than making a mistake that hurts people you care about. But we sure stepped in it yesterday by posting a caption contest for our annual calendar. This year’s contest was intended to honor our beloved co-worker Charlie Cain, who passed away in July. His dry wit and wicked sense of humor continue to resonate in our office – and we made a feeble and insensitive effort to capture that. This year’s calendar includes Charlie’s angel – one of several ways we’ve been honoring Charlie’s memory. That may be OK – but we definitely stepped over the line by also designating Charlie’s angel for our annual caption contest. We thought Charlie would have loved it but we never thought about how painful and hurtful this could be for his family. So please forgive our clumsy and socially inept misstep and know that never in a million years would we intentionally dishonor or disrespect a man who taught us so much. Thank you to those who were kind enough to tell us what you thought – we appreciate you calling us out on it.
