why 'Doc Ringwood'?



i was once mistakenly called "Doctor Ringwood" when i was named as a referee for a heavy-duty Science Grant application by someone who, although co-incidentally NOT being named Ringwood either, was however a doctor (PhD)

unfortunately, he submitted his application to the distinguished panel of scientists for consideration BEFORE checking if my name was Ringwood, or that i did indeed have a PhD myself

this left me with something of a dilemma, should i:


A) point out to him that neither of the only two things he had stated about me on his grant application were true?

in which case he would then have to re-approach the awarding panel and explain his mistake ("but you can still entrust me with all this money & expect me to get my facts straight in my reports")


B) tell the panel that 'Doctor Ringwood' declined to act as Referee for the applicant? (also certain to throw the grant his way!)

 

C) (forgive me for even thinking of this possibility...) go ahead and write him a reference, as if from 'Doctor Ringwood', on his suitability for receiving such a prestigious research grant?


it's funny how time compresses when there's a major b@lls-up on the event-horizon, because even before the ink had dried on his email, saying (too late) that he hoped it was ok to have given my name as a referee, a huge envelope arrived from the grant panel, addressed to a "Doctor Ringwood", asking me to provide a reference


so i ...
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...am going to leave it as an exercise in human psychology for you to decide what i did next


i seem to remember that i've kept the envelope addressed to "Dr Ringwood", to show to any future grandchildren of mine when they don't believe that this story is completely true