Now I don’t consider myself a naïve person. But I was almost scammed today and looking back at the sequence of events, I realize I am more gullible than I like to believe. Yes, me. A sophisticated New Yorker. Go figure.

It began with an email from an old friend, someone I’ve known for many years, but not someone I am constantly in touch with. Here is what her email said:

I didn’t even NEED a new phone. I strolled into the Verizon store the other day to buy a charger for my perfectly fine old cellphone, and was told that it was silly to spend 30 dollars for a charger when I could get a brand new phone, virtually for free.

Now let me point out here that this is my neighborhood Verizon store and I’ve gotten to really like the people who run it. They’re friendly, and knowledgeable, and just all-round good guys. And the fella who talked me into a new phone had a point. The new one cost 50 bucks and with the rebate, I get that 50 dollars back. He even filled out the paperwork for me and everything, so no hassle!

But here’s the problem. Well, there’s actually more than one problem. But here’s the biggest problem.

We all now know that Shirley Sherrod, the government agency official who was vilified and forced to resign by her boss just a day or so ago, has now been offered a promotion—and a White House apology. The firestorm erupted over a piece—underline the word “piece”—of video of her giving a speech that went viral, immediately after which came her harsh discipline. When it was later learned that the small piece of video gave a false impression of what she actually was saying, the White House did a u-bie—and embarrassed itself.