Cause and effect

Given my recent immersion in the business school application process, it was only a matter of time before I stumbled upon the various forums that engage in fervent discussion on the abovementioned soul-searching (sucking?) process.

Businessweek and GMATClub are the two most popular, as far as I know, and in addition to providing a wealth of information, they have also served tremendously well as sources of entertainment.

Case in point:

First, some background - the fellow quoted below seems like a perfectly likable chap, but has sadly been subject to a spate of rejections from various business schools. This must have LED to an incredible amount of detailed introspection on his part, because after much deliberation and reflection, this is what he said:

"One of my friends corrected a big mistake I made throughout the applications. The past tense of 'Lead' is 'Led". I have been using 'Lead' everywhere unknown to the fact that I was making a mistake. I thought lead is like read. What a stupidity...
One of the possible reasons for my dings so far."

At first, I laughed. Then, I felt badly. But at the end of the day, all I had to offer was concurrence - what a stupidity, indeed.