Thank you for a most enjoyable post, Mary, especially the one about swerving into the other person's lane.

Something similar happened to me back at LinkedIn a few month ago when a junior alumni from a former employer sent a well worded and respectful connection request and in the very next email following our connecting, tried to sell me an Accounting Technician certification course which would help me get an entry level accounting job. That might have been of interest to me if I were not already holding the title of FCA from ICAEW! No comparison.

Naturally I was irritated and after taking my dog for a quick walk (best way to cool down) I wrote a very polite email to her pointing to my profile and how I was not a good fit for her product but because she had wanted to connect with a senior for guidance, how she needed to check the profiles of her targeted prospects before she offends them. I never heard back from her but am quite confident that  she got the message.