Selections from Mary Ann Madden's 'New York Magazine' hilarious competitions. The book's title derives from a contest asking for 1. What I Should Have Said, and 2. What I Said. Cynthia Harrison of Rockville Maryland, 1. "Look, there's a lot of traffic, and he's probably been stuck in a meeting all day and didn't get your message, or he'd have called. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about." 2. "Maybe he's dead."