Anonymous wrote:My husband says to always be very specific about having explosive diarrhea when you need to make up a reason to call out. He says nobody will ever ask any further questions.

When calling out sick (but maybe not REALLY that sick), ALWAYS say it's stomach-related. Guaranteed that people will read between the lines and that no one will want to be anywhere near you.

Eh,adding details to the OOO automated reply adds context for the recepient and justifies the need to be out for the sender.

Plus it makes a great talking point for later.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am out of the office today, July 21, 2025. I have violent diarrhea and am typing this live, from my toilet, where I've been since 2am. Please pray for my buttocks. Meanwhile if you need assistance with the TPS report, please reach out to Amy. I hope things firm up and I am back online tomorrow. Godspeed.

At my old job we had an employee who explained that she couldn't get to work on time because of her diarrhea.

Not a lie- I have an employee who writes these long diatribes to me about health issues too. Last one even got religious about “giving my worries up to the Lord.” I’ve asked so many times for them to just say “requesting sick leave tomorrow” but they can’t.

Sr. where I work and I put therapy down when I have therapy to de-stigmatize it. I also let it show on my calendar.

Most people here have zero idea how to read my open calendar though.

But other medical or personal appointments I put down as busy or hide the title (you can block busy and make the appt private). If I need to be out for longer than an hour, I block the time and tell my boss.

But I do see these away messages humble bragging about vacations as tacky.

There was a WSJ article about it, but more how people have an “F U” tone when going on leave.

Anonymous wrote:I am out of the office today, July 21, 2025. I have violent diarrhea and am typing this live, from my toilet, where I've been since 2am. Please pray for my buttocks. Meanwhile if you need assistance with the TPS report, please reach out to Amy. I hope things firm up and I am back online tomorrow. Godspeed.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Anonymous wrote:My husband says to always be very specific about having explosive diarrhea when you need to make up a reason to call out. He says nobody will ever ask any further questions.

We had an office assistant who went into some detail about this. She said she didn't want to take the metro for fear of a horrific incident. She was a larger lady, and I have to agree that it would have been unforgettable to anyone in the carriage with her.

Anonymous wrote:My husband says to always be very specific about having explosive diarrhea when you need to make up a reason to call out. He says nobody will ever ask any further questions.

I was friends with the director of HR at my law firm (she's since retired) and she told me once that people should just say "I'm sick" and leave it at that. She said she has no desire to hear details. I was like "people give DETAILS?" and she said oh yes, color, consistency, etc. Horrifying.

This is why I refuse to share my calendar. My outlook is personal, so I show up at my appointments.

My husband says to always be very specific about having explosive diarrhea when you need to make up a reason to call out. He says nobody will ever ask any further questions.

Anonymous wrote:I am out of the office today, July 21, 2025. I have violent diarrhea and am typing this live, from my toilet, where I've been since 2am. Please pray for my buttocks. Meanwhile if you need assistance with the TPS report, please reach out to Amy. I hope things firm up and I am back online tomorrow. Godspeed.

At my old job we had an employee who explained that she couldn't get to work on time because of her diarrhea.

OOO Monday from 2-3:30 for therapy to confront my beeyotch of a mother for why she wouldn't let me paint my room black even though I asked for two straight years.

I am out of the office today, July 21, 2025. I have violent diarrhea and am typing this live, from my toilet, where I've been since 2am. Please pray for my buttocks. Meanwhile if you need assistance with the TPS report, please reach out to Amy. I hope things firm up and I am back online tomorrow. Godspeed.

You truly must ask yourself why you give a damn.

Is this a generational thing?

We have shared calendars and out of office notices from several on our staff, and most of the under 40 crowd will share why they out of the office to a higher degree. Things like therapy or saying they have a medical procedure or even that they are taking their spouse to a medical appointment.

We are not their supervisors - maybe they could put in a request with some detail to their direct supervisor, but it feels weird broadcast to 40 people and on a shared calendar viewed by almost 100?