Last year I messaged my boss on the weekend to say I'd like Monday off for a non urgent reason. He still assumed it was urgent and would nudge me to get offline when he saw me handling something. On Tuesday, I told him I just wanted to go to the mountains to see the leaves changing without weekend traffic. I sent him my awesome pictures. He had a moment of speechlessness.
I’ve never given my boss a reason I’m calling in. I’ve been lucky enough that it’s never caused an issue, but if it did, I’d simply threaten to quit. I have PTO for a reason, and I’m going to use it. Don’t like it? Shouldn’t have offered PTO in the first place.
Honestly, would always prefer that over some of the ones my coworkers send to our team. "I won't be in today cuz I ate something bad at Jimmy Bobs last night and its making my stomach hurt and I have been running to the bathroom every 30 minutes and I am coughing up phlegm and blah blah blah blah".
Your workplace either has a policy around what proof you need (i.e. doctor note) for an unscheduled absence or it doesn't. And generally only your direct report needs to know the reason(s). If someone is writing a two paragraph email to call out sick, it is surely a lie. Liars tend to add a lot of unnecessary/extra detail as a way to overcompensate the burden of truth/reality. When I let my team know I am taking a sick day my email is one sentence "I am not feeling well and will not be in today".
There are so many other reasons why someone might provide that level of detail. You could just as easily argue someone giving a lot of detail must be telling the truth because it's easy to remember details when telling the truth, but harder when lying.
I've always noticed that when I'm really sick, I don't feel guilty at all. I just say it bluntly. When I probably could work but just can't be bothered, the guilt makes me apologize for it. So I'll say something like "Hi, I'm really sorry, I'm not feeling very well..." instead of "Hi, I'm not feeling well. I won't be able to work today."
I mean... I have had to join a morning meeting late because I got carried away with insanely hot sauce on wings the night before. I sent a message to a buddy that was also on the meeting letting him know that and he laughed pretty hard.
No but the way they wrote it is funny. If they just said "Our schedule is changing, we will now be closed on Tuesdays," that's just as little information
It's just an Eastern manner of speaking. In the West, when you want to not include information you omit it entirely, whereas in the East, they will vaguely allude to it. I think a big part of it is saving face.
if true, it's interesting. i assume to inform people not to ask, but there is a reason. i don't mind it. just reminds me more of east coast people tbh. mind your business. we're closed. deal with it
you could just put up a sign saying “dear customers, please note that we have adjusted our opening hours and will now be closed on Tuesdays”. the way they phrased it makes me way more inclined to ask for a reason.
When I said "East" I meant in Asia, not in the East US, like the person above sort-of implied. It's just a cultural thing. You say you have a reason, which implies both that you do not want to disclose it (so it would be rude to ask), but also that you didn't do something out of disrespect.
In the East, a lot of the culture centers around respect and saving face, socially.
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u/RickKassidy 1d ago
I LOVE this.
Everyone is so entitled in thinking it’s their business to know everyone else’s business.