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There is nothing quite as satisfying as turning on the “Out Of Office” email assistant before heading off on annual leave. The exquisite feeling that you have made yourself untouchable for a brief period in your life. No one get you. Like being in the safe zone on one side of the playground in a game of Red Rover or British Bulldogs at school or lording it around a foreign city with Diplomatic Immunity.
Of course, when you are at work, you occasionally receive other colleagues’ personalised out of office emails. It is interesting to note how different they can be. Some, by the most conscientious co-workers, are very detailed, stating the reason for being out of the office, the exact date of return and what to do if there any urgent enquiries.
Others briefly declare “I am on leave” which suggests an attitude of “I really don’t give a stuff what happens when I am not here”. On occasion I have read an out of office reply which simply says: “ON LEAVE”. This slightly more aggressive response in capital letters reminds me of Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction (1994) as it has an air of “I dare ya! I double dare ya! Say ‘Are you on leave?’ one more goddamn time!”.