# Another way to tell if your coworkers don't like you: They leave you dead at your desk for four days **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 29, 2024, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441 "2024-08-29T22:04:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/121 "2024-08-31T18:23:45Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving, forgotten about in the back of the fridge until around Independence Day. Raw potatoes left under the sink for a month when we went on vacation. In August. They were meant to be thrown out before we left since they were about to turn. But, oh well… ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/122 "2024-08-31T18:28:04Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > **Originally posted by SDStaff Hawk** > I was attending the 1992 American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference in New Orleans and a forensic pathologist related the following story (paraphrased as best as memory will serve): “Sometimes, when an individual living alone dies unexpectedly, several days may pass before anyone takes notice. Some of these individuals may own a dog or a cat, which will go unfed. In my experience, a dog may go for several days before finally resorting to eating the owner’s body. A cat, on the other hand, will only wait a day or two. Just goes to show you which is more loyal. So, the next time you’re falling asleep on the couch with the football game on, take a look at your cat. He’s not watching you because he’s enamored of you; he’s checking to see if your chest is still moving.” Oh, those wacky pathologists. The story of the actress Marie Prevost is pretty well known because Kenneth Anger put it in his _Hollywood Babylon_ book complete with a picture of her corpse as it was found. He said she’d been “eaten” by her dachshund. But it was aprocryphal. There were nips on her legs where the dog had tried to “wake” her. Sadly, the authorities had him put down. Poor little guy. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/123 "2024-08-31T19:02:41Z")
A few years ago I posted on Facebook the current status of a health issue I had experienced a month or so before. I promptly got a strongly worded post from one of nieces to the effect of “why is the family just hearing about this now”. As a result I now post a Weekly Check-In on my Facebook page; it started out as a report on my health with updates on upcoming doctor appointments, treatments, and how I’m feeling. As my health has stabilized it’s become more of a mini-blog, but it’s still a way for my family and friends to know what I’m up to. Also, after repeated urging from a local friend, I now wear a medical alert pendant so I call call for help if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/124 "2024-08-31T22:05:19Z")
The one time I recall wetting my pants in fear was when I was driving home from work after dark (the workplace was in a heavy industrial area) and as I was going over train tracks, I heard a horn. Thankfully, the train was going in another direction but before I saw that, my bladder let go. I cleaned it up when I got home. There was a Doper who died and his death (and that of his dog, which turned out to be unrelated) wasn’t discovered for a couple weeks. That happened a few years ago, and his name was Chacoguy or something similar. He lived in a remote mountain cabin and it was not unusual for him to go off-grid anyway. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/125 "2024-08-31T22:08:06Z")
That can happen when relatives are spread out all over the place. One of my first cousins did not know about my father’s death until about a month after it happened. My mother and her father, who had died himself the previous year, were siblings. (And then their OTHER brother died in the meantime. Yeah, 2023 was a sucky year for our extended family.) They were all 90 or older, but still… ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/126 "2024-09-01T01:23:27Z")
Most of my immediate family is still in the Chicago area, where we were all born and raised. I have one niece (not the one referred to in my earlier post) who is out in Colorado, and some cousins that I’m not sure where they live. One of the primary reasons I had first gotten my Facebook account was to keep track of what the Chicago relatives were up to. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/127 "2024-09-01T01:27:24Z")
Related: Another way to tell if your coworkers don’t like you: They hike with you to the top of the mountain, but return without you. [15 co-workers hiked up a Colorado mountain. There were only 14 when they came back down (msn.com)](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/15-co-workers-hiked-up-a-colorado-mountain-there-were-only-14-when-they-came-back-down/ar-AA1pLzJf?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=2b2dc69cbe954ae7852b24da7a2cd7de&ei=15) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/128 "2024-09-01T01:31:08Z")
I’m so happy to hear this. You don’t know how much. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/129 "2024-09-01T02:23:38Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > Y’know, both Carlo and Luca were garroted in “The Godfather”, and growing up, I heard lots of accounts of those executed by hanging crapping themselves upon the drop. Is strangulation a factor? I’ve been on the scene of too many hanging deaths. A total lack of poop. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/130 "2024-09-01T22:45:48Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Related: Another way to tell if your coworkers don’t like you: They hike with you to the top of the mountain, but return without you. > > [15 co-workers hiked up a Colorado mountain. There were only 14 when they came back down (msn.com)](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/15-co-workers-hiked-up-a-colorado-mountain-there-were-only-14-when-they-came-back-down/ar-AA1pLzJf?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=2b2dc69cbe954ae7852b24da7a2cd7de&ei=15) This whole thread (re: died at work) was started as a response to a preexisting thread about the lost-on-a-mountain incident (thus the related title): > [@One way to tell if your coworkers don't like you: they take you up a mountain and leave you there](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-take-you-up-a-mountain-and-leave-you-there/1006337): > > Maybe a job search is in order. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/131 "2024-09-01T22:46:53Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > This whole thread (re: died at work) was started as a response to a preexisting thread about the lost-on-a-mountain incident (thus the related title): Oops, okay. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/132 "2024-09-02T10:10:00Z")
Doing a bit of a hop, skip, and a jump from another thread re hearing aids: My new hearing aids have some sort of fall detection that alerts people by text if I’ve fallen or I’m immobile for more than 15 minutes. The description of this feature is annoyingly vague and, quite frankly, I’m afraid to turn it on. What if I doze off in my chair with my head leaning to one side? Do I have to be absolutely horizontal? If I fall, should I not move around a lot trying to get back up so they send the text faster? ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/133 "2024-09-02T13:02:42Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > I heard lots of accounts of those executed by hanging crapping themselves upon the drop. Is strangulation a factor? I’d have thought gravity and momentum were bigger factors. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/134 "2024-09-02T13:09:28Z")
Surely there must be apps that ping someone if you don’t clear a notification within a set period or something ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/135 "2024-09-02T17:21:42Z")
One of the offspring’s friends had a job picking up bodies, for awhile. He reported that farts are more common than any sort of physical unloading. Other forms of off-gassing happen, too. My DIL had an internship with the county coroner when she was a senior in high school. One night, she was checking a baby in when it gave a wistful little sigh. She called my son to come stay with her for the rest of her shift. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/136 "2024-09-02T17:26:48Z")
Don’t feel too bad. Someone linked another version of the new report at the center of this thread in that one as well. Coworker-hate-ception. > [@One way to tell if your coworkers don't like you: they take you up a mountain and leave you there](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-take-you-up-a-mountain-and-leave-you-there/1006337/83): > > On an only tangentially related note: There’s a lot to be said for Working From Home. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/137 "2024-09-02T23:29:58Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I read that in Japan you can buy a rice cooker for your elderly parent that sends you a message if it hadn’t been used for a day. I really wanted something like that when my mother was aging alone. > **[As Japan ages, a terrifying proposition is emerging: Dying alone and no-one...](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-25/dying-alone-japan-solitary-deaths/104252356)** > > Dying a lonely death is an increasing problem in Japan, and it's not just due to its aging population, with a lack of community among the factors isolating people. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/138 "2024-09-02T23:36:08Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I read that in Japan you can buy a rice cooker for your elderly parent that sends you a message if it hadn’t been used for a day. I need a Keurig machine that does this. If I don’t make a cup of Joe in the morning my kids in town need to drive over and check on me. Surely there is a Doper who could jury rig one for me.Then we should market it on Etsy and buy the SDMB from the Sun-Times. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/139 "2024-09-02T23:56:16Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Surely there must be apps that ping someone if you don’t clear a notification within a set period or something Yes, yes there are. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441/140 "2024-09-03T00:00:41Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > In my 25 years of finding corpses who died both naturally and unnaturally I never found one that defecated. You need working muscles to poop. It’s possible if you were just about to go but it’s not common. > > This matches my 42 years of nursing experience. Theoretically possible, but uncommon. So, @Beckdawrek, not something you need to worry about. not quite right: if you are not being found for a couple of days, the bacteria in your body will do their things, especially in the GI-tract, which - as we all know - produces gases/pressure … you don’t need muscles to drive warm and mushy stuff through piping, a good source of quite constant positive-pressure will do that for you, especially if you take the “also dead” sphincter out of the equation. IIRC, funeral houses regularly cork people up if they are not “regular customers” and have been dead for a little longer than normal before being deliverd to them. Chances are a nurse will see many _recently deceased_ - before they are ferried off to the morgue, hence suffer from systematically skewed samples / selection bias … so, @Beckdawrek, the jury is still out [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-way-to-tell-if-your-coworkers-dont-like-you-they-leave-you-dead-at-your-desk-for-four-days/1006441.md?page=8)