# OK, so my boss is reading my coworker's email . . .
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 13, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605 "2003-06-13T16:16:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/81 "2003-06-16T18:58:29Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eats\_Crayons \*
> \*\*
> (And **Auntie Em** please don’t go thinking I was being critical meeting people on-line – I think it’s perfectly valid way of meeting people and weeding out the riff-raff – I just thought that your co-worker had an established weirdo-man pattern.) \*\*
I dunno. I kinda think **auntie em** has a one-time pattern of meeting strange, creepy men on the internet.
And “riff-raff”? Dude, that’s my [middle name.](http://www.rockycast.net/images/stills/08-25-02-riff-at-the-door.jpg)
😉
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### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/82 "2003-06-16T18:58:46Z")
Wouldn’t it be odd if she were sitting in a hotel room or a friend’s house somewhere reading this thread?
Zev Steinhardt
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/83 "2003-06-16T19:00:30Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by astro \*
> \*\*Anything new? \*\*
Never mind. I got my dates messed up.
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### Author:  [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/84 "2003-06-16T19:05:24Z")
I’m sure you’ve already considered this, but is there any chance her absence could be related somehow to those crytic medical tests?
I honestly hope she comes sailing in with a smile and a story. I can’t help wondering if she’d feel any remorse if she knew that somewhere in the neighborhood of 1600 people were wondering where in the name of Jebus she was.
koee (on the edge of my seat)
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### Author:  [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/85 "2003-06-16T19:10:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by auntie em \*
> \*\*Later, she blew her cover by telling stories about stuff she’d done and seen in the city to which she travelled for the medical testing (you know, when she was stuck in a hospital with no phone for two solid weeks).
> \*\*
Don’t you have a doctor’s note policy? Here if it seems like we may miss a week or more, we _must_ bring in a doctor’s note. In the interest of privacy, the doctor’s note does not need to specify the condition, but must confirm the amount of time required away from work.
e.g./ The doctor’s note would _not_ say “Crayons swallowed several sticks of Sunflower Yellow without chewing and must stay home for 5-8 days to poop in technicolor” but _would_ say something along the lines of “be advised that Crayons requires 5-8 days of medical leave from work.”
I’d be drawn and quartered if I missed two weeks for “medical tests” without a note confirming that it’s required/recommended by an MD for me to take a leave of absence!
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### Author:  [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/86 "2003-06-16T19:11:57Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by zev\_steinhardt \*
> \*\*Wouldn’t it be odd if she were sitting in a hotel room or a friend’s house somewhere reading this thread?
>
> Zev Steinhardt \*\*
Clemens would approve; after all, it’s just a step away from attending one’s own funeral.
Wanna do some whitewashing, Ben Rogers? Just don’t let Aunt Polly know…
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### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/87 "2003-06-16T19:12:39Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by koeeoaddi \*
> \*\*I’m sure you’ve already considered this, but is there any chance her absence could be related somehow to those crytic medical tests?
\*\*
Hopefully. But any reasonably semi-responsible person would at least call the boss and let him/her know that they were going to be out for “personal reasons” (if they didn’t want to divulge the medical information).
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*
> I honestly hope she comes sailing in with a smile and a story. I can’t help wondering if she’d feel any remorse if she knew that somewhere in the neighborhood of 1600 people were wondering where in the name of Jebus she was.
> \*\*
Yes, **auntie em** , please show her this thread so that she can see that her actions have reprecussions beyond her immediate circle of friends and coworkers.
BTW, does she have any friends that you guys know about outside of work?
Zev Steinhardt
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### Author:  [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/88 "2003-06-16T19:19:37Z")
Good point, **Eats Crayons** , and I’ll be the first to agree that things around here are extraordinarily lax in terms of policy and punishment, however technically she could have said that she was going to Hawaii for a vacation for two weeks, and nobody would have expected to hear from her (we’d just all expect grass skirts when she got back).
My boss should have asked for more information, yes, but technically it didn’t become a problem until she failed to come back when she said she would.
Oh, and Sunflower Yellow? Dude, next time try Raw Sienna with a bite or two of Periwinkle–it will come out really pretty. 😃
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### Author:  [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/89 "2003-06-16T19:27:14Z")
[nitpick] it’s BURNT Sienna. Raw UMBER! [/nitpick]
Yeah, I was thinking about how odd it is that all of us are here wondering where this woman is, and she probably has no idea (unless she IS reading this thread somewhere, in which case I say, “A pox upon your crazy games!”).
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### Author:  [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/90 "2003-06-16T19:36:44Z")
I don’t eat Burnt Sienna. Too chalky.
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### Author:  [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/91 "2003-06-16T19:41:37Z")
Actually, when I was a kid, you could get your Sienna uncooked:
[http://www.crayola.com/canwehelp/pressroom/colorhistory.pdf](http://www.crayola.com/canwehelp/pressroom/colorhistory.pdf)
Health codes have changed since then, however . . .
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### Author:  [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/92 "2003-06-16T19:41:56Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Barrytown \*
> **[nitpick] it’s BURNT Sienna. Raw UMBER! [/nitpick]**
Actually, sienna and umber each come in both burnt and raw shades.
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### Author:  [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/93 "2003-06-16T19:44:28Z")
Oh, and **Barrytown** , my mother (who’s been keeping up with this whole saga as well) has said that if she does turn up OK (in other words, if she’s been fully aware of what she’s doing), she should be institutionalized.
I’m thinking that’s not a bad idea.
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### Author:  [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/94 "2003-06-16T19:45:03Z")
What a bizarre hijack…
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### Author:  [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/95 "2003-06-16T19:53:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by auntie em \*
> \*\*[I]t would be hypocritical of me to be judgmental about the internet factor, since I met my fiance online. \*\*
But doesn’t your experience _confirm_ the weirdness of people you meet on the internet?
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### Author:  [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/96 "2003-06-16T20:14:25Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Homebrew \*
> \*\*But doesn’t your experience _confirm_ the weirdness of people you meet on the internet? \*\*
It does, indeed, but I’m still not one to throw stones, since I _still_ agreed to marry the nutjob.
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### Author:  [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/97 "2003-06-16T20:18:04Z")
Something similar happened at a medical clinic where I worked five or six years ago. One of the patient service reps just didn’t show up one day, and her boss (a friend of mine) was out of his mind with worry. Her sister also worked at the clinic as a medical assistant, so he was able to find out that the woman’s family didn’t know where she was, either. The family filed missing persons reports… they and all her coworkers were terribly upset, thinking that she’d been abducted or died. Then she showed up on the next Monday (after having been missing for a week) looking _remarkably_ like someone who’d been on a week-long crack binge, with a wild tale about having been “kidnapped” and left out in the swamps. Of course, she didn’t want to report her abduction to the police or anything. :rolleyes: Even her family didn’t believe her (as she had apparently had some drug problems in the past). Her boss was outraged and immediately filed abandonment of job papers to fire her.
Here’s hoping that **auntie em** ’s coworker is very much alive and just ridiculously irresponsible.
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### Author:  [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/98 "2003-06-16T20:22:55Z")
I love that show “Without a Trace”. And this mystery is jsut the kind that would be on it. Are you keeping a timeline? I just hope this one has the happy ending.
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### Author:  [@MonkeyMule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMule)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/99 "2003-06-16T20:35:11Z")
So is there any breaking new? It’s been over an hour since the last update!
::froths at mouth in anticipation::
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### Author:  [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-my-boss-is-reading-my-coworkers-email/181605/100 "2003-06-16T20:42:32Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Chef Troy \*
> \*\*Actually, sienna and umber each come in both burnt and raw shades. \*\*
Seriously? That’s crazy, I don’t remember that at all. Perhaps the other two were added post-1984, or my memory is just shoddy. It does make sense, though - I do remember having both blue-green and green-blue, and red-orange and orange-red.
In any event, sorry for the hijack.
**auntie** , you mentioned your mother and saying she should be institutionalized…I’d rather have the story end that way than the other creepier alternative, of course! Things like this are one of my worst fears - it’s the not knowing that’s the worst part.
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