Beware of the Man Virus!

Be careful of any details given when calling sick. It can lead to a lot of trouble.  One of my sister’s supervisors called P (this not so innocent individual really needs protection) and said that he would be out for the day with a “mean virus. 

Unfortunately when P sent an email letting everyone know about the supervisor, he made a typo and “Mean Virus” turned into “Man Virus”.  BIG MISTAKE!

It didn’t take long for P’s phone to ring with someone asking what a “man virus” was and how do you catch it.  I don’t know exactly how the conversation went, but it may have been something like the following. 

“What’s a man virus?” P’s caller inquires.

“What are you talking about?” a perplexed P asked.

“That’s what your email says.  The supervisor is sick with a man virus.”

“What, let me check,” P responded.  “Oh no, I left the “e” out of mean. He has a mean virus.”

P quickly sent a second email, “I left the ‘e’ out of mean.  The boss has a mean virus.”  It was a gallant try, but nothing was going to rectify that situation.  P was flooded with emails and calls inquiring about this dreaded “man virus”. 

Even the poor supervisor at home sick wasn’t spared.  His email was being inundated with people wanting to know about this “Man Virus”, how you catch it and if it was safe to be around him (the men especially wanted to know the answer to that last part).

Unfortunately, the supervisor attended a meeting the next morning before he read his email.  He had no idea why people kept asking him about a man virus and should they stay away from him.  But everyone in the office knew when he DID finally read it.  A very loud, “P, what have you done?” was heard echoing throughout the office.

“I accidentally left the ‘E’ out of ‘MEAN’”, P piteously replied.

“Well next time, just say that I’m sick. Don’t give any details.”

When my other sister heard about the situation, she tried to console some of the men in her office.  They were upset because they had been listed on a training program as being women. She told them that perhaps they could spend time with her sister’s boss.  Then maybe they could catch that “man virus”. 

Naturally, this situation has turned into the “joke that never dies”.  It occasionally gets resurrected resulting in a loud “P!” resonating in the office and P sheepishly asserting that “I left the “e” out of mean.”  The boss tries to squelch any future problems by just saying that he is sick (no details given), but that “man virus” is always lurking.  Is that like “the Shadow knows?”   

So PLEASE be careful about you tell people when you are sick, or you might not want to come back to work.