Drafts 6 and 7 are my favourites, mainly because they don't say the dreaded 'Thank you for your email' - why are we thanking people for emails, lordy no 😂
This made me smile because it captures something I’ve noticed as well: the older I get, the less impressed I am by efficiency and the more impressed I am by people who know what they’re optimizing for. The first draft is perfectly professional. The second one tells you something about the person behind the inbox. Suddenly there is a family, a tradition, a daughter counting days on a calendar, and a reminder that work is only one part of a life.
I spent years treating vacations as interruptions between projects. Somewhere along the way I realized the opposite is often true. The projects blur together in memory, while a recurring family trip, a rented house you return to every summer, or a child waiting months for a particular week become the landmarks that actually structure a life. Maybe the best out-of-office message isn’t the one that sounds most professional. Maybe it’s the one that quietly reminds people there is a human being on the other side of the email.
I had a colleague long ago that posted OOO replies so fascinating that people deliberately sent him mail when he was away just to see what he had written. One time it was a 5 page treatise on septic tank maintenance….
Draft 7 is the only correct option 😁 fun fact, when I got laid off and sent on a garden leave, they made us set a specific OOO message. I was petty & copied the whole thing complete with the quotation marks 😅
Haha I’m currently on a 5 week holiday, my OoO was approximately 16 words long, and upon reading this I now seem to recall I redirected to my boss, who is also on leave for a month? Ahhh, the gloriousness of achieving work life balance via not giving a shit.
Hilarious! These are the ones that get me going...
"I'm OoO from December 23rd to 26th 2025. I will reply to you on my return." Received June 16th 2026.
Then you start thinking - have they left and I missed it? Did they get lost in a Christmas chimney and turn into Santa? Or did they just forget to update their 'internal' OoO message?! 🤔 🤣
Drafts 6 and 7 are my favourites, mainly because they don't say the dreaded 'Thank you for your email' - why are we thanking people for emails, lordy no 😂
Gary has lost the fight by then. Thanks bud.
Thanks for sharing ☺️🙏🏼
This made me smile because it captures something I’ve noticed as well: the older I get, the less impressed I am by efficiency and the more impressed I am by people who know what they’re optimizing for. The first draft is perfectly professional. The second one tells you something about the person behind the inbox. Suddenly there is a family, a tradition, a daughter counting days on a calendar, and a reminder that work is only one part of a life.
I spent years treating vacations as interruptions between projects. Somewhere along the way I realized the opposite is often true. The projects blur together in memory, while a recurring family trip, a rented house you return to every summer, or a child waiting months for a particular week become the landmarks that actually structure a life. Maybe the best out-of-office message isn’t the one that sounds most professional. Maybe it’s the one that quietly reminds people there is a human being on the other side of the email.
I had a colleague long ago that posted OOO replies so fascinating that people deliberately sent him mail when he was away just to see what he had written. One time it was a 5 page treatise on septic tank maintenance….
Haha, that is amazing. I am curious now though: was septic tank maintenance anywhere close to related to his job?
Well, we were software engineers, so you can fill in your own joke there
Draft 7 is the only correct option 😁 fun fact, when I got laid off and sent on a garden leave, they made us set a specific OOO message. I was petty & copied the whole thing complete with the quotation marks 😅
😂😂😂
Lol
Haha I’m currently on a 5 week holiday, my OoO was approximately 16 words long, and upon reading this I now seem to recall I redirected to my boss, who is also on leave for a month? Ahhh, the gloriousness of achieving work life balance via not giving a shit.
Haha, I’m sure your boss will be thrilled. Well done.
Nah he’ll be fine, he’s a great model and a delight, and also actually doesn’t work when he’s on leave 🙂
That’s great to hear, not everyone is as lucky! Enjoy your time off.
I read this immediately after I set my out of office notification
I feel like your vacation is a little longer than a week though..
I had a week of work in between. Maybe I should have an in the office notification
😅
Ha ha ha brilliant!!!
Thanks!
Hilarious! These are the ones that get me going...
"I'm OoO from December 23rd to 26th 2025. I will reply to you on my return." Received June 16th 2026.
Then you start thinking - have they left and I missed it? Did they get lost in a Christmas chimney and turn into Santa? Or did they just forget to update their 'internal' OoO message?! 🤔 🤣
Thanks. Ah yes, I have definitely made that mistake before, too.
😂😂😂
I don't miss the days of having to write those notes. I do miss the beach house.
Me too, my friend.