Midlife guide to…
Ooo-rage
Gosh, I’ve got so many emails to send before I can leave work for Christmas. What should I do?
I wouldn’t bother, if I were you: you’ll only be hit by a load of festive-punfilled out-of-office (OOO) replies.
Out-of-office? On December 18?
I know, ’snow joke.
As pun-filled replies go, that is unacceptable. But, wait a minute, the people can’t be sloping off from now until the New Year, surely?
Afraid so. Apparently, Christmas now begins in the second week of December and only concludes partway through January.
So offices are sanctioning month-long breaks? Don’t people have jobs to do?
Now, now, Ooo-rage is not a good look – least of all when there’s a universal diktat to be merry at all times at this time of year.
Well, festive joy is a lot trickier to summon when you still have to put the hours in at work, rather than decking the halls. Any more ideas?
Just suck it up, grinch. At least the trains and buses are already noticeably less busy in rush hour.
It’ll take more than that. By way of compensation, can I have a mince pie and a slug of sherry at my desk to get me into the spirit?
An Oootrageous suggestion, as those out-of-officers might say.
I hope they don’t. What should the rest of us do until the rest of the British workforce deigns to get back to their day jobs?
Grumble about your colleagues in between complaints about the weather.
Unusually warm for Christmas, isn’t it?
Charlotte Lytton