Calling in Sick

When calling in sick to work, there are several techniques to consider, each with their own pros and cons.

(1) In the distant days prior to the advent of telephone answering machines, mobile phones, texting and emails, the only option was to ring in and speak to a human, explaining in person how deathly ill you were. Naturally your voice will be weak and faltering, and you'll finish with a worrying throaty cough cough and a sniffle, just to reinforce how infectious you could be. End your conversation with an upbeat "Hopefully I'll be strong enough to struggle in to work tomorrow."

(2) Once answering machines became common, that allowed the more advanced technique of ringing work early enough that nobody is there to pick up your call. You can then leave a pre-prepared message without the problem of having to react to any tricky questions at the other end.

(3) Email allows the process to become even more impersonal. However that can be a drawback. It seems evasive to be emailing if you're capable of ringing up. And how can anyone discern how unwell you are from a few sentences.

(4) Even more advanced is to text your boss. This rates as more convincing than emailing in my eyes - it shows that you care enough to fork out 25 cents on a text, and it's also more immediate than an email.

(5) And finally, this is the winning strategy- get your partner to ring up for you. This has the advantage of the human touch, but it also gives the impression that you're so ill that you're bedridden and not even capable of dragging yourself to a telephone or computer for an email.