Bosses can be sneaky. Have you ever called in sick, then answered your phone later that day, and in your happiest cheery voice said "Hey man, what's up", because you were expecting a call from your golf buddy? And then you realize it's your boss, checking on you because he's concerned about your health? Well, that's never happened to me, because I'm too straight-and-narrow to take advantage of my employer. But there are those that would...

Right now, I'm "off assignment". That means that there's not enough work for me to do at the office, but I'm still on the payroll. In economic times like this, having the kind of employer that's willing to keep you on the payroll when you're not pulling your weight is a blessing that commands loyalty in return. There are only two things asked of us... that we call in to the office every morning to report whether we're fit, ill, or taking the day off; and that we call in every two hours to check for voice mail, so that messages can be returned promptly (this step is only necessary on days we're reporting in as "fit"). I don't think that's too much of a price to pay to work for such a generous employer, so I do my duty gladly. In fact, I generally call in far more often than once every two hours (it's a local call, so why not).

So today, during one of my regular calls for messages, I heard the following message (paraphrasing): "This is your boss calling. it's x:xxPM, and I expect you to call back as soon as you get this message". The message goes on to remind us of our two obligations, and implies that if it has been more than two hours since this message was left, your job might be in jeopardy. Not only did I use the automated reply feature (which would automatically send a reply to the extension the message was sent from), but I also followed up with a personal call to the required extension (where I was able to speak to the caller in person). The law of averages says you're going to pick up messages "on average" one hour after they've been left. I would say this message was left at a time that was designed to trick people. If, for example, you're in the habit of checking your voice mail on the hour, every two hours, and if you had checked the voice mail at 2:00PM with the intention of checking again at 4:00PM, then you'd better pray, because the message was sent at 2:01PM. On the other hand, if you called at 1:00PM and then again at 3:00PM, you'd have answered the call within an hour.

My call-backs are randomly placed during the day. Whenever I finish doing whatever I'm doing, I pick up the phone and call. It could be an hour, a half-hour, whatever, but never more than two hours. This time, my call back, at 2:35PM was very timely, and my job is safe for yet another day.