Reuters reports that a government employee in India was fired after not showing up for work for 24 years.
Apparently, the man was found guilty of “wilful absence of duty” about 22 years ago. Also, apparently, it is very, very hard to fire a government employee in India, and that’s why it took 24 years and the intervention of a cabinet minister.
3 Fun Facts About This Story
1. The last time this man showed up for work was about seven years before the movie Office Space was released. The man appears to have stopped showing up for work even before a short of Office Space was released by Mike Judge in 1991. So, Mike Judge, if you ever make a sequel, we think we have a real-life character for you who can actually demonstrate the idea of just not showing up anymore.
2. The man stopped showing up for work before the internet became mainstream, and before Netflix online streaming became a thing. If only he knew there were these new ways to waste time at work, maybe he would have eventually shown up in 1999 and not been fired.
3. Perhaps this trend explains why you spent 24 years on hold after calling your credit card company with an Indian call center. (If so, bad news, 288 monthly statements have since arrived in your mailbox. But good news, your credit limit has increased! Yeah, it’s confusing how these things work, huh?)