A man has been left red-faced after a work calendar blunder demanded an explanation from his colleague.
Online calendars are handy for scheduling meetings, blocking out time to work and visualising how busy your day is going to look. The everyday tool is so ingrained at workplaces they're normally not given a second thought.
However, it's worth bearing in mind they can be seen by others in your company, as one man found out after putting in a very odd request during his working day.
Paul Jackson posted the mortifying message on Twitter, where it's been liked over 68,000 times, admitting he had no idea that his schedule was visible to his colleagues.
He said: "So this is how I learned my work calendar wasn't private."
A screenshot of the message from his colleague read: "Paul, I want to do the product intro to [redacted] on Friday and on the only good spot for most people you have a blocker called "get a chicken", is this something you can move to join us?"
It's not quite clear what this chicken request actually meant, or why Paul had to slot it into his working day, but people in the replies found it hilarious that he'd been called out on it.
And several others were shocked to find out that these calendars weren't private, and that other people could actually see these blockers being put in place.
One person replied: "That's interesting, but did you get a chicken or not?" To which Paul replied: "Let's see what Friday brings."
Another said: "Please tell me getting a chicken was an online meeting."
"It is and it will be getting a chicken," was Paul's response.
"Getting a chicken isn't really something you can just reschedule," another joked.
Using these calendar blockers is a common technique seen on TikTok to make it look as though you're busy all day and can't attend any meetings - despite possibly not having a lot on.
But it's advised to be cautious about the name you give to these blockers as they may not be quite as private as you think.
Someone else in the replies said: "Just recently I saw "(employee name) layoff discussion" in my boss's work calendar. Eeek!"
And another wrote: "I always assume my work data is being read, whether or not it actually is. For that reason, my work calendar simply reads 'appointment'."
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