Have you ever had a day in the life as a manager when you wondered “Why did they feel they had to share that with me?” What I am talking about is employees who feel they must give you the intimate details of what physical reason they have for needing to leave work early, or call off from work that day. Trust me, I really didn’t need to know all they felt they needed to share!

For example, I stepped outside my office one morning, only to be greeted by one of my supervisors. She had a very distressed look on her face as she made a beeline toward me. Granted, I already knew I was in for a treat as this particular supervisor had always been a piece of work. Few managers could tolerate her, so I was her last chance. Anyway, I digress. In her typical gruff, booming voice, she announces to me that she needs to go home. I replied, “Okay.” She then proceeded to tell me why, as if I really needed to know the details. “I popped a ‘roid and bloodied my pants. I can show you if you like?” I quickly replied, “Not necessary.” and retreated to my office. Too much information!

And then there was the time one of my associates could not reach her supervisor, so she graced me with her phone call. Rather than just call to tell me she was not feeling well, and would need to use a personal day, she proceeded to tell me how she had gotten her period and was cramping really bad. She stated that on top of that she was bleeding very heavy and had diarrhea and had soiled the pants she was going to wear to work. TMI!

I could go on and on, and will likely add a part two to this post with some other gross or funny examples For each of these examples, I held it together and showed no surprise or emotion of any kind. I simply said to the last one, that I would let her supervisor know she will be out that day and thanked her for calling. But what I would like to know, is “What the heck possesses these people to share this sort of detail?”If anyone out there can enlighten me, please do.

Additionally, if you have a story of your own like this, please feel free to share it along with how you responded or handled the issue.