Gaurav Sharma, a finance professional, shared a funny story on LinkedIn about suddenly feeling old. His realization comes after he sees a strange leave request from a young team member.
“I think this may be the moment I officially realized I’m getting old,” the post said.
The employee requested “sick leave”. Gaurav first assumed it was a misspelling for “disease”.
“Wanted to request time off for Wednesday 19th November. Travis Scott is performing in Mumbai that day and I have tickets,” the young employee wrote.
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“While it is important to work, it is equally important to have an atmosphere. So please consider this my official request for one day of medical leave – purely for the sake of maintaining work-life balance and cultural relevance,” the leave request read.
“So I called him and checked, ‘Hey, you meant sick in that email, right?’ And this young gentleman replies – very calmly – “No, sir, Sicko, go away.” Travis Scott is performing in Mumbai that day.’ I had to read the email again. Twice,” Sharma wrote on LinkedIn.
“Sicko leave” is a modern term for requesting time off for an entertainment event.
This shocked Gaurav. It dates back to a time when people only requested leave due to illness, family functions, or the classic excuse of a grandparent passing away.
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“It seems that attending a concert is now a legitimate reason to request a vacation. And we’re giving it names, too!” he added.
“Don’t get me wrong – I love music. But if concerts are now a reason to take the middle of the week off, I’ve clearly encouraged a bad work culture,” Sharma wrote.
Other LinkedIn users reacted to the post with humor.
“Even though I’m not of that generation (and still come up with 100 believable excuses for a mid-week break), I’m honestly a little envious of them. They know how to set boundaries and maintain balance,” said one.
“I believe you fostered the right work culture when a member of your team was able to tell you the truth about their real reasons for taking time off,” wrote another.
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Another joked: “That’s a valid reason sir.”
“The evolution of the ‘dead grandparent’ excuse to ‘Travis Scott has a performance’ is really the best metric to measure how times have changed,” commented another LinkedIn user.
One user wrote: “Requesting time off without having to justify the reason with fake, heavy or personal explanations is the new culture and this change was much needed.”
Travis Scott concert in Mumbai
American rapper Travis Scott performed in Mumbai tonight, 19 Nov 19. This is his first ever show in the city. The action at Mahalaxmi Race Course started at 5 pm.
The concert in Mumbai is his second performance in India. On 18 October, he performed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
