Catching Up After Vacation

I just got back from vacation. Well, not so much "vacation" as "long weekend" spent with my family at the lake.

Over my career, I have developed a theory about vacation.

For every three days you take off,
you spend one day playing catch-up.

Here's an addendum:

If someone else tries to do your job,
that 3:1 ratio plummets to 1:1.

The last project I finished before leaving on Wednesday is the initial email for a campaign for a client. It was concise - just five sentences with clear call to action. When I left on Wednesday, the project had been put to bed.

Late Wednesday afternoon, someone from IT had "taken a crack at writing the email." By Thursday afternoon, it was approved by directors, marketing, managers and executives and they had all congratulated each other on the new copy in an email thread I on which I was included.

Monday morning, I had to put an end to this congratulatory circle-jerk before they got their neckties tangled and someone's ass in a sling. (Probably mine.)

The problem is that it is now a full page long and full of run-on sentences, usage errors, two discernible yet ambiguous calls to action, and a condescending tone. Wait... that's not the worst of it.

It also had the wrong website address and company name.

Using what little diplomacy I could muster, I fired out an email asking to hold off until I could "tweak" it. It took two hours to get approval for the delay and then to edit. I was tempted to send it out with corrections noted on the document so they could see just how screwed up it really was.

Instead, I took the high road and knocked it out. And the IT guy who started this whole clusterfuck gave my edited version his stamp of approval with "This should do."

Gee, thanks. I just saved your ass and I get "This should do." To top it off, now the manager who put his OK on Mr. IT's version sends me a follow-up saying, "I have some input. Stay tuned."

My question is "Where was your input when the IT guy took his shot at writing it?" That was one day ago. Still no word from him. I've lost an entire day waiting for his two cents on a project that was done last week.

(I wonder what David Thorne would do, although I would never get away with it because I don't have his charming Aussie accent.)

I'm accustomed to playing catch up after taking time off, but this is ridiculous. I'm beginning to think vacations just aren't worth the extra effort.