I used to be an Operations Manager for a light industrial staffing firm which shall remain nameless. One of the funniest phone calls I ever got was this one. (This may not be verbatim as it’s been a while since this happened, but you’ll get the idea.)

Me: “Thank you for calling *company name*. This is Gretchen, how can I help you?”
Guy: “Yeah, what is your policy on birthdays?”
Me: *brief pause* “I’m sorry?” (At this point I’m thinking, “Um, we have them – is that what you mean??” That’s not what he meant…)
Guy: “What is your policy on birthdays?”
Me: *another brief pause* “Um…in what regards?”
Guy: *sounding annoyed…* “Do you let people off for their birthdays?”
Me: *confused face during pause* “If you have earned enough working hours for vacation time, you can take the day off and use 8 of those vacation hours.”
Guy: “So, you don’t pay people for their birthdays?”
Me: “Not if they don’t have vacation hours accrued.”
Guy: *sounding severely annoyed* “Okay…”

*click!*

I hung up and my Staffing Specialist and I sat there laughing for several minutes. I even had to e-mail out this conversation to a few friends, family members, and co-workers. Entirely too funny not to share.