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From This Collection

Automatic Reply: "Thank you for your consideration during this festive or not-festive time"

Dec 23, 2019
As a paralegal, Kelsey Berteaux uses language cautiously. Her out-of-office emails are no exception.
Holiday decorations on display in the Grand Foyer at the White House, December 2, 2019.
Mark Wilson / Staff

Automatic Reply: "There's a good boy"

Dec 12, 2019
Mateo Eaton is barking crazy about out of office messages.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Automatic Reply: "Lesson learned"

Dec 5, 2019
Winter vacations can have their downsides.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Automatic Reply: "You CAN do this"

Nov 29, 2019
When David Bullock took vacation, he felt his coworkers needed some reassurance.
Phil Cole/Getty Images

Automatic Reply: “Relaxing, reflecting, and not looking at screens”

Nov 27, 2019
An out-of-office response containing some relevant research.
Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images

Automatic Reply: "I'd love to 'Help!,' but I'm out of the office"

Aug 28, 2019
"If you try me and get 'no reply,' you can get by 'with a little help from my friends,'" writes this Beatles fan.
The Beatles on the steps of an airplane, waving to their fans in 1964.
Evening Standard/Getty Images

Automatic Reply: "Vacation Is Coming"

Aug 22, 2019
This is far from your average out-of-office message.
"Vacation is Coming" is a twenty-seven minute film created by Andy Freed, the CEO of a consulting company as an out-of-office message.
Courtesy of Virtual Inc.

For public good, not for profit.

Automatic Reply: "I am unable to reply to your eckeltronic mail"

Aug 14, 2019
Kelly Cowling told the Muggles she's getting a root canal.
Copies of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series sit in a bookstore in Arlington, Virginia.
Alex Wong/Newsmakers
A Humpback whale jumps in the surface of the Pacific Ocean in July, 2013.
AFP PHOTO/Luis ROBAYO

Automatic Reply: "Don't be jealous"

Aug 5, 2019
There's no vacation like a jury duty vacation.
There's no vacation like a jury duty vacation.
Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Getty Images