I'd call that valid, though. I mean, you don't always know well in advance when you're going to need a trip to the restroom. (Unless you hear at the start of a conference call, "we're going to run long today." Then you know.)

I think I'd rather have someone who will take the extra time to help her grandmother on my team than someone who'd let her suffer. Great comment!

You're quite welcome!

I have a sure-fire weapon against spiders: the Yellow Pages. I once worked for a phone services company that got a ton of the things - and a ton of spiders in out of the weeds behind the office. You'd always know when a) a big one found its way into the office while b) I was alone.

... "Why is there a phone book on the floor in the middle of the hallway?"

... "Don't mind that. Sadist was holding down the fort. You probably don't want to pick it up - there's going to be a large spider under it."

I'd love to get inside the heads of a lot of people to figure out why they think certain things are good ideas. While I didn't have the tact then that I had now, I did ask this employee for any kind of information that would verify her story. Case number, judicial district, the name of the judge or defendant.

She didn't seem to realize that answering all of those questions with "I don't know" or "I'm not allowed to say" didn't help her. At all.