Being the Boss Without a Voice ....

I am soooo sick .... I don't expect anyone to particularly care about reading this. But I can't complain to anyone else, this is my blog, so I figure I can complain here. I am sick. I woke up this morning sicker than I was yesterday. I tried to speak to my husband and an awful croaking sound came out of my throat. Yuck. So I whispered. 'What?', he asked. 'I can't talk', I croaked out the obvious in a barely audiable whisper. 'You sound terrible', he said, again stating the obvious, 'poor baby, you're sick aren't you'. I glared at him. He left for work. Later, he wondered out loud if he could keep me this way. He thought that was funny. I croaked out, 'You'd miss me if I was gone.' 'What?', he asked. I tried again, 'What?'. Again I tried. 'I can't understand you, just rest your voice.' What voice? I gave him my best version of the dirtiest look I could muster. He just laughed. I called work to have my assistant call to reschedule some appointments. It's obviously pointless for me to meet with people today and I can't be sure I'll be okay tomorrow. Plus, I'm probably contagious. Someone answered the phone. I said, 'This is ...., may I speak to ... please?'. 'What?', came the reply. I repeated. She put me on hold. For a loooonnnnggg time. I hung up, cleared my throat, determined to put on my best 'boss' commanding voice and called again. Someone else answered and we went through the same rigamarole. I was put on hold again. For a long time again. I hung up again. I was steaming. I called one last time. This time my assistant answered. I was so relieved. I started telling her what I needed her to do. 'What?' she asked. I started again. 'I'm sorry, but I'm having difficulty understanding you,' she said, 'would you please repeat'. !!!!!!!!!! AGGGGHHHHHH. I croaked out, 'Stay at your desk, I'll email you'. I mustered up all my energy to get the words out and sound authoritative, but I'm sure I sounded more like a bad connection at the drive-thru of a fast food place. 'I'm sorry, will you repeat?', she asked. By this time I not only felt like death warmed over, I was irritated. So I deluged them all with emails. Phone etiquette being top on my list at that particular moment. I was bombared with emails in return. This appointment is rescheduled, they took care of this that and the other. They didn't realize it was me (I just wish I could express how much that irritated me). What did bosses do before email?