This is why they named that game “Telephone”

One time, an educational video company decided to make a video about The P.I. and the science performed in our lab. But The P.I. was a very busy guy, so it was tricky to schedule the shooting dates. Then, a few days before the film crew was due to arrive, The P.I. got laryngitis. (This happens at least once every autumn. Although The P.I. keeps vitamins on his desk, he can’t seem to grasp that you have to actually ingest the vitamins for them to have an effect.) So the rest of the lab had to answer all the phone calls and suggest email as a better means of communication.

At one point, Grouchy Guy answered the phone, and it was the video director. Grouchy Guy told her that The P.I. couldn’t come to the phone because of the laryngitis, and that they would have to reschedule the shooting date. The director was instantly sympathetic. She assured Grouchy Guy that she would of course call back in a week or so, and to please convey her condolences to The P.I. In fact, she seemed a little overly sympathetic. But Grouchy Guy just shrugged it off.

A little while later, I answered the phone. It was the video director asking for an address to which she could send The P.I. flowers. “Huh? Why are you sending him flowers?” I asked.

“Didn’t his wife die?” she asked.

“What? No!” I said.

Now she was confused. “I called before, and I was told that The P.I. has lost his wife.”

A light dawned. “No! His voice! He lost his voice!” There was much relief and laughter.

Never before have I lived the plot of a sitcom episode.