Ghouliest email from a co-worker

[JustSheaNo]

It's the "as luck would have it" that is assholey to me.  It seems designed to make us focus on his inconvenience, not the loss of a loved one.

Exactly. Since I have also worked for/with a workoholic, and have also attended many more funerals in the last few years than I care to go into great detail about, its the "as luck would have it."

It adds a note of insincerity/brutishness to an otherwise very humanizing situation. If he wants to be matter of fact, he could have said something like "I have an unexpected obligation to attend to on X day. Would someone be able to help/cover/take on blah blah blah."  It's pointed, it doesn't over share, and it also doesn't reek of obnoxiousness. Deep down, OP may be thinking, this guy is a jerk, but maybe he's normal when he's not working. Oh, wait, no... he's an ass all around. 

[JustNicole]

Yeah, even if the person who passed away was someone the e-mailer was not fond of or who had caused them pain, usually you still feel that numbness of the passing of the person. "As luck would have it" would not be in the top ten ways I would send out an e-mail like this. I feel kind of bad for this person.

I also don't have to work with them, though, and I know how shitty people can be at work. For real.