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Written 57-H07 [2026-02-08], Edited 57-H07 [2026-02-08]

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“I don’t understand how the plus sign at the start of the telephone number is being parsed,” I told my colleagues over Zoom. I was sharing my screen on the “New Phone” page of our product, typed in the +1 country code at the start of a phone number, and the plus sign was removed when the phone number was saved.

“What’s the problem?” said the second-in-command. “Isn’t that what we want?”

“But where’s the code that does the removal?” I asked.

My boss said, “I think the number parser is actually interpreting the plus sign as a positive sign, which does nothing.”

“If that’s the case,” I said. “Then can I enter a negative sign and get a negative phone number?”

I attempted prefixing the phone number with -1, showing everyone that it was possible. It was a surprise to the entire team, including me.

“What an absolute pain,” my boss said. “You know what? Just don’t tell anyone, nobody would actually do that, and fixing it is going to be a whole mess.”

“But I think it should be fixed,” I said.

“Well, it’s your funeral,” my boss said. Suddenly a floorboard in my living room broke open, and a man jumped behind me. He pulled out a katana, yelled “HYA,” and stabbed me two times, or should I say positive two times, positive once for each lung. I screamed in agony.

“Should we mute him?” asked the second-in-command.