The envelope you are handed that contains bad news, perhaps the worst news you will ever get. It also refers to a sealed envelope that someone would open if a disaster occurred. When I sold my company to Ford Motor Company, I handed two train wreck envelopes to the manager, Bill Stevens, as I was leaving. The two sealed envelopes were marked “open first when something bad happens” and “open second when something bad happens.” The contents of the first envelope had a single sheet of paper that said “Blame it on Ron, he’s gone.” The second envelope had a single sheet of paper that said “Prepare two envelopes.”
Use: “The messenger always gets the short end of the stick when they have to deliver the train wreck envelope.”
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