My boss scolded me for my cute out-of-office emails — my personality is being smothered by corporate America
Is she out-of-pocket for these out-of-office emails?
A corporate employee has sparked debate after revealing that her boss has scolded her for writing creative out-of-office emails while taking time off.
In a viral video posted to TikTok, which has garnered 1.9 million views, Thara Moise, who also works as a professional chef, admitted that she’s gotten multiple “talkings to” from her boss because of her “unprofessional” notices.
“I’ve been writing these out-of-office emails and they are super cute,” she said, explaining that she pens “fun, little stories about adventures involving squirrels and sharks” that recipients can read “when I’m not there.”
According to Moise, her boss said that her out-of-office notes were “not funny” nor “professional” and requested that she stop doing “silly stuff like that.”
In response, Moise said she started making her out-of-office stories “more serious,” which still did not bode well with the head honcho.
Then, after a second scolding, she attempted to make her emails more educational, providing “wellness tips,” such as ways to stretch while sitting at a desk or practicing mindfulness while at work.
Again, her boss blasted the e-mails for being inappropriate for the workplace.
“How is an out-of-office email unprofessional?” Moise exclaimed, lamenting that her “personality is being smothered by corporate America.”
“It’s literally just a fun, little, quirky story and you’re saying it’s unprofessional — how is it unprofessional?”
Thousands of viewers, however, were quick to inform Moise that she was in the wrong, explaining that her boss likely wanted a no-frills email whenever she was out-of-office.
“He gave you three warnings. Just leave it as a simple OOO [out-of-office] email before you’re OOO permanently,” wrote one person.
“Imagine you sent an urgent email to someone and their automated response was a story instead of letting you know who to contact while they’re out,” snarked another user.
“How often are you OOO to be crafting so many stories,” quipped one person, while someone else advised her to start journaling or blogging.
“This is not the job market to be playing around in sis,” warned another.
Despite humorous out-of-office emails trending among Gen Z workers, experts were divided over the appropriateness of Moise’s notes.
Speaking to Business Insider, some agreed that, while making the otherwise boring emails more personable, there’s a delicate balance between playful and professional, and employees could be at risk of dismissal if they continue to disobey a manager’s requests.
Others, however, disagreed with Moise’s boss.
“From the sendee’s perspective, getting an OOO isn’t usually a nice experience,” Rich Mehta, the founder of Rigorous Digital, told Business Insider.
“Surprising someone with what can otherwise be a bit of a rubbish experience introduces dissonance, which usually means you’ll be remembered.”
