A Reddit user recently shared a screenshot of his WhatsApp conversation with his boss and now the post is going viral on the internet. The screenshot shows that the Reddit user, Shreyas, was pulled up for greeting his boss with a “hey” on WhatsApp messenger.
As per the viral post, when asked by his boss whether he had submitted a test, Shreyas replied, “Hey, no. Not yet.” His boss apparently took offence at the casual greeting and deemed it unsuitable for a professional conversation. “Please don't use the word ‘hey'. It's offensive for me. If you can't remember my name, simply use ‘Hi',” the boss said.
Take a look at the conversation below:
The boss went on to ask Shreyas to refrain from using several other words in a professional setting, including “dude, man chap and chick”. The term “hello” was also deemed unprofessional by him, unless addressing a large group.
Shreyas defended himself saying, “Well, considering that we are having a conversation over WhatsApp and not over LinkedIn or a mail chain. I'm just being casual as you are texting me on my personal number. And coming to being professional I'm not the one being offended.”
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To this, the boss claimed that WhatsApp is “not personal space anymore”. He said that the messenger is used for business, and further added, “I am not insisting my ideology on you. If you understand it, fine; or you will understand it sooner or later.”
Since being shared online, the post has sparked a discussion on professional norms. Several internet users weighed in on the issue. One user wrote, “Seriously. “Hey” especially with a colleague/team member with whom you've had ongoing conversations with is more than acceptable, almost preferable, to keep the convo as open as possible.”
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“I'd be calling him ‘chap' in literally every communication,” added another. A third user said that they would go the completely opposite way by writing, “‘Might I will be allowed to greet the warmest welcome to this right and honourable gentleman and extend my compliments to his spouse and immediate and more distant family and circle of friends, might all their cattle breed happily' and some rubbish like that.” “I like how hey is unprofessional but emojis are fine,” wrote fourth.
The post garnered more than 53.5K upvotes and over 6,600 comments.
