Boss pulls up subordinate for greeting with ‘hey’ on WhatsApp; Internet slams the respect-seeker

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, July 3

Being a professional, one has to follow a series of mannerisms and ethics of a workplace.

The rigid strict rules and decorum have become a thing of the past as with technology taking precedence, the new-age businesses have completely been revolutionised, especially in the way they function or best, communicate.

However, for some bosses, being professional over texting has different connotations.

In one such incident, a senior berated a subordinate for referring to him as ‘hey’.

A professional named Shreyas was schooled by his colleague named Sandeep for using the word ‘hey’ in their WhatsApp chat.

The now viral conversation was shared in Reddit’s Antiwork forum by an anonymous user asking “How you react to this? And how the hell is ‘hey’ not professional?”

In the screenshot, on being asked by Sandeep if he had submitted some test, Shreyas replies with a “Hey! No, not yet.”

This salutation doesn’t go down well with Sandeep who tries to educate Shreyas on how he takes offence of the word.

“Hi Shreyas, My name is Sandeep. Please don’t you the word ‘hey'. It’s offensive for me.” He adds, “If you cannot remember my name, simply use ‘Hi.'”

He goes on to enlighten Shreyas on what other words one should avoid professionally.

These included “dude”, “man”, only “Hello” and “Hi there”. Terms like “chap” and “chick” are to be avoided in emails, he said, ending his advice with a curt “Thanks”.

The minor inconvenience made Sandeep give Shreyas some standoffish vibes.

Shreyas doesn’t hold back from stating his viewpoints and expresses how he didn’t agree with Sandeep.

“Well, considering that we are having a conversation over WhatsApp and not over LinkedIn or a mail chain,” he replied. “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.” he wrote.

The boss ultimately retorts by saying: “Whatsapp is not personal space anymore, it has been used for business.” However, he clarified that he was not imposing his ideology on him. “If you understand it, fine; or you will understand it sooner or later.”

The post has garnered over 30,000 upvotes and thousands of comments from bewildered Redditors who slammed Sandeep's "outdated" business standards.

The lesson one can learn from such crabby conversation is to seek clarity in advance while joining a company on how superiors would like to be addressed.

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