A boss in his 40s has been criticized for being “creepy” after asking a young member of staff if she would like to go to the cinema with him.
The 19-year-old worker said she was left speechless when she received the unwanted text messages at 11pm one night.
The young woman shared screenshots of the conversation on Reddit and sought advice on how to respond.
“He asked me if I wanted to see a movie and I told him I wanted to see the Garfield movie (not trying to make him think I wanted to go with him, although I see that it seems like some kind of invitation).” she wrote.
“But then he’s been spamming me with texts and I haven’t responded since the last one in the first photo…he sent me a follow up text today and I really don’t know how I want to say NO without seeming rude.” .’
The 19-year-old worker didn’t know what to say when she received unwanted text messages at 11pm from her boss asking if she wanted to go see a movie.
When the worker didn’t respond, her boss sent another text message at 11:33 pm saying: ‘Aww, did I put you to sleep again?’ The next morning she texted again.
When the worker didn’t respond, her boss sent another text message at 11:33 pm saying: ‘Aww, did I put you to sleep again?’
The next morning he sent a message again and wrote: ‘Did you decide the day? I don’t want to be pushy or pushy, I just thought it would be great to relax and do something fun.’
The text messages raised alarm bells among Redditors who encouraged the young woman to tell her boss how inappropriate the request was.
The text messages raised alarm bells among Redditors who encouraged the young woman to tell her boss how inappropriate the request was (file image)
‘This is incredibly inappropriate of them, what the fuck? Absolutely fucking no. I understand that I don’t feel comfortable saying no,” one wrote.
“But I think it’s best if you let him know that you’re not interested and that you don’t think it would be appropriate for the two of you to hang out, as friends or not, and put the texts away.”
Another said she should text him back: “Thank you, but I think that would be inappropriate.”
“Report this to your boss, you will be fired immediately, I swear,” they said.
Surprisingly, others said that while it was inappropriate, the employee was partly to blame for “misleading” him in her first message, something she now regrets and admitted she could have phrased better.
“Definitely don’t say ‘Oo, what a movie’ and expect him to think you’re not up for hanging out,” one shot back.
‘”Oo, what a movie…”, you screwed up there,’ a man agreed.
Unfortunately, your response totally encouraged him. Although he never should have asked in the first place. You have to tell him you are not interested and that you will see him at work,” said another.
Another defended the teenager, saying it’s not as easy as it seems to say a flat ‘no’ to a boss at that age.
“She can have anxiety too. It took a lot for me to be honest and say that I was uncomfortable with things like this, and I was hoping that someone older would know, which was a mistake, but I was young,” she said.
‘That’s not my fault, this isn’t your fault. They ALSO say BOSS!! I would feel pressured! They could easily be a jerk and fire this person, I would be anxious and try to respond kindly, like I would with a friend of the same age.