Employee fails to read late-night email from boss, demanding to prep for a 9 am meeting the next day, leading to an office dispute first thing in the morning: ‘Where have you been?’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jul 2, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

Listen, we love technology, we love the internet, and we would never want to go back to the times when we didn't have the entire world's knowledge resting in the palm of our hands.

We would, however, love it if people would stop assuming that just because they can reach out to us at every hour of every day, it means that they should. We don't have to be available for everyone's beck and call, even if, technologically, we have the option to.

This can be said about many situations, but we mainly refer to the workplace. Years ago, the minute you stepped out of the office, people from work could not demand anything of you anymore. Your work was left behind at your desk, or at the stationary PC that could not be moved, and everything you worked on had to wait until the next day to be continued. You were never expected to read emails at midnight or on your commute to work in the mornings. You only worked when you were physically at the office.

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  • Now, as we have smartphones and laptops and endless availability, people expect us to be chronically online, even when we're off the clock.

    Which is what led the boss in the story below to behave the way he did. Keep scrolling to read the full story…

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    CLO
    via Minerva Studio

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    Boss emailed me at 11:30pm asking me to prep for a 9am meeting and then screamed at me when I arrived the next day at my usual time of 845am

    Happened over a year ago but the situation is so absurd I wanted to share. I arrived to the office at my usual time and was making
    via nboro94
  • 03
    coffee in the kitchen, hadn't even logged in and checked my emails so I had no idea what was going on. My boss suddenly comes
    via nboro94
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    up to me and screams "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN WHY HAVENT YOU ANSWERED MY EMAIL ARE YOU READY FOR THIS MEETING?" The other
    via nboro94
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    people in the kitchen looked at him like he had gone completely nuts. I explained that I didn't know what he's talking
    via nboro94
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    about as I just arrived. He then started arguing that it's my responsibility to check my emails on my way to work since I take public transit. He was
    via nboro94
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    fuming and said we have to get something ready, whatever we can in the next 10 minutes. I asked if this was such an emergency why didn't he
    via nboro94
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    call me and he just ignored what I said and repeated I need to focus now not argue with him. I log into the work system at around 855am and
    via nboro94
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    realize what he's asking for is hours of work. He wants me to aggregate large amounts of data and then write high level insights for the VP we are about to
    via nboro94
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    meet. Of course there is no time to do any of this so we leave to go to the meeting room to get there by 9am. The VP arrives 20 minutes late because his
    via nboro94
  • 11
    train was late, talks for 5 minutes and then ends the meeting. Me or my boss never say a word and we are never asked about the insights he was panicking over.
    via nboro94
  • 12
    My boss never apologies and completely ignored me for the remainder of the week. Thankfully he left our department about a month later so I never had to deal with him again.
    via nboro94
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    Cheezburger Image 10523522048
    via KHUNKORN

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 14
    Bored_Eastly Unrealistic boss. I had a boss that wanted to make sure he never had a cancelled or delayed flight again. I think my shocked Pikachu face lasted about a day. LOL
    via Bored_Eastly
  • 15
    'Fixing all unforeseeable problems of commercial airlines isn't in my skill set.'
    via Bored_Eastly
  • 16
    QuitCalling Newsrooms I have been in too many of those meetings to count. They never apologize, they never learn, and the important information that has to be ready is never discussed.
    via QuitCallingNewsrooms
  • 17
    Paxdog1 Your boss was creating a target. Don't work for a person like this.
    via Paxdog1
  • 18
    Stolen Wishes VP probably emailed him at 11:25 asking for the meeting, and he didn't have the backbone to do anything other than send that sh rolling downhill.
    via StolenWishes
  • 19
    Sad_Win_4105 Some people not only check emails while off duty, but go to the trouble of setting up email alerts so they are in the loop 24/7. You're lucky to be rid of him.
    via Sad_Win_4105
  • 20
    vexorian2 If they are not paying you to be on call, you don't owe them any communication outside office hours.
    via vexorian2
  • 21
    MMRS2000 "Your lack of planning is not my emergency" is something I have needed to say many times at work. Some people even learn from it, eventually.
    via MMRS2000

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boss workplace-stories employee manager job meeting email tales-from-the-workplace reddit story ceo overworked-employees workplace Reddit company
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