Work from home becoming a little more normalized due to the pandemic has provided employees with more free time and flexibility in their day-to-day lives. It’s also provided more opportunities for mishaps that never would have been a consideration before.
While we’ve seen workers on Zoom forget to mute their mics or put on pants time and time again, TikToker Maya (@mayuhnaise) accidentally got a little more creative with her on-the-clock faux pas.
“I was filming a TikTok and forgot I had a work meeting so I had to join dressed like my dad,” she wrote over footage of her seemingly coming to that realization in real time. She kept her phone camera on as the Zoom meeting started, during which she initially tried to join the call with nothing more than audio.
That didn’t pan out, and the other people on the call were clearly surprised when she switched the video on and showed up looking a little different than usual.
“They laughed, so I thought I was in the clear,” she wrote. “Then my boss called me out.”
The whole thing might almost feel staged if it wasn’t for how extremely uncomfortably the clipped interaction played out after that. Maya, who has over 1.5 million followers, unmuted and explained she was filming a TikTok, to which her boss asked, “On the clock?” and suggested she take a minute to handle the situation and rejoin the meeting.
@mayuhnaise Pray for me
♬ original sound – maya
The last update from Maya said her boss wanted to chat with her later and she was waiting to find out if she still had a job after this.
Worried viewers on TikTok wondered if there were other ways she could have gotten out of the situation unscathed.
“I would’ve washed my face and joined like 2 min late girly,” @neschuaayari4 wrote.
“‘No I filmed it on my break and forgot I had it on,’” @nykirajanae_ suggested she should have told them.
“I would’ve said it’s a cultural thing why did you say you were making a TikTok,” @sediaaaaaa asked.
Still, unsurprisingly, many felt that any reprimanding she might face over something like this would be unwarranted.
“Not the work environment I’d like to be in if they can’t laugh it off,” @kreator555 admitted.
“Sound like the boss doing too much,” @zionattl added.
Another viewer claimed to be a manager themselves and said they “would literally encourage my employees to do things that give them joy on the clock as long as work is done.”
A few are holding out hope the video is scripted.
“No way this isn’t scripted,” one said.
“I PRAY you’re right. Because this sent my anxiety through the roof,” another wrote in response.
The Daily Dot reached out to Maya via Instagram message.
Today’s top stories
| ‘Fill her up’: Bartender gives woman a glass of water when the man she’s with orders tequila shot |
| ‘I don’t think my store has even sold one’: Whataburger employees take picture with first customer who bought a burger box |
| ‘It was a template used by anyone in the company’: Travel agent’s ‘condescending’ out-of-office email reply sparks debate |
| Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online. |
