One woman is revealing just how trivial some of the arbitrary rules are in corporate America, by poking fun such as it being inappropriate to be on your phone while on your lunch break.
In a recent TikTok video viewed more than 800,000 times, user Sydney (@poorandhungry) acts out a scenario from one of her first corporate jobs.
In the video, she acts out how a manager allegedly critiqued her for being on her phone during her 30-minute lunch break after she’d been working for five hours.
@poorandhungry This was like a 10 minute conversation too #corporate #cringe #office #manager ♬ original sound – $yd
“I couldn’t help but notice you were on your phone for about 15 straight minutes,” the manager says to which Sydney responded that she checked her email and texted her mother.
“What I’m telling you is, we don’t want phones in the workplace,” the manager replies. Sydney then mentions she was outside of the workplace while on her phone.
“Again, don’t be on your phone at all, at any point during the day,” the manager tells her before saying, “Hold on, I have a text coming in.”
In the comments section of her video, Sydney said her job started at 7am, got a 30-minute lunch break, and ended the day at 6pm. She said she didn’t have her phone out at any point outside of lunch.
“There were so many things wrong with this workplace and this manager was so problematic,” Sydney wrote.
The Daily Dot reached out to Sydney via Instagram direct message.
There have been discussions on just how tyrannical workplaces have become for some workers in the U.S. According to one survey, a record number of women have left their jobs, particularly those in corporate, due to burnout and not being properly acknowledged for their successes and ideas.
Commenters on Sydney’s video sympathized with her, sharing some of the rules they’ve had to put up with in the workplace.
“At my first corporate job, I was told I couldn’t read a book during my lunch break because I would lose track of time,” one commenter said.
“My boss ordered me to socialize with my co-workers every lunch break,” another person said.
