We all know about the downsides of remote work: Little interaction with others, longer or erratic hours, and trying to stay focused while Slack alerts keep buzzing and bleeping in your headset. But a video recently shared on TikTok adds a new indignity to the mix: Compulsory pie fight pick ‘ems.
The video from user Tanya_The_Creator (@tanya_01_87), who, based on her screen name, we’re guessing is or was an Odd Future fan, details how a supervisor at her insurance company call center job took time out of a busy work day to admonish Tanya on a Microsoft Teams meeting for not voting on which type of pie she wanted to be used in a company pie-throwing video.
It goes like this: “To reward us [for meeting company goals] our job is going to do a pie-throwing video. They’re going to throw pies at each other’s face to reward us. So they were trying to get our opinion as to which pie they should throw at each other. So they put a poll in the chat, and they wanted everybody to vote on it.”
Remote worker Tanya, who could not possibly care less about a pie-throwing video involving workers she’s never met and probably couldn’t pick out of a police lineup, opted to focus on her work tasks instead of making the hard choice between cherry, peach, apple… you get the idea.
This was some nonsense not even Marie Callender (R.I.P.) would be down with.
“My [team leader] was like, ‘Hey, I noticed that you didn’t vote on which pie we should throw at each other. And it’s really important. We really want your input. You’re part of the team. We want to know which pie we should throw. We’ll give you to the end of the day.’”
An ultimatum over a pie? The Office’s Michael Scott is taking notes on that bit of mid-level managerial magic.
The stern talking to didn’t sway Tanya to vote in the pie-picker poll: “I’m not going to vote. This is the most purposeless thing I’ve ever experienced from any position I’ve ever worked, and it’s just pretty pathetic.”
The video, which had been viewed more than 223,000 times as of publication, was one of a string of clips Tanya posts about the odd experiences of remote work life, along with stories and lessons she offers to viewers about effectively navigating the intricate world of finding the right insurance offerings.
Along with Tanya, commenters on the video were bewildered by the dire importance upper management placed on pie picking. Plenty saw the misplaced values of making a pie video the workers’ “prize” for doing their jobs well.
“I’m confused. Where is the reward?” user 4everStonyToo asked.
“I would never exceed metrics again,” user Andy R. Lynn joked.
“Shoulda said throw a pie-le of money into everyone’s account for the hard work,” user Issac MartineZ advised.
@tanya_01_87 #eliteemployee ♬ original sound – Tanya_The_Creator
The prize for funniest comment might go to user Angela Bobbitt, who simply offered, “Suggest the pie from ‘The Help.’”
The Daily Dot reached out to Tanya via TikTok direct message for comment.
