‘Patronising’: Text between boss and worker goes viral

Becca has shared the wild texts her boss sent her after her car broke down on the way to work, and his response has divided the internet.

A boss has sparked debate after he told his employee he “shouldn't have to cover for her” because she was running late.

Ben Askins, who shares anonymous text messages between bosses and employees, revealed the wild exchange a woman Becca had with her boss after her car broke down on the way to work.

Becca’s boss texted her and said, “Where are you? You were meant to be here 20 minutes ago.”

The worker replied, apologised, and explained that her car had broken down on her way to work, leaving her stranded.

“I’m waiting for roadside assistance. I called the office to let them know,” she fired back.

The boss replied and complained that the “client was waiting”, and Becca messaged back and said she was sorry, but she “physically can’t move my car right now” and that she was doing “everything” she could to get to work.

The boss didn't ask if she was okay.

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The boss didn’t relent, and said, “This stuff shouldn’t be happening”, and then asked if she’d put oil in her car.

Becca replied to a text and said she didn’t know what the problem was, but she regularly gets her car serviced.

The boss replied with more complaints, saying it was “frustrating” that he had to cover for his employee and attend the meeting without her.

At no point did he inquire if she was all right.

Becca replied again, “I really am sorry this is just out of my hands.”

The boss texted back and said she needs to take “additional steps to prepare next time” in the future without elaborating on how he expected her to anticipate a mechanical issue with her car.

Ben could not believe the boss sending those texts. Picture: TikTok/Ben Askins,

The clip has over 800,000 views. Picture: TikTok/Ben Askins,

Mr Askins made it clear that he felt the boss didn’t handle the situation correctly and argued that sometimes it is your job to cover for your team.

“She is sitting on the side of the road, which is quite stressful, by the way,” he pointed out.

“Stop doing this whole woe is me, when she’s stranded on the side of the road.”

Mr Askins said he didn’t understand the logic behind the boss continuing to make her feel bad and said asking her if she put oil in her car was just straight-up “patronising” and shouldn’t have happened.

Ultimately, he said there was no point in the boss getting annoyed because the situation was out of Becca’s control and added that the boss could cover the meeting, so there was no need to keep whining about it.

Online people were divided over the text exchange. Some felt sorry for Becca but others were on the side of her boss.

There were people online who claimed she should have abandoned her car and called a Taxi so she wouldn’t miss the meeting.

“If it is an important meeting she should get a Taxi and sort the car out later,” one argued.

The majority of people, though, were on Becca’s side and pointed out that her boss never checked to see if she was okay.

“A good manager would ask, ‘are you safe?” One pointed out.

“She could at least tow an emergency car! Got to think outside the box and be a team player and be grateful that she has a job,” another joked.

“She should have called her boss to let them know she is running late! Not the other way around! It’s call being professional,” someone else said.

“Can we normalise not letting your boss talk to you like that?” another asked.

“Any boss acting like that doesn’t deserve to be one,” someone else said.

“Some managers will do anything but manage the business,” one said.

“Some of these commenters clearly come from toxic workplaces. As a leader, I’ve had the same situation occur, and the correct response would be, ‘Are you okay?”