Man’s Boss Threatens Consequences if He Has Dinner With Wife Instead of Co-Workers

A man on Reddit says his boss and co-workers were furious after he told them he would rather have dinner with his wife than attend an employee dinner while he was away for a conference.

After getting "roped into going to a work conference," the man was forced to hang out with his co-workers for a number of days, so he was looking forward to having a remote dinner date with his wife via a video call.

"I am not buddy-buddy with any of my co-workers or my boss, but I am professional with them. This was the first work conference I had ever been to, so I did not realize how much these things consume the entirety of the time spent there. The first three nights of the conference there were different dinners I 'had' to attend after typical work hours," he explained.

"Now, I don't really mind attending the actual conference that much, what I mind is the expectation that I spend more time with my colleagues than necessary. In my opinion, if I've spent 8:30AM to 5PM at a work conference with coworkers attending work-related sessions and giving a work-related presentation, past [5PM] I am no longer 'at work,'" he continued on Reddit.

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On the fourth and final night of the conference, the man expected his free time would be his to spend how he wanted to.

"As such, the night before when I called my wife, I asked her if she wanted to eat dinner together (i.e. video call each other and eat together, then spend as many hours as possible chatting before going to bed), and she said that sounded lovely," he explained.

"Unfortunately, at lunch on the final day of the conference, my co-workers (my boss included) mentioned going to a specific restaurant. They asked if I was excited to go, and I said I was not going, but I hoped they enjoyed themselves. They acted like I smacked them, and asked what I meant. I told them I'd made plans to call my wife and eat dinner with her," he detailed.

His co-workers noted that it was "tradition" for them to eat dinner together the last night of the conference, but he was "rather peeved" about the expectation placed on him.

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The man pushed back, informing them he had already eaten diner with them every other night. Unfortunately, that didn't sit too well with his boss or colleagues.

"My boss then said it was something I had to attend, then some of my co-workers agreed and said it was an important part of the conference. I told my boss and co-workers that it was outside work hours, unpaid, and not scheduled, plus I prefer my wife's company to theirs, so I was not going," he shared.

His co-workers called him "rude" for rejecting the dinner plans, while his boss seemingly threatened consequences if he did not attend as expected, so he relented.

"...My boss implied that not attending would have repercussions, so I called my wife and apologized to her, and sadly attended this stupid dinner," he concluded.