Work meetings can sometimes feel like a “necessary evil,” but one Illinois employee’s boss apparently takes punctuality down to the minute. Reddit user RotaryPhoneDialer said his regularly scheduled Monday meeting was normally set for 9:35 a.m. When it was unexpectedly moved to 9:32 a.m., he overlooked the three-minute change. At 9:33, he says his boss was already calling to ask why he was late.
Rotary’s post struck a nerve on r/mildlyinfuriating, attracting tens of thousands of upvotes as users questioned both the unusual meeting time and his boss’ response.
“Sounds like a micromanaging boss. That would piss me off so much,” one user wrote.
Another said that even if they had noticed the change, they would have assumed it was a mistake and still joined at 9:35 because meetings rarely start at such oddly specific times. Others were more concerned about the boss’ intentions, with several suggesting Rotary should start documenting his interactions in case the incident was part of a larger pattern.
One important detail remains unclear: OP never explained when the meeting was moved from 9:35 to 9:32. A change made minutes before the meeting would be considerably different from one that had been sitting on everyone’s calendars for days. Rotary did say he wasn’t the only team member who missed the unusual start time.
‘Who Schedules a Meeting at 9:32?’: Viewers Question Boss’ Bizarre Timing
OP added some context to his post, first clarifying that the schedule to have meetings at 9:32 am was indeed real. “I glanced at my calendar and saw the meeting a smidge past 930 so I assumed it was the same time,” he said, which would explain why he didn’t realize there had been a 3-minute change. “This was a team meeting so I was not the only one late,” he wrote in conclusion.
Many people questioned why this rescheduling was even necessary. And more importantly, why did Rotary’s boss call him for being just a minute late? “Is this normal behavior for your boss?” a Redditor questioned.
All that being said, one notable factor hadn’t been explained by OP: When did this rescheduling take place? The day of the meeting, or was it a week prior? Based on his and his co-workers’ alleged tardiness to the meeting, it might not have been too long. Yet it still is an important missing piece of the puzzle in this bizarre 3-minute schedule change.
Without knowing when the meeting was rescheduled, it’s difficult to say how much blame belongs on either side. Still, Rotary apparently wasn’t the only employee who overlooked the three-minute change. If several people see 9:32 on the calendar and assume it must really mean 9:35, the problem might not be everyone’s time management.
