A young freelancer's attempt to take a sneaky personal trip backfired when she unexpectedly encountered her manager while boarding the same flight. The moment, shared on TikTok, has drawn over 33,000 likes and plenty of sympathetic comments from others who have experienced similar workplace predicaments.
In the video posted by user @grachevaaleidya on June 21, she recounts calling out sick from work to catch a flight, only to find her boss was also a passenger on the plane. "Me taking a sick day from work just to end up on the same airplane as my manager," the 23-year-old captioned the clip with crying emojis.
The TikTok shows a text exchange between the woman, Grace, and her manager with the messages blacked out. It also features two selfies - one of Grace looking composed before the encounter, and another of her appearing overwhelmed afterward.
Many TikTok users expressed second-hand embarrassment in the comments. "I'd cry like a baby and give my resignation letter," one person wrote. Another suggested an excuse, commenting: "Had to catch a flight to get the medicine she needed."
One user even shared a similar experience: "I thought it was bad when my manager phoned, because I texted her I was sick. I had to answer the phone while at the airport...There were announcements like boarding at gate number... in the background."
In an interview with Newsweek, Grace, who splits her time between Bali and Europe for work, explained that she told her employer she had a doctor's appointment so she could fly home to Bali on a Friday.
"Long story short, I was waiting in the [airport] line and then I saw a familiar face coming to me which called my name," Grace told the outlet. "Her boss asked her: 'Oh, so this is the hospital?'"
Despite the awkward run-in, Grace and her manager took it in stride. "I was so shocked but we ended up laughing together," she said. Her boss snapped a photo of Grace and sent it to her, accounting for the screenshot in the viral video.