Coworker threw me under the bus

[Anonymous]

Well...a text like that was hardly really offensive, and I would only think of it as juvenile regarding the whole context, which we really do not have. But here's the thing...

Why would a boss FIRE you over something like that? If I were your boss ( and I am a woman, so that may have something to do with how I think...) I would wonder about a couple of things:

a. This coworker was someone you felt comfortable enough to share this with...as if there was some comradery over this type of thing and a history of doing it together. Was there?

b. I don't assume people are never making fun of me in some way about something. That's kind of how people survive their jobs. It's stupid of me to take something like that so personal.

c. It was about a Taylor Swift pronunciation...not some serious criticism of how I handled which was then plastered allover social media.
d. And it was meant only for the co-worker! I would wonder what the coworker's game was about...he/she sounds more immature than you.

e. I would have called you in and confronted you. "So, I messed up on her name. Why, really, is that so funny? Because I'm old, because I don't think that the singer is relevant enough in this world? What? How does that conflate with what we do here? And finally...what issue are the two of you (and at this point I would bring in asshole coworker) so invested in this that you are wasting my time here."

Unless you had big priors, or your work stinks, I would keep you- and believe me you would be pretty embarrassed for awhile. And then it would be all over. End of story.

How stupid.

BTW-I never could figure out how or why Taylor Swift/Swish became a household word*. I suspect that was your boss's way of expressing his opinion about her. If not, it means he has good musical taste regardless.

* her father invested bug $$ into a producer's company. yep.

[Anonymous]

If I had to guess, it is actually a sign of a bigger problem. Your entire post comes off as entitled, immature and selfish. No where in your post did you accept ANY responsibility.

Problem#1 - Nowhere in your post did you accept any responsibility. It is someone else's fault. You made the mistake. Own it. Learn from it.
Problem#2 - You were texting when you should have been working.
Problem#3 - You were making fun of an authority figure

I could go on, but you get the picture. My guess is that your attitude and entitlement was displayed at work. If you were an excellent employee and this was the only issue, I highly doubt you would have been fired. I can only assume you are an adult. Try acting like one.

[Anonymous]

OP that sucks! Okay, so there's the life lesson of not putting anything in writing you wouldn't want forwarded anywhere. I agree with those PP.

This is not a "learning from consequences" situation. This is a situation where so many people are learning to navigate various online media. Some people at my work have used the internal messaging system to say crazy things about coworkers, and I've told the to stop! As a former system admin, I know that I could read messages if requested by management.

Back to the text...

Next time you want to tell a joke, really any joke, just do it in person and have plausible deniability.