Boss canceled her vacation so he could take his own. When he checked in, she texted him a beach selfie instead
'You deserve this time, and they do not own you,' a user noted.
An employee (@authoress_rosy_library) submitted her leave request months before her planned vacation, but her boss wanted her to cancel it so he could enjoy his family trip, which was booked for the same week. She, however, she sent her boss a beach selfie instead. The employee shared the story on Threads on October 25, 2025.
Obasi Ogechi Rosy, the employee, said she had even booked her tickets in advance. In fact, she had submitted her leave application months before the scheduled leave. However, a week before her vacation, her boss suddenly told her to cancel her plans. The reason? Well, he had planned for a family trip around the same time, and so he wanted Rosy to manage things at work. "I reminded him that I had applied first and everything was already planned. He said someone has to be here, as if that automatically meant it should be me," the employee recalled. When it was finally time for her to leave for vacation, she packed her bags and went on the trip as planned. "On the second day, he tried calling me about some work issue. I sent him a picture from the beach with a message that said, 'Hope you are enjoying your trip too.' It felt good to finally stand my ground for once," she said.
Work-life balance has become a distant dream, and let alone vacations, people are even forced to work while sick. In 2025, Team Software surveyed 1,000 U.S. working adults and found that more than half (54%) of Americans can't afford to take even one week of unpaid sick leave. Moreover, they found that 67% of Americans worked while they were unwell in the past year. While work is important, we should also remember to prioritize our personal lives whenever necessary. When Rosy posted her story on Threads, she received overwhelming support, and people called out her boss for his unrealistic expectations of her. For instance, @sallyann_kersh commented, "I worked on vacation — in the middle of enjoying Hawaii and Disneyland and even driving down the road. I am retired, and you know who remembers? Literally no one at my company, and only my family, remembers. Very true. Don’t give your life to your work."
@echeita322 shared, "I never had a vacation in all of my 30 years of working as a district manager where I didn't get calls. The owner always assured me he would put out any fires that erupted. He was usually the caller. Take it from me, who regrets answering the calls. Do NOT answer calls or texts. You deserve this time, and they do not own you."
@lonek8 recalled, "We had a family vacation planned one year over Thanksgiving. It involved spending the holiday at my in-laws, so the dates were not flexible. I told my work about it 5 months in advance; however, my coworker had also planned a trip at that same time, and he got his request in one day before me. Our trips were offset enough that we were only going to both be out of the office for one day, but because his request was first, my manager told me she couldn’t approve mine. I said that’s fine, but I would be going on the trip whether it was approved or not, and they had 5 months to figure it out."
You can follow Obasi Ogechi Rosy (@authoress_rosy_library) on Threads for lifestyle content.
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