She Wouldn’t Cover A Coworker’s Shift And Basically Got Called Lazy Because She Doesn’t Have Kids
This 28-year-old woman currently works full-time in retail, and her job can be quite exhausting. Aside from that, her personal life is pretty busy, too.
She’s constantly trying to balance taking care of herself, maintaining her apartment, socializing, and enjoying her hobbies.
“You know, normal adult stuff. I don’t have kids, but that doesn’t mean I’m lounging around with endless free time,” she said.
However, she has a coworker named Sarah who recently insulted her lifestyle, insinuating that since she was child-free, she was lazy.
For some context, Sarah is 32 years old and has two young children. Her coworker is also constantly asking others to cover her shifts.
She understands that it’s hard being a parent and that sometimes unavoidable things come up. So, she has covered Sarah’s shifts numerous times over the last year.
“I did it out of kindness because I get that life can be unpredictable, and I wanted to help her out,” she explained.
“But I’ve started to notice that I’m one of the only ones she asks to help cover her shifts. It’s like she expects me to do it just because I don’t have the same responsibilities as her.”
Well, just last week, it happened again. Apparently, Sarah’s child had a school event, and she was asked to cover a shift.
She normally would’ve done it, but she’d already made plans to hang out with her sister, who she hadn’t seen in a while.
That’s why she told Sarah she couldn’t cover the shift, and her coworker’s response was downright shocking.
“Must be nice to have all that free time. You don’t have kids, so it’s not like you’re busy with anything important,” Sarah replied.
She was totally caught off guard and made it clear to Sarah that she still has a life, even though she’s not a parent. She also stated that her time is important.
But Sarah didn’t even apologize for offending her; instead, her coworker just rolled her eyes and walked away!
Since then, Sarah has begun badmouthing her to other colleagues as well, accusing her of being selfish and having no idea how tough it is to be a mom.
“A couple of them have started acting a bit distant toward me, and I overheard one of them saying something like, ‘She has it easy; no wonder she doesn’t get it,'” she revealed.
“I didn’t realize not having kids made me less deserving of respect at work.”
It seriously ticks her off how people believe that, just because she doesn’t have kids, her life is stress-free, and she can simply drop everything whenever anyone else needs something. Sarah clearly doesn’t respect her time, and that really bothers her.
This led her to talk to her manager, yet even they were unhelpful. Her manager claimed it was a “personal conflict” and had no interest in getting involved.
Plus, some of her coworkers think she should be helping Sarah out more, given that Sarah is a parent, and she’s not.
“I have responsibilities, too, and I deserve to have a life outside of work,” she vented.
Nonetheless, this whole situation has left her feeling like the bad guy for finally saying no to covering a shift, and she can’t help but wonder if she’s truly being selfish here or not.
Can people lead busy lives even if they’re child-free? What advice would you give her?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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