Entitled Karen coworker insists woman's out of work commitments are less important than her children, sparks office drama

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  • 01
    Font - AITA for telling my coworker that my personal out-of-work activities are as important as her kids'? Not the A-hole Trying to keep this short - I am a married 36 year old woman with no plans to have kids. I recently had an issue with a coworker where our boss emailed her/I to ask if one of us could cover an evening call (it's a 9-5 job but we occasionally have evening calls due to collaborators in different time zones). The coworker asked me to do it because her son had a soccer game, but
  • 02
    Font - I think that it's incredibly important to support working mothers. I am always more than happy to accommodate the schedules of the mothers I work with when it doesn't cause a significant inconvenience to me - for example, some coworkers leave early to pick up their kids (our company is great about that), and I'm happy to work project schedules around that. I also would have taken that call if I hadn't had a conflict as long as it wasn't a pattern of me taking significantly more evening ca
  • 03
    Font - I talked to a friend about this (who is a mother), and she said that I should have just done it because people who don't have kids really should have more empathy for working parents and we don't understand how hard it is. I said respectfully that I do understand that working mothers have much more stressful lives than I do, which is why I decided not to be a mother. I also said that I can have respect and empathy for working mothers and also value my time/ choices equally. She similarly
  • 04
    Font - Slugdirt A Aficionado [18] NTA I love it when people say "but you don't have a family" as tho people were hatched from pods. Having children isn't a free pass to get out of things you'd prefer not to do. 22.6k Share Athena2560. Colo-rectal Surgeon [30] Pissed me off when I was single and newly married. Like, if I don't have my contractual time off, when am I supposed to start one? 6.0k Share
  • 05
    Font - mdsnbelle Pooperintendant [56] NTA AT ALL. You took the last two calls, that is reason enough to say no. Look at you with the shiny spine. 7.5k Share xu2002 Also, people have commitments without kids. Having kids isn't the automatic out. NTA 1.7k Share
  • 06
    Rectangle - laughingsbetter Colo-rectal Surgeon [35] NTA - it should be a rotation. Having kids is not a get out of crummy work free card. 5.3k Share unofficiallyATC Partassipant [2] This. Your decision to have kids does not mean that you are entitled to my time. ✩ 2.0k Share
  • 07
    Font - sugarintheboots Asshole Aficionado [12] NTA. But your mistake here is telling her what your personal business was. That's private, because once you put it out there, it's up for community judgment. Next time, less said, the better. 4.3k Share ohsogreen Asshole Enthusiast [9] This. 'It's not possible'. Repeat as needed. 1.1k Share
  • 08
    Font - Time-U-1 A le Enthusiast [7] NTA. But it wasn't smart to say what your conflict was. You didn't have to justify it. All you had to say was "sorry, I really can't. I have a prior commitment." 2.2k Share Throwawayacntnmbr5 No is a complete sentence. Especially if she had done the last two calls... 520 Share

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