Carpooling coworker loses it after employee makes her late for work so she can cuddle with her cat for 15 more minutes: 'That animal is my baby!'

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
May 3, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

Pet owners can be especially protective of their "babies." We understand this dynamic all too well. After all, this is Cheezburger, and our audience loves cats to no end. If you're someone who identifies with the idea of staying at home for 15 more minutes to provide comfort for your precious cat, thereby making you late for work, then you will love the author of this tale. However, if you're someone who simply cannot understand the bond between a pet owner and their baby, then you might side with the author's hardened coworker, who threw a temper tantrum because she was the author's carpool buddy.

Being late for work shouldn't be that big of a deal, depending on what your job is, of course. Still, if you're the type of person who will occasionally sacrifice punctuality for quality time with your pet, then you probably shouldn't let others count on you for commuting with them to the office. That's where this cat parent went wrong. It has nothing to do with their love for their little furry animal. That's perfectly normal among the readers of our site. That being said, it has everything to do with the author's lack of care for other people's time!

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  • Now, the author does acknowledge that there were several instances in which her coworker made her late because she was taking care of her own child, so why should she start drama over this one instance? Well, in fairness to the coworker, she was feeding her human child, which is definitely a little bit different. As you'll see, several members of the online community were split as to who was more in the wrong here. Keep scrolling below to see what they had to say!

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    When I started my new job I found out that a woman who lives in the same complex as I do started working there as well. Her
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    and I struck up a conversation and after a week we decided to carpool. It was great and a gas saver and it's been working out pretty much perfect. Except she
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    has two kids that are really into some long goodbyes. Crying and whatnot while her husband makes a minimal effort to get them so we can go. When its her turn to drive I have been late a couple of times because in her
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    words the kids were having a meltdown and husband couldn't handle it so she had to calm them down before she left. I'm not
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    talking majorly late I'm talking into our grace period late and I don't like to consistently ab e out grace period.
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    Well this morning when i bent down like I do every morning to say goodbye to my baby boy he climbed out of his bed and curled up around my arm and put his head on me and went back to sleep. So I stayed there and I let him sleep for another 15 minutes.
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    She was calling my phone and I kept telling her I was on my way. I finally got there and she asked me what happened and I told her and she got mad and asked me how I could make her late behind cat?! I told her we've 20 a
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    been late before because of her children and she absolutely said that was not the same thing and I shouldn't be comparing it to that because that's just an animal. I
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    said well that animal is my baby and anytime that he needs me I'm going to be there so if that is an issue I can understand if you don't want to carpool anymore.
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    She didn't say anything else on the way to work but I heard through office gossip how I made her late because of the cat. Lol. I'm fine with not carpooling with her anymore.
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    ÉTA he is 4 months old. He's about 3 lb. He's a void, completely black with a little tiny bit of a whisper of white on his belly. He the cutest little thing I wanted to post a picture but it wouldn't let me. His name is Lucky
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    Banshee-74 • 4h ago . NTA and I definitely would have bailed on that carpool the second time she made me late. She's pretty much lacking in self awareness.
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    sallystruthers69 • 4h ago Stop carpooling.
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    BeachinLife1 · 4h ago I mean, your little void needed you. You had no choice. I don't make the rules.
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    biggestmilkies • 4h ago NTA. Oh, so her kids crying is a valid reason to be late, but your emotional support furball doesn't count? Nah. If we're playing the empathy Olympics, it goes both ways.
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    You gave her the same grace she expected from you. If she can't handle that, then yeah, solo rides it is. Enjoy the playlist.
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    Personal-Fact7067 4h ago • You guys might want to end the car pool.
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    b-green1007 • 3h ago I have to say seeing the responses on this thread makes me wonder if everyone here is a teeenager... it's ok to be late because of cat cuddles? Have yall ever had a job?
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    Prettyhazellll . 4h ago If kids can cause delays, so can cats, especially when they're named Lucky and that cute!
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    Character_Yellow_... . 4h ago Neither one should be making you late for work. It sounds like you shouldn't carpool anymore since neither one of you is responsible.
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terrible coworkers cat commute workplace-stories employee work stories pets carpool car work coworkers karen coworker workplace morning commute
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