25-year-old employee refuses to swap vacation days for 32-year-old entitled coworker with kids, causing ongoing work drama: 'People without kids should be more flexible!'

Being a working parent requires the kind of balancing act and attention to detail that few can pull off well. It's why asking for help is an important part of the process. However, there should be a fine line between helping out a parent in need and upending your entire life for that person just because you don't have the same responsibilities.

Plenty of people choose not to have children, but that doesn't mean they should be encouraged to give up their own wants and needs to folks who did choose to start their families. This employee had planned their upcoming vacation for months. They requested their vacation days, got them approved, and had already made travel and hotel arrangements. However, when the entitled coworker on their team realized that her kids' fall break was coming up during that same window and she hadn't planned anything, she had the audacity to request that the 25-year-old employee give up their vacation days so she could use them.

First of all, a functioning workplace environment would be one that would not fall apart if both employees were granted the ability to take their vacations during that same window. Second of all, just because this parent did not plan well does not mean that this employee has to take the loss for her, just because they're younger and childless. The assumption that the 25-year-old should give up their well-deserved free time for their coworker reinforces a false hierarchy that supports parents above everyone else. Don't get me wrong: parents need to be supported, especially when it comes to work. However, that should not come at the expense of the freedoms that other employees deserve. Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions from members of this online community!

"[Am I wrong] for refusing to swap vacation days with my coworker who has kids?"

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It's no secret that juggling one's own work schedule with the school schedules of one's children requires expert planning that should be done well in advance. For instance, this mother should have looked at her kids' school schedule as soon as it was released to start planning that fall break. Instead, she waited until merely a few weeks before. Here's hoping she learned a lesson after the employee refused to help her out!
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