Guy Gets Blasted By Coworker After Refusing To Cover Her Shift So She Could Be At Her Son's First Birthday, Gets Called A "Childless Man Child"

One retail worker’s refusal to cover a last-minute shift turned into a full-blown workplace feud. What started as a simple request quickly spiraled into guilt trips, insults, and a coworker calling him a "childless man child."

The Redditor said he was asked to work at 10 a.m. for a 2 p.m. shift, but he already had plans and said no. That decision upset Brenda, who wanted the time off to attend her son’s first birthday, and it also drew in a manager who seemed ready to side against him.

By the end, he was blocking messages and looking for a new job. Read on.

OP here works in retail, and he shared his story about his coworker Brenda and his manager, who both ganged up on him for refusing to cover Brenda's shift so she wouldn't miss out on her son's first birthday.

He received a text one morning from his manager, asking (well, demanding) him to take the shift of his coworker, Brenda. Brenda couldn't make it to work because it was her son's birthday.

Tights Rus (not the actual photo)

If you need more proof that retail is hell:

That request came with very little notice.

OP received the text at around 10 a.m., and the shift he was being asked to cover started at 2 p.m. However, he already had plans, so he refused to take the shift.

It was either him or Brenda, but he certainly didn't want to sacrifice his personal time just because of his coworker's irresponsibility in not filing for leave beforehand.

Naturally, he was then bombarded with messages saying how heartless he was for not taking the shift.

Then the guilt-tripping started.

But it wasn't even his fault that Brenda forgot her son's first birthday in the first place.

Brenda then got his number and messaged him a lot of insults, including telling him that he was a "childless man child."

He decided he had seen enough.

OP blocked Brenda and started looking for another job.

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Check out some of the hilarious responses in the thread:

This commenter thought the blame was misplaced.

Agreed, he could have been more professional, but at the end of the day, it was not his fault at all!

This is also like the coworker whose family emergency forced another worker to decide about covering shifts.

Being a retail worker is a trap.

Boo you, Brenda!

Props to OP for holding his ground.

It's as if they own OP...

Just a pro tip:

Definitely NTA.

The boss and Brenda can go bump their heads together.

How could you even forget your son's first birthday?

Wise words right here.

And it's not OP's responsibility to cater to it.

It's a retail thing.

The problem is clear here.

Don't let them guilt-trip you.

They should've covered the shift instead.

Not in your schedule, not your problem.

Heartless for putting himself first?

Checkmate!

Or just run!

Exactly.

Quit understaffing!

In conclusion, retail = hell.

NBC

It's truly dreadful working in retail, and we pity everyone who has had to (and is still going through) it. But not a lot of us have the privilege to simply choose not to work in it, because hey, life isn't handed to us on a silver platter!

Do you have a similar story to share? Comment down your thoughts or share this article for all your family and friends to see!

Retail drama rarely stays small for long.

Wondering about boundaries at work too, see what happened when a friend dumped dog duties on them.