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"

If there is one thing that everybody seems to collectively hate, it's working in retail. Some people say working in retail is just slowly torturing yourself, especially since you are prone to enduring insufferable customers who always take out the "The customer is always right" card—to put it simply, you get treated like crap, and anyone could just get away with it.

When you work in retail, your managers don't really see you as a human being; they see you as a number they own—you aren't always allowed to call in sick, have your loved ones die, and you are forced to become a robot that dutifully smiles at every customer, even if you have already been standing all day and just want to rest.

Regardless of what people say, retail work is hard work, and dealing with customers is enough to pull you down into the dumps. Even if customers are rude to you and you are only doing your job, there is a high chance that management will side with the customers just to stay in their good graces.

That being said, there are many times when your enemy in retail is not a customer, but your coworkers and managers themselves. It's generally a toxic work environment to be in, but when it completely runs over your personal life and they think they can just control you whenever they want, then that's a whole other story.

Something quite similar happened to this particular Redditor who shared his story about how he got called heartless and a "childless man child" just because he refused to cover his coworker's shift. Read on to find out the whole story...

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.

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If you need more proof that retail is hell:

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.

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."

OP blocked Brenda and started looking for another job.

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Check out some of the hilarious responses in the thread:

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

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.

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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!