Childfree Woman Wonders If She’s A Jerk For Refusing To Do The Late Shift As A Favor To One Of Her Parent Coworkers Because She Also Has Plans

Many people aim for a healthy work-life balance. When we say many, we mean all people.

Every single person in the world dreams of it. However, the truth is that making a flawless schedule is difficult.

It's much more challenging for working parents who want to be there for their kids as they grow up. Having children, however, does not exempt you from employment obligations you would rather avoid.

Supporting working parents means that they can leave work earlier to pick up their young children from school, take them to the doctor, or attend other important events. It is not something that should be used for any and every occasion.

A coworker requested that she cover an evening shift at work to attend her child's soccer game. The author of this piece had a volleyball match that night and declined, asserting that her non-work interests are just as important as her job responsibilities because she chose to be childless.

The colleague scowled at her, calling her actions "very messed up." The woman turned to the AITA subreddit to see if she was wrong to believe that others should respect her life choices.

Take a look at the Redditor's post:

A woman turns to the AITA subreddit for advice. She wants to know if she was wrong for declining to cover for her colleague so she could go to her kid’s soccer game

Maxpixel (not the actual photo)

OP shares her story

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She had a conflict with a coworker about covering the late shift.

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Her coworker felt that she had more rights because she is a mother.

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And that her kids' game is more important than OP's volleyball game

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Since OP had covered the last two late shifts, she declined

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OP believes it is important to support working mothers, but not when it causes significant inconvenience for others

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OP does her part in helping them

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OP also explains her reasons

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OP talked to a friend who said she was wrong

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OP explained that parenting stress is one of the reasons she decided not to have kids.

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Parents don't seem to understand OP's point of view

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This post has amassed more than 17K upvotes and over 2.2K comments. The vast majority of Redditors sided with the author, concluding that she was in no way acting like a jerk in this situation. 

Redditors mostly agreed with OP

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OP already worked two previous late shifts...

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Not a "get out of crummy work free card"

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OP shouldn't have to explain her reasons

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Simple No

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Hobby vs. hobby

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Working late should be a shared chore

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We all have problems

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And pulling a "mum card" is not okay

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No.

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The bottom line is:

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Parenting is tough, and there are many difficult choices and sacrifices to make along the way. We all do the best we can, but sometimes we can’t make it to all events and games.

Sure, it is an awful feeling, but parents should also help their kids understand that sometimes, they just can’t make it. They have jobs and must be responsible, just as they expect their children to be when they grow up.