Tis the season for entitlement.
A mom is causing a stir by asking her childless colleague to withdraw her time-off request for Christmas — believing that having a child makes her more qualified for the vacation day. The request struck a chord with the internet.
“Ok I feel terrible about this,” the mom writes in a thread on UK-based parenting site Mumsnet, attempting to justify her selfish ask, prefacing that she and the colleague get along well, but since they both requested the day off, her manager is leaving it to them to sort out who is off the clock.
“I have asked her to withdraw her request as she and her husband who have no kids normally go to her husband’s parents on Christmas day, but they also go every week so it’s not like they never see them,” the woman writes, attempting to give grounds for why she believes her colleague should work and she should not.
“I, on the other hand, have a four-year-old Autistic [sic] son,” the woman writes, continuing to air out details of her personal life to an audience of strangers, noting that her son’s nursery school will be closed.
Then, she continues to speculate about her colleague’s personal life, estimating that since their work shift starts between 7 and 10 in the morning “she and her husband could still be at his parents for lunchtime whereas because I am a single mama and the nurseries are closed I have no one to watch my son.”
Cue the world’s tiniest violin.
“Yes, I could pay someone but it would be extremely expensive,” the woman writes, excusing a solution to her problem.
“I do feel bad asking her to do this but if she won’t then I’m going to have no choice but to leave my job,” she continues.
Few could sympathize with the out-of-touch mom with some calling her request “unreasonable.”
“Oh yeah I forgot! If you don’t have children then Christmas and family means absolutely nothing to you!” one commenter snarked.
Another had a more practical approach.
“Whoever asked first should get it. You having a child doesn’t make you more entitled to the day off,” they said.
Others were more middle-ground.
“I think it is okay to ask because you are in a very difficult situation, however it is not ok to minimize her Christmas just because she has no child,” another commenter politely pointed out.
Another summed up a frank reminder that entitlement around the holidays –and in general – will get you on the naughty list.
“I don’t believe having kids should entitle you to preferential time off at Christmas. It’s an important time for many people. If you get on well with her you could ask given the other difficulties you would have, but if you’ve previously had xmases off and she hasn’t, then it’s probably her turn.”