Woman Asks If Telling Her Co-Worker A Work Event Is As Important As Their Daughter’s Recital. Was She Wrong?

People needing to ensure they have a good work-life balance has been a hot topic of conversation as of late. Americans, it seems, have a terrible take/handle on it in particular.

OP does not, however. They developed a very specific skillset that has allowed them to not only have options and a great salary, but the opportunity to negotiate contracts that allow them to work the when and where they want, as well.

She does her work and then goes home, and doesn’t think about it again until the following morning.

I(29F) started working at a new company 8 months ago.

I was head hunted specifically for the role I have, which gave me enough power to negotiate my contract like I wanted. One of the things I managed to get was a clause that prohibited my employer from contacting me outside work hours.

If it is a true emergency, then they can send me an email. Otherwise they can’t even send me a text.

Furthermore, I have a separate work phone that I shut down at 5 on the dot, then turn on at 9am.

Another thing is that I don’t work OT. I am very efficient, so my work is done by 3pm, 5pm if we have an emergency. I also take my whole lunch break outside the office, and my coffee breaks away from my desk.

I am not planning to climb the corporate ladder. All I want is a job that pays enough to live a comfortable middle class life. I invested in a bit of a niche/rare skillset, and it paid me back with a 6 figure salary and being very sought after.

All I have to do is to maintain my skillset and keep up with the times, and I will be golden. I have had offers from all around my state, and a few more.

Her co-workers are more social during the day and so often work later than she does, or sometimes on the weekends. She always turns down requests for help, stating that she has “plans,” which she doesn’t feel like is exactly a lie.

My coworkers are not the same, they tend to socialize during work hour, and have work left for afterwards.

They sometimes ask me to “help”, but I always decline by saying that I have plans. I don’t go into details, I just say that I have plans.

These plans are 99% of the time just include going home, reading books, or sleeping. But that is my personal time.

Recently, a co-worker asked for her help completing a project so that she could get out of the office in time to attend her daughter’s recital. OP gave the standard line and then went to have a solo picnic in the park.

Monday, a coworker asked me if I could stay a bit later to help her out, apparently she was late with some essential work, but had to be done by that night, because she had to attend her daughter’s recital at 6. I said that I was sorry, but that I had plans.

We are not on the same team. She asked for help because she knew I know how to do her tasks, not because we are on the same team working the same project.

It was a nice day, so instead of going home, I just went to a parc to read while breathing some fresh air. Brought some fruit and bubble tea, and made a picnic out of it.

She got busted, as the park ended up being near the co-worker’s daughter’s school, and had to defend her desire to have a picnic alone as being as important as a child’s recital.

My coworker found me there, and she was pissed. She said that I could have helped her if I didn’t have plans, I said that I do have plans, this impromptu picnic. She said that it wasn’t as important as her daughter’s recital. So I said that for me, it was even more important than her daughter’s recital.

The park is small, near her daughter’s school (I didn’t know that), and I was sitting closer to the street. She was driving by looking for parking when she spotted me, and decided to confront me. I guess she wasn’t that late for the recital.

She called me an AH, and some of my friends agree. So AITA?

Is she wrong? Will this eventually come back to bit her in the rear?

Let’s find out what Reddit thinks of her style!

The top comment says OP is not wrong for maintaining boundaries, but also that her behavior is not likely to win her many (any) friends.

This person thinks they might regret their stance eventually.

But this commenter agrees with keeping work and personal lives totally separate.

Others think it’s more about being kind to others in general, not just being rigid about work.

Plenty of child-free people agree they get taken advantage of more than people with children do.

This is a tough one, but I think I agree with the original comment.

OP is not wrong or a jerk, but she’d better hope she never needs anyone at work to do something for her.