Im a new grad and work for a very early stage tech startup, no clients so no work yet.
Im also an international student, so renting and most mundane tasks are always harder for me. After months of being basically homeless (crashed at friends room) I finally managed to rent an apartment.
I was supposed to travel 5 hours to attend a meeting and go for drinks with the directors, but since I had to meet the landlady today (as it was the only day she could meet) and I don’t drink, I emailed all attendees and told them I was sick and in no condition to travel, and apologise for having to miss the meeting.
This morning I received a text from my boss saying that he wanted me to, despite being sick, join a 5-hour long teams meeting. I told them that I was at the doctors and that I’d join as soon as I got home, which I did (halfway through the meeting length). When I joined, all other directors but my boss said hi to me.
To be honest I dread whenever there’s a meeting, as I never have anything to contribute; today was no different. The meeting was about the general direction of the company, business model, etc, so director-level stuff, so I can’t realistically contribute, especially because I don’t come from a tech background.
I told my mom and my therapist about what happened, and they both sided with my boss. Both of them said that I’m irresponsible for prioritising my having a roof over my head over doing what my boss asked me, and criticised the fact that I remained silent for the whole meeting.
Now I feel really bad, and idk if I’m the bad employee here?