It's 1 am and I'm back to work. My son is not yet four days old.
My wife just delivered a child last week after an immensely difficult pregnancy. I was looking forward to my two weeks of paternity leave (which is mandatory in my country) to be there for my wife and son.
I soon found out that there is no such thing as paternity leave at my startup! Dejected, I decided to use my entire leave balance of ten days as a makeshift paternity leave.
On the fourth bloody day of my leave, my manager calls me to 'check in' to see how everything is going. At the end of the call, he not-so-subtly asks me to 'resume work in my free time', 'catch up with the team on call regularly', and 'reply to any emails I send'.
I'm bitterly disappointed. I just started this job and I can't afford to keep changing jobs every year, because recruiters have told me that it looks bad when workers keep changing jobs too quickly.
Any little sense of joy and purpose I felt at this workplace has evaporated instantly. The last time an organization respected my private life was maybe four jobs ago. I don't think I'll ever find a role that pays well, is interesting, isn't immensely stressful and respects personal borders.