I’ve had my own rule for a while that when I want off I never ask, “can I take off tomorrow for (whatever reason)?” It’s always just “hey, I won’t be able to make it in tomorrow.” I really started to like this foreman, he’s been good to me, and I want to stay in this project so when something came up for tomorrow I asked him if taking the day off would put him in tight spot. And I got a “ahhh well yeah, kinda, let me think about that.” So I spent the whole rest of the day kicking myself for getting soft.
As we were walking out at 3 I just said, “sorry, I’m not going to be able to make it in.” To which he replied, “ok. No problem, see you Monday.”
NEVER ASK PERMISSION. TAKE WHAT YOU WANT, GIVE THE MINIMUM BACK.