I was scheduled to work this morning at 10 am but my dad had a medical emergency and asked me to drive him to the hospital (he does not want a notice to come in the mail asking him to pay for ambulance services) because he was in severe pain.
I texted my manager around 9:00 am telling her what was going on and asked her if I could come in at 10:30 instead of 10am. I wanted to give myself enough time to drop him off and get to work. I knew we had enough coverage for the morning so I thought that she would accommodate my request.
Instead she texts me saying “Sorry, you have to come in for your full shift. Others want time in and when you're asking to come in late that's not fair to others who didn't get time”.
I was extremely upset by this because I never take days off. I came to work with Covid (I was coughing so hard behind my mask that it was difficult to breathe) because we were told that taking sick days without 2 weeks notice was grounds for termination. We have a zero tolerance policy for call ins.
Despite never calling in she refused to accommodate my request to take my dad to the hospital. I had every intention of working my full 8 hour shift and making up the 30 minute difference.
After she denied my request via text I decided to call her at work. She told me that I was being “inconsiderate” to others and would expect me show up for my 10 am start time. That's when I broke.
I told her that it was funny that she was lecturing me about being considerate when she dumped her keys at another store that's associated with our store without telling anyone and disappeared for the day. She didn't leave a note and refused to pick up phone calls from our head manager. They asked me to call her from my cell in the hopes that she wouldn't recognize the number and pick up. Which she did.
She promptly announced that she would be taking the rest of the day off. I was forced to open alone while irate customers were standing outside demanding to know why we hadn't opened on time. Then in the same week she had another “family emergency” and took the day off. The district manager had to come in and work for her because we had no other key holders (they all quit).
After I pointed this pattern of behavior out to her she was silent. I thought she hung up on me because there was dead silence on the other line. After a full minute of silence she says “Okay. I'll see you at 10:30”
Was it professional? Probably not but I feel so much better after calling her out.