Standard Disclaimer.
37M Autistic, I have tasks to do every day as part of my job, (tidy up meeting rooms, refill stationary, clean whiteboards and other ad hoc tasks) and I do them very well, think of it like a security guard at a prison, I do my rounds, (2-3 times a day) then go back to my desk watch videos/doom scroll/listen to podcasts and audiobooks. Basically, I have a lot of down time. I am in a facilities kind of role.
I have no helicopter monitoring, but I stress myself out, thinking I have to be in on time in the morning (I never get called out, never questioned/queried nothing) but I stress myself out if I am late.
I do this even if I go 5 minutes early to lunch or leave early at the end of the day (5-10 minutes) thinking on Monday I'll get sacked, and it never happens.
I am in open plan workspace, but feel like a ghost, in that hardly anyone interacts with me.
My question, should I have told my boss.
I brought new inner ear headphones from eBay and as I was trying them on, one of the silicon buds came loose from the right one and got stuck in my ear!!!
This was 3pm on a Friday, I had done all of my tasks, everything was fine it was quiet, I tried them on, and one got stuck. I went to the first aid room, I have an ear wax removal kit, that has a pen with a camera on it, you can what it sees, on your phone, I was using that too look at it, and I had forceps but try as I might I could not remove it on my own.
I had no other choice but to go to a local medical centre, in a shopping centre not too far from my office. Luckily, they were open, I signed up as a new patient, they spoke to the only doctor on site (it was a Friday after all) He said he would see me, but only when he was done with his existing consultations for the day… I sat in the waiting area until 5, gradually losing my hearing in my right ear, as people came and went, finally he saw me, removed it, charged me an arm and a leg (luckily it was after pay day so I could afford it) and I went back to the office, tidied up my desk, packed up my things and went home, it was 5:30 by this point.
Expecting a barrage of emails/text messages along the lines of “Where are you?” “We need you” “Why aren't you at your desk?” etc, etc of course there was absolutely none of that, because that is not my kind of job, I don't have helicopter monitoring, but I pressure myself, and stress myself out, I left the office for 2 whole hours, and no one said a goddamn thing, not a single inquiry was made.
I told my boss this morning what had happened, he was totally not fused, he said in future to let him know, send him a text, but I am not penalised or anything like that. I am wondering if I should have even told him in the first place, or just kept it to myself?