Yesterday I walked out of work without saying anything because I was extremely tired.
For context I am an autistic 22m and I work in the back of a charity shop for a time that’s up to my choosing and I can also choose when to go in. I choose to go in every Friday, usually at the earliest possible time which is ~10:20 to 12:20 and this is my first job ever.
On the previous night, I had a horrible night of sleep and for most of it I couldn’t sleep and so on the Friday morning, I was extremely tired but I thought that I would be able to push through the 2 hours of work that I had to do, so I got on the bus and got into work at 10:17 and I signed in using the sheet that we use. I tried to work but it quickly became evident that I wouldn’t be able to work for 2 hours, and I was already on my phone even though there was stuff for me to do. So I slowly made my way over to the sign in sheet and I put in my final time out sheet and I headed out of the shop, the person that works with me did ask if I was okay but I was way too tired to respond.
Fast forward to today and my Mum said it was wrong for me to treat people like that and the person who works was very concerned about me.
Was what I did wrong, was it understandable?
YTA. Just walking out of work is not a thing. Very immature behavior.
YTA unfortunately.
I don’t know the details of your autism and what your goals are for your employment and independence. So I won’t comment on you not getting through the 2 hours. I will say that if your aim is to be employed regularly in a conventional job, leaving abruptly due to tiredness is not generally acceptable and you’d need to learn how to manage that and figure out coping mechanisms to avoid that happening.
Otherwise- it is really important to be courteous to your fellow employees, especially if they have some level of responsibility for your wellbeing (is the other employee required to put in a wellbeing call to your mum if they have concerns? How did your mum know they were worried?). Unless you’re actively in a meltdown “Too tired” is not really an excuse to let them know that you’re leaving and why.
YTA. Immature , we all get tired but sometimes you just have to be an adult.
I have to say yes, YTA. It was very inconsiderate to not even let anyone know you were leaving and why. Also unacceptable to just walk out because you’re tired. It is your responsibility as a working adult to make sure that you are rested enough to fulfill your responsibilities. If they didn’t need you there they probably wouldn’t be paying you to be there. Honestly, what you did was show them that you don’t consider the job important and that you don’t mind worrying or inconveniencing them. I feel that you should apologize and start taking your job more seriously.
Agree. Will also add that even if you get to choose your hours, you are typically there for those times each week and more than likely, they expect and depend you to work that shift. It would be appropriate to go to the supervisor, explain you don’t feel well and ask to leave.
You never just walk out- even worse that someone was talking to you and you purposely ignored them. You didn’t have the energy to say “I need to leave, I don’t feel well today,”?
It is also bad that instead of working you decided to scroll on your phone instead. If that happens again, turn your phone off and put it in your backpack, lunch box or elsewhere so you don’t feel tempted. That is very poor work ethic. It’s your first job so I am going to cut you some slack. It’s easy to be tempted by phones so having a plan in place to break the temptation is necessary for a lot of people.
YTA but based on your post I can tell you care and want to do better. I think you will learn from this mistake and be a better employee moving forward. Best wishes to you!
YTA.
Being tired is no excuse for playing on your phone when you’re supposed to be working. And leaving without telling someone is unprofessional and rude.
You only work for 2 hours once a week and you’re on your phone? You left because you didn’t get a good night of sleep and you were too tired to respond to a coworker asking why you were walking off the job? Yta, you need to learn to be the adult you are in the workplace or you are going to have a very very hard time. YTA
YTA, you left work because you were tired, and someone asked if you were okay and you ignored them.
Time to grow up.
Sorry, but YTA. Not responding when someone asks if you’re okay is extremely rude, regardless of how tired you are. And even though the work is voluntary, your colleagues need to know if you’re there or not, as that will affect how they can or should allocate their own time. So just slipping out without saying anything is very inconsiderate.
YTA. It’s a voluntary job but you’re the one who made a commitment to be there. You cannot make promises and commitments and back out last minute because things turned inconvenient. You should have told someone what was going on.
You ultimately let someone down. If you can’t commit to this, then you need to drop this as a commitment.
YTA. Lots of people make it through work when tired, and that sometimes is because they got NO sleep the night before. Not getting much sleep is actually quite common. And why were you going on your phone? What were you doing to stay up, like having coffee or playing music or splashing cold water on your face? Whether this is paid or not, you committed to being there. And, frankly, not being able to power through a mere two hours is lazy and embarrassing.
yta – you’re going struggle when it comes to working a real job if this is how you treat a voluntary one .
YTA, you’d get fired from most jobs for just leaving without saying anything.
YTA. Autism isn’t an excuse for being rude, and I’m saying this as an autistic person who’s held a variety of jobs for 30 years.
I know what it’s like to be tired, I’ve had several jobs where I was on my feet for 7 or 8 hours a day, 4 or 5 days a week.
But I made a customer service persona for myself, learned to smile and nod at irritated customers and obnoxious managers, because that’s just what customer service jobs are like.
And frankly, it sounds like you have a pretty sweet gig going. A couple of hours, whenever you feel like it, and you get to keep your phone with you. If you don’t like that, what about volunteering somewhere else, like an animal shelter or a nursing home or a local gardening club or anything else?