'My coworkers are saying I'm cold for not helping her out': Woman refuses to babysit colleague's 4 kids during her PTO, faces backlash in the office

We often talk about work-life balance these days, with many folks managing to keep their professional and personal lives completely separate, meaning no work at home (rip remote workers). However, what happens when a personal issue becomes a work issue, too? That's the situation the OP found herself in.

OP has been working at her company for a while, and there's this colleague who seems to harbor some envy. We will call her Karen. Karen, a mom of four, often mentions how lucky OP is not to have kids. A little weird, but ok. The plot thickens when OP turns down a work trip because it falls during her PTO, so the opportunity falls right into Karen's lap. Now, Karen expects OP to watch her kids so she can travel. She even tells the OP that "this is a great way for [her] to experience the joy of having children." Although the OP's coworkers had some mixed feelings about how the situation was handled, the comment section definitely did not. Keep reading to get the full scoop.