40-year-old coworker, fresh off her own extended maternity leave, pressures 24-year-old colleague into surrendering her pre-approved PTO vacation and drags in management and staff for backup: ‘ I can’t give up my time. This trip means a lot to me’

As if office culture doesn't already have a special way of transforming any perk into a slow-motion public shaming, some coworkers insist on making it as bad as possible, and nothing brings out the petty side of these people quite like a pre-approved vacation on the calendar.

After seven months of careful planning, our heroine is ready for a long-overdue family reunion, only to discover that in this workplace, requesting time off is less about rest and more about navigating an endless maze of entitlement.

This company has a special star, the patron saint of PTO hypocrisy, who seems to consider maternity leave and a month-long winter getaway merely a warm-up. With a straight face, she asks if you'd surrender your vacation so she can squeeze in bonus time with her kids, as if travel plans are just another communal resource you selfishly hoarded. When you gently decline, she dials up the martyrdom, painting you as the cold-hearted vacation Grinch who ruined her children's summer and possibly all future birthdays.

Suddenly, every colleague and even management becomes an expert in "what's fair," with the childless conveniently recast as available cover for every schedule and sob story.
So here you are, enduring daily side-eyes and guilt-laden comments, your once-exciting vacation now pre-ruined by relentless peer pressure.

In some offices, "team spirit" really means "team sacrifice," and PTO means "Prepare To be Ostracized."