A favor is only a favor until it becomes an expectation—or even a demand. At that point, what are you even doing?
Unfortunately, it's only natural "humanness" to become adjusted to something and adapt to it over time. We are creatures of habit by nature, and it doesn't take long before something that's new and exciting becomes a baseline for our lives.
We're most guilty of this probably with our own parents; we grow up so used to them doing things for us that it can be easy to forget that they're just people too, and anything they're doing for us comes directly from their own time, energy, and intention. Or even that friend who goes out of their way to keep in contact with you. Would you even still be friends if it were up to you to message them first?
When it's something that someone else is doing for you, it can be all too easy to take it for granted. It's a quiet line that is crossed without you even noticing. We might not even mean to take advantage of it, but we do all the same. And, at the end of the day, we're responsible for our actions (or lack thereof, not only our intentions.)
I'd argue that this happens with all instances of favors, too. The minute the behavior becomes a pattern, it's just ingrained into you and, thus, becomes an expectation. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't do favors for others; in fact, I'd argue that this part of the social contract is one of the biggest things we've lost as a society in the last 30 years.
Doing something for another person for the sheer kindness of it should be one of life's greatest satisfactions, but instead, we're all just crabs in a bucket seeking to better only ourselves at the expense of others. Still, the other side of the same coin of doing favors for others is clearly communicating and setting boundaries. Which is something else we've also lost in the modern day, as we all largely seem to struggle to communicate directly and say what we mean.
This employee found herself in a difficult situation when she relented and provided her colleague a ride home on a rainy day, intending for it to be a one-time thing only. However, she unwittingly opened a door that, once ajar, her colleague was quick to stick her foot into, jamming it open. Realizing how "easy" it was for the employee to drop her off, she decided that this should be a daily occurrence, signing the employee up as her personal chauffeur, even asking to be driven for personal errands.
Like a shark in the water, she'd come circling every day when it came time to head home, acting like it was outrageous any time a ride wasn't then offered.
As mentioned previously, boundaries are essential in any relationship, but this is especially true in the workplace. After all, having some inoffensive universal baseline to refer back to is the foundation of professionalism. It's a shame, but instances like this are why everyone is wary of extending a personal kindness to anyone in a professional setting.
The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
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