Depressed Man Gets An Early Leave For Refusing To Participate In The Little Birthday Celebration Organized For Him

"I’m struggling financially as is with my new medications"

Maryjane

• Published in Interesting
• October 20, 2023

Unfortunately, some organizations write off birthday festivities because hello... they're corporations and not preschools. Yet birthday celebrations for employees are important.

Fortunately, some HR directors and leaders understand how to use it to sustain employee engagement and morale. Whether held in-person or virtually, office birthday celebrations support workers in feeling appreciated as unique individuals.

Although the typical office party consisting of cake and cards can be successful, attempting something new leaves employees with a more memorable experience. You see, it never gets old to celebrate a worker's birthday on the company premises.

Okay, tell me, what could be a more effective method to spread joy and inspiration than throwing them a fantastic birthday celebration on their special day? In our hearts, we all hope that our birthdays will be recognized at work.

We want to receive more attention than normal because it is our special day, but the original poster of today's story didn't want any of that. The OP had forgotten ahead of time to request the day off, so he knew he was working that day in advance.

His car was at the shop because the part that was needed to fix it wasn’t made anymore. The shop owner can’t find a used one under the mileage of OP's car, so he arrives at work feeling depressed.

So when his boss came to call him out so he could be celebrated, he declined, and that fetched him an early leave.

And here's the headline

The things that happened was minor but the OP has been dealing with a newly diagnosed mental health stuff

The OP really didn’t want to be celebrated in any form at that point and just stayed away from the break room

OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the a-hole:

I refused to have my birthday celebrated at work because I was having an awful day, which upset my boss. Now I feel like an AH for not sucking it up and receiving my cake and card.

Below are a bunch of the topmost comments from other Redditors in response to the story above

The OP knew exactly what was going on so it wasn't something he could avoid

The OP knew that they had something planned out for him

The OP refused to take part in a simple and harmless office tradition

The OP could have told the parents that it wasn't the right day

The OP should have spoken to his boss before the whole event

They were only trying to do something nice for the OP

On an employee's birthday, family and friends typically get together to celebrate. Even though it can be a ton of fun, the celebrant maybe nervous, particularly if they're meeting up with individuals they haven't seen in a long time but this wasn't the OP's case.

For a company to celebrate an employee means that they value their milestones and accomplishments. The OP declining it didn't make any sense to many Redditors so he was declared the AH.

Maryjane