Can you be friends with your boss? It doesn’t always work out the way you might hope.

A pregnant employee goes on her first big conference road trip with her boss-turned-friend. The road trip was a blast, but the conference…not so much.

Read all the details…

AITA for not having the time of my life at a conference while pregnant?

A few months ago my boss (who also happens to be a great friend – emphasis on this, as she always wants to be friends first before she’s “just my boss”) invited me on a roadtrip/ conference somewhere warm and beautiful.

This would be the first length of time (24+ hours) we’ve spent together. And we are sharing a room the whole time (6 days). Today is the last day.

Obviously I said yes – this would be a lot of fun together. I’d also never been to a conference before, I had no idea what to expect.

Sounds like either a great experience or a reality TV show.

The road trip was amazing. We had so much, lots of laughing and memories.

Conference came along, and first day was going good. We networked/met with some people we emailed often and it was really nice.

Now – I’m half-baked (almost 20 weeks) pregnant, and I’m exhausted and uncomfortable a lot of the time.

I usually woke up pretty “blegh,” and not very energetic. I’m also like this most days in general (while pregnant). She’s very active and a walker, and I’d always kinda be slugging behind on our way to talks.

Pregnancy: 1, Energy: 0.

There was an awesome party at the end of it, and I didn’t wanna stay too long cause my legs were getting kinda swollen, we were on our feet for a while, and also I can’t drink. (I’m very social and mingley after a drink or two).

I said I would go back to the room early. She came with me, didn’t have to.

Anyway – for the last two of those 3 conference days, she just kind of ignored me. She gave quick answers to all my questions, I tried to make conversation, but always quick answers. She always walked ahead of me. Basically never looked at me.

She knows I’m pregnant obviously, and she’s always been very compassionate (up until now) about my “condition” lol.

Sounds like you went from ‘friend’ to ‘pregnant speed bump’ real quick.

At first I thought maybe she was just getting tired from the trip too. But then it went on for the rest of the trip.

Finally, when flying out of the city, she says “Almost there! Sorry your trip sucked.” In an annoyed tone. And I was like, “what? What do you mean? It didn’t suck?” She smirked and was like 🤷🏽‍♀️

When we got back to the hotel, I asked “Why do you think I thought the trip sucked? What did I do? You seemed quite annoyed with me.”

“It seemed like you would have rather been anywhere else than there, and it bummed me out. I hope it wasn’t a waste…. For you.”

(They paid for the trip obviously, so while she tacked on “for you,” I’m sure she meant a waste of money for them.)

Her husband offered some perspective.

I texted my husband about this, and he said “that sucks, but I guess remember that she’s your boss before your friend.”

Thats true, but she always ensure it’s the other way around. And if it were boss first case, shouldn’t no emotions be attached?

That being said, it was a conference. Tired slug isn’t really the best vibe for networking… maybe I should I have tried harder to be more professional. Though again, we have similar demeanors, and I think we did about the same amount. She wasn’t smiling and shaking hands with everyone either.

Did we just spend too much time together? What am I missing?

Sometimes, the lines blur between friendship and work expectations. But what does Reddit think?

This person says the boss was being way inappropriate.

This person agrees…the line in their relationship feels crossed.

This person feels for OP…and all her pregnancy symptoms.

Sometimes, the most exhausting part of a trip is not the travel, but the unexpected cold shoulder.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.