Coworkers Wanted Someone To Ride In The Trunk During Carpool Overflow, And When This Woman Refused, They Called Her “Inflexible”

Heather Hall

3 months ago

Silver SUV parked and waiting for the carpoolers to get in

Pexels/Reddit

Riding to work with your coworkers can be a hassle, but it usually beats paying the full cost of the commute yourself.

So, what would you do if your carpool suddenly had too many people for the number of seats, and one of your coworkers suggested the “solution” was for someone to ride in the trunk?

Would you go along with it to keep the peace? Or would you refuse, even if it made you look inflexible?

In the following story, one woman finds herself in this exact dilemma and chooses the latter.

Here’s what happened.

AITAH For not wanting to ride in the trunk of a coworker’s SUV for our daily commutes?

I F(31) carpool ride every day to work with my coworkers. There are five of us total, and our commute takes about an hour each way.

We used to work from home a couple of times a week before we had to return to the office full-time.

A couple of weeks ago, one coworker (Ray) decided to rent an apartment closer to work and said he couldn’t carpool anymore.

This would increase our daily cost by about $2 since we divide everything.

I was fine with it, but one coworker (Sam) was against it, so she started looking for someone else to ride with us or give us a ride.

Sam found a guy (Henry) willing to drive us every day since we all live close. We decided to start riding with him on Monday.

The problem was that Ray wouldn’t move until Thursday, so that meant 6 people for a 5-seat car.

Everything was fine until Sam pulled her aside.

Sam’s solution was to have one person ride in the trunk and rotate so it wasn’t the same person every time until Thursday.

I said I didn’t think that was safe and that we could just keep carpooling normally until Thursday.

Sam said it was okay, and I wouldn’t have to ride in the trunk, but we HAD to start with Henry on Monday since they agreed.

Well, today at work, Sam asked to talk to me. She then told me I am inflexible about the seat assignment and that, although I wouldn’t have to sit in the trunk, I won’t get to ride in the front seat until Ray moves.

I was taken aback and again said I thought the trunk was unsafe and that if it was a problem, I could find another ride home.

She said that wasn’t necessary. She just wanted me to know how inflexible I was being.

To make matters worse, another coworker jumped in against her.

Another coworker (Jaz) was there and started backing up Sam, which surprised me since Jaz has been late for our commute home more than once.

I’ve been the one to tell our coworker to wait for her because leaving her would mean a 2 or 3-hour bus and subway trip home. Jaz doesn’t know I’ve done that, but was still talking about ‘being flexible’.

I was also flabbergasted by their calling me inflexible since my shift starts at 8:30 am and theirs starts at 7 am (Monday through Thursday) and 9 am on Fridays.

I’ve been getting up early to make sure they aren’t late, but on Fridays, I’m always 15 or 30 minutes late because they don’t want to get up early on the one day they can sleep in.

My manager knows and doesn’t reprimand me since I’m there at 7 am every other day, but it still makes me uncomfortable.

Fed up, she’s job hunting to find something better.

The company also sent a form for some workers to fill out if they want to work in a new building closer to where they live.

The problem is that not all of us can sign up. All five of my carpooling coworkers can move, but I would be left out and need a new commute.

They know that, but still plan to move.

I’m not planning on staying at this company long; I’ve been job hunting for a month, hoping to find something remote or closer to home.

AITA?

Yikes! This sounds like quite a situation.

Let’s see what the folks over at Reddit think about carpooling and all these issues.

This person thinks she’s wrong for being selfish.