Some managers expect employees to make the impossible happen.

This employee had car troubles on his way to work. When he called work to ask someone to cover his shift, his manager seemed to think he should still be able to make it to work on time.

Read the full story below for more details.

Manager refuses to understand why I need to call out

I ran over a nail and blew a tire, so I had to turn around on my way to work and drive to a safe place to wait for a tow truck.

I called my boss and asked if someone could cover me for an hour because I needed to patch my tire at the nearby shop.

The manager told me that I needed to be at my shift on time and that I was required to come to my shift. They said that once I clocked in and took care of opening the store, the manager could find someone to cover my shift, and I could go home.

I literally just glitched out and started stammering. The manager is the type of person who often interprets “disrespect” from harmless interactions.

So I struggled to figure out how to ask them how they got confused, or what made them believe I’d be able to drive 45 minutes to work on a totally flat tire, without them interpreting it as “disrespect.”

This employee desperately tried to explain to his manager that it impossible to make it on time.

I just said, “I’m sorry… what?” The manager got angry and started repeating the instructions in a really condescending voice, getting louder and more belligerent, clearly becoming emotional and upset that I wasn’t able to magically re-inflate my tire and come to work.

Keep in mind, it was 10 minutes until opening at this point, and we had been on the phone going back and forth for about 15 minutes.

My commute is about an hour, and I was 45 minutes away from the store. Even if I had tire-specific powers and could make a tire out of a piece of concrete, I still wouldn’t have been able to get there on time unless I could also teleport.

It seemed to finally click that I was physically unable to come to work, and I was let off the phone. But I just know that this fact didn’t “emotionally land.”

I know, from years of dealing with this person, that they are going to interpret my actions as “disrespectful” or intentionally insubordinate because I didn’t comply with their physically impossible demand.

Reasoning with this manager is like talking to a brick wall.

Let’s read what other people have to say about this.

Here’s a valid observation.

This makes sense.

Interesting question.

A hilarious comment from this user.

And some wise advice.

Respect is earned, not demanded.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.