Imagine being hired for a job. You do your job. You’re good at your job. But there’s another task that it would be helpful if you did as well. You have the time to do it, but the task itself is something you don’t enjoy.

Would you step up and take on the task anyway, especially if you have more free time than your coworkers, or would you stick to the job you were hired to do?

In this story, one employee is in this situation. She feels bad that her coworkers who have kids have to take on this extra work when she knows she has more free time than they do since she doesn’t have kids.

Is she overreacting, or is she really an inconsiderate coworker? Keep reading for all the details.

AITA for not wanting to do on site construction overseeing while my colleagues don’t complain while also having kids?

I work at a small company that does natural gas industrial plants. We plan them and then oversee the building process.

My job on paper is as a „technical draftsman“ (I think that’s the right translation for technischer Zeichner). But I also do some planning and measurements on site.

She sounds pretty self-aware.

I generally do pretty bad at social interaction / overseer work because I never know if what I’m doing is correct and where I can say yes or no.

I’m also not really assertive so if I’m up against someone who is assertive it can lead to problems (I’m also a little bit autistic which doesn’t help).

She feels bad for not taking on this extra work.

The problem is that my colleagues who have on site experience all have kids.

I don’t, so I would be the perfect candidate for working on site (long hours, irregular times etc.) but I really hate that part of the job. So much that I would quit if it was my only task.

We never really argue about anything and just get it done and I have no problem helping out in a situation. But I feel like a jerk because I’m here complaining while my colleagues get it done while also having kids.

Makes me feel like that „special little snowflake“ that wants / needs specia treatment while everyone else has a lot more on their plate but just does it while also juggling parental responsibilities.

Look, she has a job to do, and it sounds like she does it. If she’s not good at another task, she’s not helping anyone out by taking it on. It’s good to know your limits. Sometimes it’s worth pushing these limits, but in the same way having kids isn’t a reason to not do a particular job, not having kids isn’t a reason to do a particular job.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee whose dietary restrictions caused the whole office to turn against her.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person suggests looking for a different job.

But this person doesn’t think she’s doing anything wrong.

One person thinks she’s a slacker.

But another person makes a good point.

What is her job description? If this on-site work is not part of her job, she shouldn’t feel guilty at all about not doing it. If it is part of her job, then she probably needs to look for another job.

It sounds like she’s very self-aware and knows her limits, which is a good thing. She shouldn’t feel forced to take on a task she hates.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who wasn’t keen on contributing more to a coworker’s gift than originally planned.