Pexels/Reddit

There are some things you can only put off for so long, and using the bathroom is definitely one of them.

One fast-food employee learned that after asking his manager several times for a quick bathroom break during a busy shift.

At first, he agreed to wait until things slowed down, but even then, his manager still told him no.

Hours later, it was already past the end of his shift and he was still struggling to work in pain.

When he couldn’t take it any longer, he told his manager he needed to go or else.

Keep reading to see what happened next.

AITA for giving my manager an ultimatum

This all happened about 4–5 hours ago, as I was constructing a sandwich for a hungry customer when, all of a sudden, nature called and I needed to go.

The problem with this was that there were only two people working at the time, and I take a while in the bathroom, so it wasn’t really an option, and I held it in.

About 1 hour after that, one of my coworkers, who I’ll call Joe, showed up and clocked in, so I thought, “Finally, I can go use the bathroom.”

When help got there, he asked to go use the restroom.

So I went to ask my manager, who I’ll call Scott, “Hey, since Joe is here, can I use the bathroom? Nature’s calling, if you get what I mean.”

He said he understood, but to wait until we weren’t busy. So I continued to hold it in.

About one and a half hours later, we slowed down to around 2 cars every 10 minutes. I asked again since we weren’t busy. Scott said no again since I got off in about an hour and a half. Whatever, I’ll continue to hold it.

At this point, the manager told him to wait until he was off work.

For the past 2 hours, I was feeling uncomfortable because I was holding it in for so long, but then it became almost unbearable for me. It stopped me in the middle of making sandwiches many times.

I had to move slowly so I wouldn’t upset my stomach more than it already was, and I didn’t want to lift too many heavy things (which wasn’t gonna be much anyway), so I just asked to go for 10 minutes and get as far in as I can so at least I’m not in pain anymore.

Scott again said no and to wait until 8 for me to get off.

His clock-out time rolled around, but they were in the middle of a rush.

When the time came for me to clock out, there was an odd amount of people ordering, so I asked Scott if I could leave once I completed all these orders.

Scott then proceeded to tell me our district manager said no one could leave early, but that didn’t really explain if I could leave once the orders were done since it was time for me to leave anyway.

I told him I got off at 8 and wouldn’t be leaving early since it was already past 8. He just said to continue working.

Finally, he let his manager know that he couldn’t hold it any longer.

At around 8:30, I couldn’t hold it anymore. Just constant pain, and I could barely move without almost pooping myself, so I went to Scott (who was eating in the manager’s office) and said, “Scott, I literally can’t hold it anymore, so it’s either I go home and use the bathroom or I go and use the bathroom here.”

He just said, “Alright, whatever, go,” in a mad tone.

I was annoyed because I was being kept after I was scheduled, and I’d had to use the bathroom for hours, but in the car on my way home, I felt bad because I left and they still had to get stuff prepared for closing and still take orders.

AITA?

Yikes! It’s kinda crazy that a manager would keep someone from going to the restroom like that.

Let’s see how the readers over at Reddit feel about what happened.

According to this comment, holding it is unhealthy.

This would’ve been great context to have.

It probably is illegal.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who quiet quit, then quit for real, following a no-overtime mandate.

A formal complaint would be a great way to handle it.

How would the manager like it if someone did that to him? He probably wouldn’t.

For starters, not being able to go to the bathroom when you need is not healthy. But, beyond that, it’s a basic human right.

If possible, he really needs to file a complaint against the manager.

And next time, maybe he should just go and not even ask.