Days off should belong to employees, but basic workplace courtesy does not always follow the schedule.

This server routinely waits an hour or two before answering requests to cover an unexpected shift.

Their mother insists that every message deserves an immediate response, while OP sees absolutely no reason to hurry.

See why Reddit checked their attitude.

AITA for not responding to my boss immediately?

I work at a restaurant as a part time server and every once in a while my boss will text me to see if I want to come in, and during most of my days off I have things I like to do, as well as things I need to do, and I don’t always get around to responding immediately.

Sometimes I’ll see the message and be in the middle of something and not get around to replying to it until an hour or two later.

Sounds like that’s already going above and beyond for someone who isn’t getting paid.

I told my mother this information and she got extremely angry, saying how I should reply as soon as possible, drop what I’m doing, and formulate a response.

I completely disagree.

This is my day off, and sometimes I just don’t get around to it until later on.

I don’t see why I should completely drop what I’m doing and be at the beck and call of my boss on my day off.

It’s not in my job description to be sitting on my phone, waiting for a potential text from my boss on my days off, and reply immediately.

For a restaurant job, that seems like a wildly unreasonable expectation.

I understand where she’s coming from, in terms of good impressions and being a respectable employee, but this is something I stand firm on.

If I’m on my day off and I get a call or text from my boss, I am not obligated to respond immediately, but I will respond when I get the chance, and sometimes that just happens to be hours later.

Are they that short staffed?

She acts like I need to be in a rush, and for some reason me not being concerned or in a rush about responding to my boss bothers her.

I’m not obligated to even reply, it’s not in my job description to be on call 24×7, and I’m not ignoring my boss.

I’m simply enjoying my day, taking my time, and responding when I get around to it, and for some reason that just isn’t good enough.

Perhaps her mother should be the one running a restaurant and managing employees?

My biggest issue is that she immediately takes the side of my boss rather than me, as if my part time job should be a higher priority than enjoying my day off. AITA?

It does seem like a very odd hill to die on on the part of the mother. Let’s see if the comments agree…

All were virtually unanimous in their support of the original poster.

Many comments decried the completely outlandish expectations that technology have imposed on relationships.

Though a few people pointed out that the source of the conflict is the generational gap.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who gets problematic overtime changes reversed by pointing out how it will harm the company’s bottom line.

Ultimately, it’s not as if she is working a high-in-demand on-call job.

OP defended delayed replies by arguing that days off should not require constant availability.

Commenters agreed immediate responses were unnecessary, but deliberately waiting hours to decline was inconsiderate and could leave coworkers scrambling.

Being off the clock is perfectly reasonable, but apparently common courtesy was also taking the entire day off.