He Gave His Coworker a Ride to Work as a Favor—Then Got Stranded in the Parking Lot for 20 Minutes After Every Shift
Pexels/Reddit
A favor stays a favor only until the other person starts treating it like a service.
One employee offered a coworker a ride to and from work while his car was in the shop, and at first, it was no trouble. After all, the coworker only lived five minutes away.
Once the car was fixed, the coworker kept asking for rides to save on gas, and the employee kept saying yes.
The trouble started when the coworker started treating the end of the workday as optional. He chatted, finished non-urgent tasks, and took personal calls while the employee sat in the parking lot waiting 15 to 20 minutes almost every day. He clearly figured the driver had nowhere better to be.
One afternoon, the employee gave his coworker a deadline and left him in the dust when he disrespected it.
Keep reading for the full story.
AITA for refusing to give my coworker a ride home anymore after he started making me wait 20 minutes in the parking lot?
I (26M) work at an office with a coworker, “Mark” (27M), who lives about five minutes away from my apartment. About two months ago, his car went into the shop, so I offered to give him a ride to and from work until it was fixed.
But what was supposed to be a short-term favor ended up becoming a long-term expectation.
At first, it was fine. But after his car got fixed, he just kept asking for rides to “save on gas,” and I agreed because it wasn’t out of my way.
Then things started to change.
The problem started three weeks ago.
At the end of our shift (5:00 PM), I’d head straight to my car, but Mark would stay inside chatting, finishing up non-urgent tasks, or taking personal calls.
I ended up sitting in my car waiting for him for 15 to 20 minutes almost every single day.
So he tries to get Mark back on track, but Mark continues to disrespect his time.
Last Tuesday, I texted him at 5:05 PM saying I was leaving at 5:10 PM sharp. At 5:10 PM, he wasn’t there, so I drove home.
He called me furious, saying I stranded him at work and that he had to call an Uber.
Finally, he decided it was time to put the carpooling to a end.
The next day, I told him that I’m done being his daily driver and he needs to figure out his own commute from now on.
Mark had a lot to say about that.
He thinks I’m overreacting over “a few minutes,” and a couple of mutual coworkers said I was being petty for cutting him off completely instead of just giving him another chance.
AITA for telling him he can’t ride with me anymore?
He’s allowed to revoke these free rides whenever he sees fit.
Redditors chime in with their takes.
Mark doesn’t deserve to get away with this unfettered entitlement.
Time is not an infinite resource.
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This commenter makes their stance abundantly clear.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a professional cheesemaker who works for a family business, but isn’t sure about working for a 17yo boy.
Tallying up all the wasted time makes it clear his coworker’s behavior really is a big deal.
The people who called this petty probably never sat in a parking lot for twenty minutes every night.
Cutting off a coworker might seem harsh, but it’s important to remember just how many chances this coworker had. The employee asked for nothing, got nothing back, and waited around anyway.
Mark’s real mistake was assuming the arrangement would never end. The right thing to do would have been to at least offer gas money or a genuine thanks.
The free rides end here.
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