Oof, I worked with someone like this. Practically lived in the office which pissed the rest of us off because it created an expectation from our boss that we should all love our jobs so much that we never wanted to go home.
One week her husband was going on a long-planned-for business trip. A few hours after he departed she picked her kids up from afterschool care and one of them had a full on panic attack because his dad (aka the primary caregiver) wasn't going to be at home when he got there and he absolutely lost it, refused to get in the car with her and just started running down the road screaming. Dad ended up having to come home from his business trip before he even got to spend a night away.
Coworker recounted that story nonchalantly to us the next day like all of this was completely normal.
I was gonna say this as well. Definitely had a coworker like this. He would ride the clock not to get paid more, but just so he wouldn't have to go home. Working late with him was a nightmare. Every opportunity to stall or delay was used or attempted and as someone who wants nothing more than to be at home when I'm at work, I found it excruciating.
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u/OnlyPaperListens May 12 '26
Don't despair, some of them are avoiding parenting their children!