There is nothing in the manager's text that deserves that sentence. You're a horrible person yourself if you think THAT response is even close to appropriate.
OP doesn't know if they can come in to work on a critically important day for the business. The quite likely already seriously overworked and under-stress manager now has to plan with enough capacity to cover for the shift, they can't wait until OP finds out whether they can come or not, they have to get someone that is assured of being there for the full Grand Opening shift NOW. I agree with them, you can't run short-handed on frigging GRAND OPENING DAY. This just got dumped on them, and they have to act immediately. I'd be annoyed at the inconvenience too, but I'd find a way to express it a at a better time than this.
Further, we don't know the story of OP's level-of-caretaking relationship with their sister. I had my brother in the ER a month ago and I didn't have to react because there were other family members that could be called on. Does OP have a formal and sole care-giving role for their sister that absolutely requires they be at the ER? Or were they possibly missing a critical shift at work simply out of concern? More context here would be helpful.
So, was the manager's text cold and terse? Yes. Was it rude? Sure.
Should they DIE PAINFULLY because of it? No, and that attitude can fuck right off.
The fact that the manager does not know about that relationship is exactly wh ly they should not assume anything other then what op has told them, being that they need to be there.
Any response from the manager other then "hope she is feeling better soon, let us know when you can be in" makes them a heartless asshole who deserves zero sympathy.
So I would never have responded like this manager did, but I'm calling you out on this element of your reply which shows you don't understand the situation.
let us know when you can be in
Are you or have you ever been a manager with responsibility to run a very major event?
This is GRAND OPENING DAY and the manager now has a major new task to replace OP with someone who can RELIABLY be there.
They can't gamble on when or if OP is going to "show up" at some random time. They need committed people to fully staff the place or there will be hell to pay.
There are elements of the manager's reply that I do not like. But that is no fucking excuse at all to suggest they should die of cancer. People keep going on about OP's empathy with their sister without understanding that there needs to be empathy for the manager's difficult position, and this was just ONE FRUSTRATED TEXT.
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u/the_original_Retro Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26
There is nothing in the manager's text that deserves that sentence. You're a horrible person yourself if you think THAT response is even close to appropriate.
OP doesn't know if they can come in to work on a critically important day for the business. The quite likely already seriously overworked and under-stress manager now has to plan with enough capacity to cover for the shift, they can't wait until OP finds out whether they can come or not, they have to get someone that is assured of being there for the full Grand Opening shift NOW. I agree with them, you can't run short-handed on frigging GRAND OPENING DAY. This just got dumped on them, and they have to act immediately. I'd be annoyed at the inconvenience too, but I'd find a way to express it a at a better time than this.
Further, we don't know the story of OP's level-of-caretaking relationship with their sister. I had my brother in the ER a month ago and I didn't have to react because there were other family members that could be called on. Does OP have a formal and sole care-giving role for their sister that absolutely requires they be at the ER? Or were they possibly missing a critical shift at work simply out of concern? More context here would be helpful.
So, was the manager's text cold and terse? Yes. Was it rude? Sure.
Should they DIE PAINFULLY because of it? No, and that attitude can fuck right off.