Some people feel entitled for no reason. Others might base their entitlement on grounds that are in no way related to the situation.
Reddit user colleen-t described one such person on the ‘Entitled Parents’ subreddit. She told the story of how an employee came to work late and dragged her kid along. The nature of the job doesn’t allow children there and she knew it. Not only did she bring the child, the employee also demanded preferential treatment just because she’s a mom.
Some people feel entitled to preferential treatment for reasons only known to them
Image credits: Irfan Rahat (not the actual photo)
This employee comes to work late, brings her kid, and demands special treatment just because she’s a mom
A colleague offers to watch over the child, with one condition, though
Image credits: ORION_production (not the actual photo)
Image source: colleen-t
The OP posted an update on how the carnival went
The redditor also provided more information about the entitled employee
Image source: colleen-t
People with a sense of entitlement often fail to follow instructions or tend to get frustrated when things don’t go their way
Image credits: Mizuno K (not the actual photo)
Some people feel like they’re entitled to certain privileges. That’s why when they don’t get the treatment they think they deserve, things can escalate quickly. Better Help pointed out that when things don’t go their way, people with a sense of entitlement tend to lash out at others in anger or frustration.
In the OP’s story, the employee threw a tantrum when things took a turn in an unfavorable direction. She played the mom card and said her superior couldn’t understand her, since she’s not a mother herself. The author of the post pointed out that it wasn’t a first—she has used her child as an excuse before to get a longer break or higher payment. In addition to that, the employee knew that she wasn’t supposed to bring her kid to work but did it anyway.
A 2019 research revealed that there’s a link between psychological entitlement and failure to follow instructions. It suggested that it’s based on the entitled individuals’ likelihood of viewing such directions as “an unfair imposition on them”. It also stated that such people “would be happy to escape punishment for not following instructions”.
Moreover, the study emphasized that, “Organizations and societies run more smoothly when people are willing to follow instructions, and entitled people themselves could also benefit from following instructions, as this would help them to avoid punishments.”
If every mother felt entitled to someone watching over their kid at the workplace, the professional environment would look a lot different
Image credits: Ketut Subiyanto (not the actual photo)
The employee in the story justified her being late on reasons mostly related to the child. It’s understandable, parents often have to deal with unexpected situations, especially when certain arrangements fall through. That’s when they simply don’t have a choice but to tow their little ones along as the last resort.
But this hardly seemed like the case. She said her husband couldn’t handle the kid and, according to the OP, she didn’t bother looking for a sitter because “there are people sitting around and look free to watch over her kid”.
If every mother felt entitled to someone watching over their kid at work, it would likely cause quite a commotion at the workplaces. Especially considering that, according to 2021 data, 71.2% of mothers with kids under the age of 18 were working or actively looking for employment.
The question of whether kids should be allowed to spend time at their parents’ workplace is a debatable one. Society for Human Resource Management pointed out that it differs from company to company and emphasized that places that do allow such arrangements should have clear children-at-work policies.
Some companies don’t because their environment is not safe for youngsters. According to the OP, the mother was not permitted to bring the child along due to the nature of her job. Luckily for her, a colleague offered to watch over the kid when she did. But little did the mom know that it was all part of a plan to teach her a lesson.
By offering to take care of the child and take them to the carnival, he made sure they had a wonderful time, which the mother had to compensate for. This led to a fit of anger, after which the woman was never offered a job with the company again.
People didn’t shy away from expressing their opinions, from shaming the father, to applauding the person who took care of the child
