Anonymous discussion · Angry
My manager sent a message asking me to join a review call at 10:30 tonight because a client had moved their deadline
My manager sent a message asking me to join a review call at 10:30 tonight because a client had moved their deadline. I had already shut the laptop and was standing in the kitchen with one sock on, which is a stupid detail but that is where I was. He said it would only be for half an hour. It is always half an hour. I replied that I could join this time, then sat down again and opened the laptop. I am angry with him, but also with myself because I keep making the same answer easy for him. I have spent years becoming the person who will absorb these things quietly. In my position I can say no, technically. But the next promotion discussion, the rating language, all of it becomes vague. Last month he was telling me I was one of the people he trusted most. Now I am wondering if trusted means available. I looked at a job site during the call and closed it when the salary filters became depressing. The client issue was real. My manager was not shouting or being unreasonable in that obvious way. That almost makes it worse. I joined the call. Half an hour became ninety minutes. Tomorrow I will be the senior person telling my team to protect their time. I know how that sounds. I have to decide whether to finally refuse the next request or accept that this is the job I chose.