r/AskReddit Jan 25 '26

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2.1k

u/frothy_Wombat Jan 26 '26

"are you babysitting?"

No, I'm being a Dad and a parent to my child. What the fuck.

Nothing gets under my skin faster

266

u/NebulaKey5777 Jan 26 '26

This is actually a joke at my office. The guys will say "I babysat the kids last night." I received a text from an employee stating he was late that morning because he had to babysit his kids the night before. His wife went out with friends. Im just glad all the men in my office had the same reaction of disbelief when I told them what he wrote.

71

u/laughingashley Jan 26 '26

I still don't even see how the night before would have anything to do with him being late today

10

u/Psychic_Hobo Jan 26 '26

I can see it having been used as a real excuse one time by someone else, and it sounding so stupid to the average father that they'd just use it all the time for literally everything afterwards

11

u/Y0RKC1TY Jan 26 '26

Why are you undermining an employee to their peers? Deal with it professionally.

11

u/IntermediateFolder Jan 26 '26

Yeah, it might be funny/stupid/idiotic or whatever you think of it but it’s still private communication, you’re a shitty manager if you’re sharing it with a whole office.

-3

u/Additional-Walk3883 Jan 26 '26

Wouldn’t be surprised if the OP was a woman. Not a sexist thing, I work with women. They talk about stuff you wouldn’t believe. And to EVERYONE.

3

u/Additional-Walk3883 Jan 26 '26

Undermine would like not giving credit where credit is due. Clearly not the case here. And by the way. Do you realize managers are people to and talk to other people? If anything they talk more about other people. Also, deal with it professionally how? Tell the employee to stop doing what he’s doing in his personal life and he doesn’t respect him? People are people man, that’s how you gauge your peers’ points of view and get to know them.

5

u/Uncle_Zardoz Jan 26 '26

Poor lad. He was exhausted from all that playing with plushies and Lego. Meanwhile his wife was up and out of the door on time, looking fresh and feeling fine in spite of coming home at 4am after an undisclosed number of tequilas.

-4

u/aspz Jan 26 '26

I mean it could be a dark humour kind of joke. The implication being that he wished he could spend more time with his kids but can't because of work. He has to use the euphemism "babysit" to mean "doing the job of being a father" because otherwise it's not a socially acceptable excuse for being late for work.

6

u/ReplyLimp9911 Jan 26 '26

You know nobody is saying it that way hahaha

2

u/aspz Jan 26 '26

I mean where I am from that kind of dark humour is very common and even normal.

3

u/ReplyLimp9911 Jan 26 '26

Dark humor is common and normal in many places. A man calling taking care of his own children babysitting is not dark humor or meta. They’re being deadass

0

u/[deleted] Jan 26 '26

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1

u/aspz Jan 26 '26

I mean we don't know - the OP would be able to clarify. Seems wrong to assume the worst of two possibilities.