How many of us have been in the situation of explaining in detail why we can’t go to work? If you have a job with no guaranteed PTO, it can feel like you need to tell the entire life story to get your boss to approve of you missing a shift. In many hourly positions, you have to get one of your fellow employees to take your shift, or else you aren’t allowed to miss it: hence the soliloquies about your misfortunes. When I worked at a dog bakery, my dog was literally in the process of passing away, and even that wasn’t enough to get one of my fellow employees to cover my shift. In hindsight, I should’ve been able to tell my managers about this misfortune and take off without anyone covering my shift because forcing someone to work at a dog bakery while their dog is dying is cruel and unusual, but I digress.