Coworker Threatens to Leave Perpetually Late Friend Behind. Then She Is Shocked When They Actually Do It

A Reddit user is questioning whether they went too far after cutting off rides to work for a friend who couldn’t show up on time.

In the post, the 23-year-old explained that she often drove her 22-year-old coworker, Teana, to work since they lived nearby and started their shifts around the same time. The two had an easy arrangement: Teana would help with gas every two weeks, and her friend would pick her up each morning.

At first, everything ran smoothly. But soon, Teana’s chronic lateness started to cause problems.
“Every single time I’d text her ‘I’m outside,’ and she’d take ten or fifteen minutes to come out, sometimes even longer,” the poster wrote. What began as a small inconvenience eventually made them late to work multiple times — enough that their boss began to notice.

Realizing her job could be on the line, the Redditor decided to set some boundaries. “Last Friday, I warned her that I’d only wait 5 minutes because I couldn’t afford another late mark,” she said. But when the next morning came, the same pattern repeated. “When I pulled up, I texted her ‘here.’ She said ‘one sec.’ After waiting five minutes, I called but she didn’t answer. I waited another minute and called again… then I left.”

Fifteen minutes later, her phone began to blow up with angry texts. Teana accused her of “abandoning” her and making her walk in the heat, which caused her to miss part of her shift.
“I told her I was sorry but I had already warned her multiple times,” the poster said. But Teana wasn’t having it. “She said I should’ve waited because that’s what friends do.”

Since then, the two haven’t spoken — and the silence has left the Redditor wondering if she was too harsh.

To make matters more complicated, a mutual friend chimed in, saying she should’ve just waited a few more minutes “to keep the peace.” Still, the Redditor felt that the repeated delays showed a lack of respect. “Life happens,” she wrote, “but she just didn’t respect my time.”

The story struck a chord online, where commenters overwhelmingly sided with the driver.
“You communicated, gave her advance notice, and still waited before leaving,” one person wrote. “You’re doing her a favor by driving her — even with gas money, it’s still a favor.”

Another added that occasional lateness is understandable, but letting someone’s bad habits jeopardize your job isn’t.
“S— happens, people are late sometimes, but you can’t sacrifice your job for her tardiness,” the comment read.

In the end, the poster stood by her choice: “Exactly, I had to put myself first. If I kept on tolerating it, she’d not stop.”