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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

In not going to work in this weather?

145 replies

tearinghairout · 20/12/2010 22:12

I'm supposed to go in tomorrow. I work two days per week in a shop in town, about a mile and a half away. The cars in my hamlet are snowed in. I don't fancy the walk, then on my feet all day, then the walk back in the dark, especially if the road is icy.

AIBU? I haven't worked there long. All the others live in the town so I feel I'm the only one letting the side down.

OP posts:
bubbleOseven · 20/12/2010 22:13

Yes YABU, just go, it'll be a very quiet day anyway if the weather is that bad

jasper · 20/12/2010 22:15

You are being very unreasonable.
That's why it's called work and why you get paid to do it.

Wait - is this a wind up?

valleyqueen · 20/12/2010 22:15

A mile and half is how far dd walks to school, it's not that far.

ajandjjmum · 20/12/2010 22:16

A mile and a half really isn't far, as long as it's safe. Or you could contact work and see if they'd like you to come in, on the basis that you need to return home during the light.

DS and I travelled from the Midlands to London for a hospital appointment today - not easy, but do-able. Two of the consultants didn't make it in, which was a little frustrating!!

Talk to your boss, and see what they think.

Ormirian · 20/12/2010 22:16

Just go. It isn't very far and who is going to take up the slack if you don't?

Original poster
tearinghairout · 20/12/2010 22:18

No it's not a wind up. When I drove home on Friday night the car was skidding & it was horribel. No-one here has been on the road today, the snow is up over my wellies.

OP posts:
trixymalixy · 20/12/2010 22:18

YABU, not fancying going in isn't a good enough reason. It is not far at all.

JodiesMummy · 20/12/2010 22:19

Go - dont be such a wimp! At my work the gas was off all last week and it was minus ten in my office! But things needed doing. I needed the money.

violethill · 20/12/2010 22:19

If all the others live locally too and turn up, you're going to look like you're taking the piss

christmaswrapping · 20/12/2010 22:20

See if you can get a colleague to cover for you, if you can work a different shift for them. Or take the day as holiday/unpaid leave.

Don't expect to not go in, and still be paid.

lololizzy · 20/12/2010 22:21

depends if you really love the job and want to make good impression. It's not a bad distance at all. I work in a rural setting with no heating and stone floor. But i'd get cabin fever and couldnt survive without the money. If you can afford to and don't mind what others think..

jasper · 20/12/2010 22:21

a mile and a half is no distance at all if you are a healthy ambulant person. Put some old socks over the feet of your wellies to stop you slipping.
Walking in the snow is fun!

Guitargirl · 20/12/2010 22:24

Assuming that you are healthy then a mile and a half is bugger all!

Original poster
tearinghairout · 20/12/2010 22:25

violet - the town is like a large village & the other staff all live there (within a couple of minute's walk) & I don't.

I phoned up earlier to see if they could manage without me. They said they could, but that they'd need me on Friday because someone was off. That's what got me thinking - so if they'd have needed me tomorrow they would've expected me to walk in & back. It's the going back in the dark/ice on a country road that bothers me.

OP posts:
valleyqueen · 20/12/2010 22:26

In fact looking outside I will probably have to walk that distance just to get to the bus stops, as all buses will not come up the 4 hills that lead to my town.

Original poster
tearinghairout · 20/12/2010 22:26

I get paid by the shift, so I won't be paid.

OP posts:
Guitargirl · 20/12/2010 22:26

How much would a cab be?

christmaswrapping · 20/12/2010 22:26

Take a torch, and put socks over your wellies. Go for a walk tomorrow with no time commitment, psych yourself up for going in on Friday.

hairyfairylights · 20/12/2010 22:27

YABU. It's only a mile and a half. One lady was prepared to walk three and a half to work today and three and a half back.

I think if you turn up, they should allow you home before it's dark, though.

Are you expecting to be paid?

JodiesMummy · 20/12/2010 22:28

Glad you dont work for me!

Original poster
tearinghairout · 20/12/2010 22:28

A cab? It would take a 4 x 4.

OP posts:
Katisha · 20/12/2010 22:29

You are definitely in walking distance.

expatinscotland · 20/12/2010 22:29

Buck up and go in. Order some of those ice grips for your shoes or buy them in a shop.

My husband walks over 3 miles each way to work in this weather, and gets off at night a lot.

I ordered him some ice grips, but they haven't arrived yet. He just uses my old trekking sticks and his CAT boots.

Don't be such a wimp.

lololizzy · 20/12/2010 22:30

wrap a scarf round nose/ears..it's not nice working all day with sinuses and ear ache from a bitter walk. Embrace the walk though..people used to moan we didnt get white Christmases!

Poppet45 · 20/12/2010 22:30

A mile and a half is NOTHING!! So what if you can't drive it, I'm amazed you'd normally drive such a tiny distance, that's embarassing. Are you elderly or infirm? I cycled around 8kms during similar weather to this in 2009. For my 12 week pregnancy scan Hmm . YAB incredibly U.
Alternatively don't go to work, but give up all future whinging rights in terms of 'a couple of inches of snow and this country grinds to a halt' because it's wussy attitudes like this that grind to a halt. I say this as someone who doesn't have a car, lives in Scotland where we've had 20cms of snow on the ground since November 27. I also can't get TV reception because of the depth of snow on our roof, haven't had any Amazon deliveries of xmas pressies for weeks, and I'm currently lugging a 30lb toddler in a rucksack on my back everywhere we go because no pathways are fit for a buggy, he doesn't walk and he falls off sleds. Oh and we went for a 50 minute walk through the snow today... for fun. No one paid us a bean.