When I'm leaving the office one of my colleagues who finishes at the same time always says she will walk out with me to the car (it's quite a trek out of the building and the car park is huge so can take a while). However, she tends to take her time a bit, often stopping to go the loo first, sometimes caught up in conversations as she's walking out of the building etc, whereas I'm in a mindset of being on a bit of a mission to get out because I have a toddler to collect from nursery and then need to start the battle through the traffic home to get my child home and bathed etc (if it's relevant my colleague has no kids to collect after work).
It really frustrates me being slowed down so instead of hanging around waiting, I've started to say "I'm really sorry but I need to go for the nursery pick up" and then just walking off quickly. Is it possible I come across as rude saying this? I really don't mean to come across that way and I actually really like my colleague and enjoy chatting to her as we walk out (as long as it's speedy walking 😂), but I honestly haven't got the luxury of time for hanging around at the end of the working day when I have a child to collect and get home and sorted etc.
I'm now starting to worry though that I come across as rude unintentionally. So MN - would you think I was rude for doing this if I was your colleague?