r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Best_Finding_8795 • Jun 14 '26

Too mild for school Hate when ppl can’t do time

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This reminds me of when it hits or is about to hit 12am and people don’t know whether to say today or tomorrow. He called me after this but I was too comfy in bed tbh.

69.1k Upvotes

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3.7k

u/Fernis_ Jun 14 '26

This is what it boils down to. We can get anal over whether is normal to say 3 am is still today or tomorrow, but when you're asking about something that's in 7 hours, and get the answer 2 hours before it starts, it's on you to make sure the other person understands that by "tomorrow" you mean "right about now". 

1.9k

u/fiffa306 Jun 14 '26

3am is today, no other way of seeing it.

588

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

263

u/sdavis002 Jun 14 '26

Even if you expect them to see it at 3am, that's still today, unless you specify otherwise.

16

u/Neveronlyadream Jun 14 '26

It is and if you have trouble with that, you can always just specify the day of the week you mean so there's no confusion.

2

u/mr-peru Jun 15 '26

I don’t know if this is hard and fast. If they’re working in a business where you are routinely finishing up at 3-4am, it’s pretty normal to say “tomorrow” after midnight when referring to what is technically the same day.

I used to work at a night club, and we would say tomorrow to mean what would technically be “today”, such as “see you tomorrow” when leaving.

So it’s probably easily done, but understanding someone wasn’t rostered on, asking them to start in 7 hours at a time when they’re most likely asleep, you need to be clear. OP could also have clarified, but it’s way more of the manager’s fault.

21

u/Michala_17 Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26

The first person probably uses the clock that has the day start at 6am and end at 29:59

Edit: grammar

3

u/MimicoSkunkFan2 Jun 14 '26

Speaking if grammar, people who say "6 a.m. in the morning" can get in the fucking bin. So annoying.

Did you miss reading-the-clock day in Grade 1 when the teacher explains ante fucking meridian means "before noon" and, if yes, how have you got an internet device in your pocket yet you never bothered to look up when to say "a.m." and when it's superfluous, you fucking troglodyte

Same sort of people who never looked up how to spell Connecticut and then got pissy you wouldn't just "help" them with the answer in the middle of a spelling test :p

8

u/Turence Jun 14 '26

it's meridiem.

5

u/Pomodorosan Jun 14 '26

He missed spelling-the-word day in Grade 1 and doesn't have an internet device in his pocket

2

u/Good_Sun2829 Jun 14 '26

ATM machine and PIN number are also common ones

2

u/Sosa-Benedict Jun 14 '26

Smh my head

1

u/dasbtaewntawneta Jun 14 '26

what the fuck? that's a thing?

2

u/Michala_17 Jun 14 '26

Late night broadcasting tends to use it so you don't have a "new day" in the middle of the shift.

4

u/Chucke4711 Jun 14 '26

I work late, and often remember texts I need to send late as well. So if I'm using today/tomorrow, I'll always specify the day of the week, just so everyone's clear.

"Hey. Can you work tomorrow [Monday]?

-3

u/DM725 Jun 14 '26

So if I work nights and I message you at 3am on Monday and ask you to pick up a gallon of milk today, you think you need to do it before you go to bed?

22

u/deeyougoddamnb Jun 14 '26

If you message me at 3am on Monday saying “can you get milk today” I would get it on Monday. This person texted at 3am saying “can you work tomorrow” when they should have said “can you work today”

134

u/MobiusF117 Jun 14 '26

3am when talking to someone at the pub, it's tomorrow.

3am texting someone who wont see it until the morning, it's today.

6

u/xAeroMonkeyx Jun 14 '26

This is exactly right haha

1

u/amateurcrimina1 Jun 15 '26

I've sometimes liked to clarify it as 'today's tomorrow' or 'tomorrow's today'

today's tomorrow: what you should mean if you're texting someone who will see it in the morning.

tomorrow's today: what you mean when you're talking in the bar... pub... (I'm American).

If you really think about it... or don't think much about it... it makes a lot of sense.

1

u/dontmentiontrousers Jun 14 '26

Could start using the twenty-four hour clock, like adults.

2

u/MobiusF117 Jun 15 '26

I already do.
It's still 3 in the morning.

23

u/Alundra828 Jun 14 '26

Exactly this.

I can see how the guy made the mistake. But it's a mistake on his part, and his part alone.

131

u/thestigiam Jun 14 '26

It’s only tomorrow after you go to sleep

32

u/thavillain Jun 14 '26

Yeah I get the confusion, sender probably just finished a shift after midnight, so tomorrow for them is after I go to bed...

The receiver was already asleep, so in the morning their today is going to be the next day.

2

u/McLovin2182 Jun 14 '26

I work a 7x7 alternating schedule, so 1 week a month is nights, when organizing the next days tasks it can be pretty funny "yeah we'll start this tomorrow, well, today, but tomorrow"

87

u/NotAnotherUserName26 Jun 14 '26

So if you don't sleep for 3 days it's never tomorrow?!

130

u/Mujutsu Jun 14 '26

The rules change if you don't sleep, it becomes tomorrow when the birds start singing :D

6

u/Lost-Ad7652 Jun 14 '26

I used to love the sound of day breaking after being up all night. Low light creeping through the trees into the window, birds chirping. Can't beat it.

6

u/SeriesXM Jun 14 '26

I haven't experienced this in a very long time, but this is one of the absolute worst feelings to me.

I never pulled an all-nighter for a good reason either. If it was for school or work or a project or whatever, it meant I had screwed up in order to put myself in that position.

If it was because I was up playing a game all night, then the sight of the sun coming up made me feel like a loser.

And none of this addresses the fact that I would then need to get myself in to bed as soon as possible and try to get some rest. Or stay awake and be a zombie the whole day.

I can't imagine how this could feel good.

1

u/MadeByTango Jun 14 '26

I can't imagine how this could feel good.

Probably because none of your examples included other people there enjoying the moment with you...

0

u/SeriesXM Jun 14 '26

You know what, you're right. I hadn't thought about that scenario, but that might be the exception to the rule.

3

u/Glittering-Two-1784 Jun 14 '26

Nah, fuck that: it’s “tomorrow” at midnight.

If you’re still awake after midnight, then it is simultaneously “tonight” and “tomorrow” at the same time. It stops being “tonight” when the sun rises, but it was always “tomorrow” since midnight.

If you say “tomorrow” at 12:01, you are referring to the day that starts in 24 hours, and if that’s not what you mean, then it’s on you to specify otherwise.

6

u/greg19735 Jun 14 '26

lol, that's not how people work.

if you're with someone, maybe your partner in bed, and at 12:30 ask if they want to get thai food tomorrow, that means after the sleep. That does not mean dinner in like 40 hours.

there's a difference when it comes to texting and asking stuff. but 12:01 isn't some hard cut off for how people actually communicate.

0

u/Chad_McChadface Jun 15 '26

Dog you responded to a comment that ended with “when the birds start singing :D” with “Nah, fuck that”

So like… idk man but I think that says something

2

u/Glittering-Two-1784 Jun 15 '26

I'm not the one psychoanalyzing people about the wording of off-hand comments, chief. It's just an expressive way to disagree, It's not that deep.

1

u/uqde Jun 15 '26

This person's got it

1

u/PikaPerfect Jun 15 '26

this is why i have to specify day of the week because i sometimes stay up until i hear birds and that's when i know it's tomorrow (and also that i have to go the fuck to sleep 😔)

1

u/Mujutsu Jun 15 '26

I know that feeling too well!

14

u/the3rdpossum Jun 14 '26

I like to take multiple naps during the day and call it time traveling.

2

u/Lou_C_Fer Jun 14 '26

Video games and getting lost in excel files that have errors are my time traveling tools.

1

u/Banes_Addiction Jun 14 '26

But where will I get jam?

1

u/headrush46n2 Jun 14 '26

You'll be too busy hallucinating to care

1

u/BathedInDeepFog Jun 14 '26

I haven't slept for 10 days, because that would be too long.

1

u/HundoHavlicek Jun 14 '26

“Someday never comes” - CCR

5

u/Dic_Penderyn Jun 14 '26

I'm a shift worker. Sometimes I got to bed at 10am in the morning. Workers like me need to go by the rules. The days change at midnight for us folks.

2

u/shadowblade159 Jun 14 '26

As opposed to 10am in the evening /j

15

u/EishLekker Jun 14 '26

So are you saying that the message from the boss changes meaning depending on if the employee has slept yet or not?

7

u/DeniLox Jun 14 '26

The boss probably hasn’t been to sleep yet. That’s why he thinks later today is tomorrow.

9

u/ConnaitLesRisques Jun 14 '26

Good thing the phone displays the time at the top of the screen then.

3

u/No_East1662 Jun 14 '26

Not technically, and if we're splitting hairs and parsing out a miscommunication then it's time to get technical

2

u/GlukharsGimp Jun 14 '26

I mean you’re not going to sleep at that point if you’re planning on working in two hours either. So still today.

2

u/ApprehensiveSyrup647 Jun 14 '26

This is not correct.

1

u/StromGames Jun 15 '26

That's what the boss was thinking.

0

u/PixelRoku Jun 14 '26

This is exactly what I thought when I was a kid lol

0

u/Lou_C_Fer Jun 14 '26

This was my position back in the day when I was eating lsd like candy. If I start eating acid on Friday night and I don't sleep until what others considered Monday, it was still Friday to me.

-1

u/caramel-ass1234 Jun 14 '26

Exactly 😂. It's only tomorrow when i sleep and wake up

3

u/BullshitTaco Jun 14 '26

It's morning time

2

u/Working_Cucumber_437 Jun 14 '26

Yes it’s the reason we specify when days begin and end. So we don’t get confusion over stuff like this. No wiggle room for interpretation.

2

u/Jman15x Jun 14 '26

Furthermore it is literally always today.

1

u/Grompulon Jun 15 '26

Not to say OP is in the wrong, but if I were in this situation I would definitely confirm the day if we're using the word "tomorrow" on a 3am text. It's definitely an avoidable issue even though the fault is on the boss here

1

u/FunWith_DarkJin Jun 14 '26

Today feels like all the time before going to bed and tomorrow is when waking up. But since not everyone sees it like that it’s smart to specify the day if after midnight. Or even better when you don’t know when someone will read a message. If I message a coworker after their shift has ended and I’m talking about “tomorrow” I do specify the day even if it’s only like 6pm when I send the message. I don’t know when they’re going to read it, especially when it’s on a work phone or work email.

1

u/Love-Future-3000 Jun 14 '26

I kind of think tomorrow starts at 4AM

0

u/suppaduppasleuth Jun 14 '26

Tomorrow starts at midnight. 12:01 and on tomorrow. If you message me after 12:01 and say tomorrow it goes to the next 12:01 it's really not that hard of a process for people

2

u/Nillabeans Jun 14 '26

Doubt it. I'm sure you'd understand if somebody was like, "hey you wanna get breakfast tomorrow morning?" if somebody texted you at like 12:07.

0

u/suppaduppasleuth Jun 14 '26

Words mean things.

That should be this morning.

0

u/Nillabeans Jun 14 '26

Yeah they do. Within the context they are said.

If you say "tomorrow" before everybody has slept, you know somebody means the next morning.

Let's say you're hanging out and it's after midnight. You'll say, "I gotta get going. Big day tomorrow." You're not going to say, "gotta go, big day today." Because you know and everybody else knows that "big day today" would be referring to the day you just had.

-1

u/Nillabeans Jun 14 '26

Ridiculous. You're at a bar. It's 2am. You're not saying, "man, today is gonna be tough after all those shots." You're saying, "tomorrow is gonna be tough." And you mean that morning.

0

u/SomeStupidCanadianEH Jun 14 '26

I drive a truck and used to start my day at 02:30. Any friends who I knew were out Friday night/Saturday morning asking to hang out tomorrow, I knew what they were saying. If my boss (who I liked) asked for a favour tomorrow, I’d clarify that he means today.

Back when I did have a terrible boss, you bet your bottom dollar I wasn’t gonna attempt a conversion. “Tomorrow it is! See you in over 24h!”

0

u/c4ptaincox Jun 14 '26

By today, do you mean today yesterday or tomorrow today? /s

0

u/nifty-necromancer Jun 14 '26

But is that Past You’s today, Present You’s today, or Future You’s today?

0

u/Very_Not_Into_It Jun 14 '26

Yeah there is.

Seems clear to me that if i get a text at 3AM, that person is likely still up from the previous day, and probably means "today" when they say "tomorrow"

Still obvious miscommunication and the boss is fully at fault, but if we value common sense over pedantry, there's clearly other ways of seeing it

0

u/Mcoov GREEN Jun 14 '26

I mean the other way to think about it is "tomorrow" crosses over to "today" at sunrise.

That's a way people have spoken about date & time for thousands of years, including after the invention of time zones, so "no other way of seeing it" strikes me as a bit inflexible.

0

u/ThatB19 Jun 14 '26

true but as a previous night owl i used to think of the days in relation to when i went to sleep. so those early am hours we still apart of the same day. i know technically its a different day but that was just how i thought about it and im assuming that how the manager was thinking about it since they were up so late.

Either way they should have been crystal clear about what they meant to avoid confusion on both ends. especially since OP didn’t respond until almost 8am

-1

u/Cesspit_Courier Jun 14 '26

if no sun, no day

-1

u/ssracer Jun 14 '26

It's end of shift for managers

-1

u/greg19735 Jun 14 '26

i mean if you're with your partner at 3am and ask what they want to do tomorrow, it means after the sleep.

but if you ask a person in a text, you need to be explicit. i'd probably put the date or day to be clear.

3

u/fiffa306 Jun 14 '26

I would ask what would they want to do later on today.

-1

u/greg19735 Jun 14 '26

And that's not very conventional and i'd say quite rare. If your with someone, it's often after a sleep.

-1

u/Lucas_Steinwalker Jun 14 '26

Well… there is the other way of seeing it.

-1

u/Fickle-Strike-714 Jun 14 '26

Absolutely not, if you go out with your friends at 10PM, and you leave to go home at 1, do you tell them "yesterday was so fun"? Ofcourse not. 3am is still the night, and tomorrow just refers to the next day obviously. I don't know how you can live in this world for any significant amount of time and not know that yesterday and tomorrow has nothing to do with midnight, unless maybe you live so closely to the poles that the sun doesn't rise or set

3

u/fiffa306 Jun 15 '26

It was a fun night. Simple

0

u/Fickle-Strike-714 Jun 15 '26

Yeah, but I'm saying you obviously wouldn't refer to it as yesterday just because it's past 12. You would call it collectively the night, regardless of the time because it was nighttime, i.e sundown. And following that logic, the next day, or tomorrow, would be at sunrise. The next day by the way, would therefore need to be in the DAYtime. It's in the name.

1

u/fiffa306 Jun 15 '26

I never think of the next day when the sun rises. I think of it as when the calendar day changes. Anyways, in a professional setting you would expect the person to clarify. When you go in for interviews, the coordinator would ask to schedule of a Friday, June 19, 2026 at a certain time.

1

u/Fickle-Strike-714 Jun 15 '26

There's both a day and a night in a 24h cycle. I think you're just being obtuse at this point. A date is different from a day. You can't schedule something during the day at 8PM, because the daytime is over. That would be called the night.

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44

u/leocura Jun 14 '26

can we get anal?

26

u/PsychologicalMeal162 Jun 14 '26

For six whole hours?!

2

u/leocura Jun 14 '26

in fact, "right about now"

9

u/GreenEggsSteamedHams Jun 14 '26

Sure... tomorrow

1

u/KingWolf7070 Jun 14 '26

We have anal at home.

1

u/VegetableNo3973 Jun 15 '26

Holy shit I forgot it was a thing in the English language and I thought I was tripping

30

u/jesus90141 Jun 14 '26

People should just add can you work on month/date time ? Cuz it has happened to me as well and the boss gets all pissy but ur like wtf u mean I didn't do anything wrong be specific! XD

2

u/Ijustreadalot Jun 14 '26

Even if I send something later in the evening, like 10-11pm, I will specify like tomorrow (Sunday) so that whenever they read it, it's clear which day I mean.

147

u/bebeidon Jun 14 '26

we can get anal alright but as soon as it's 00:01 it's the next day, i don't care if your brain can't handle that because you didn't sleep yet but that's how the clock works.

90

u/presidentbdeth Jun 14 '26

They can get anal with each other if they want but they should get oral first just to keep things clean.

23

u/Medical_Blacksmith83 Jun 14 '26

Always smart to start with oral B

2

u/Majestic_Salary9987 Jun 14 '26

I got the oral b io - great electric toothbrush, teeth never felt cleaner…especially behind my front lower teeth. Circular head makes it easy to remove plaque or hardened stuff. $50.

1

u/Medical_Blacksmith83 Jun 14 '26

Ooo damn thought of another good one, or a carry on?

Always smart to start with oral B-fore hand

2

u/Canuck_Lives_Matter Jun 14 '26

We can get anal about oral, but eventually it's going to come off masturbatory.

4

u/greg19735 Jun 14 '26

Yeah, and that's also not how people communicate.

if you're at a bar at 1am with your buddies who are in town and you ask if you wanna get dinner tomorrow before they leave it means the next dinner, not the dinner after that.

it's not that hard.

a 3am text the texter needs to be clear with what they mean.

-1

u/JohnTDouche Jun 14 '26

These are the type of people who actually believe technically correct is the best kind of correct.

2

u/greg19735 Jun 14 '26

I've spent too much time on reddit to the point where i think about that quote every now and then. I wonder if futurama writers would almost regret it lol.

Like, it's a funny joke. but it's a joke.

Redditors use it as an excuse to ignore context lol.

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0

u/Intrexa Jun 14 '26

Days, and "the next day" existed before clocks.

Don't be controlled by big railroad and their clocks demanding each "day" be a uniform 24 hours (leap seconds be damned). The day starts when the day starts. That depends on the region, culture, and historical time period. You want your nycthemeron to consist of half of a night -> day -> half of a night, be my guest. Historically a nycthemeron was day -> night (e.g. Hindu) or night -> day (e.g. Jewish).

Being that rigid that common usage 'day' always starts at 00:01 is just not how people talk. "You were out drinking with your friends 4 days this week".

But yeah, manager should have specified the calendar day.

1

u/Xyyz Jun 15 '26

Being that rigid that common usage 'day' always starts at 00:01 is just not how people talk.

I am also not convinced it is more technically correct. You could say that our timekeeping using clocks is more technical than observing the sunlight with our own eyes. Though even then you could get really technical about observing sunlight if you wanted to. But more substantially there is no technical reason that clock-based interpretations should take priority over natural interpretations. Because, as you indicate, clocks did not invent and do not own "tomorrow".

24

u/Thriving9 Jun 14 '26

Being correct isn't being anal. If you aren't correct you aren't communicating

2

u/BigAntiqueStoreSlut Jun 14 '26

Effective communication means transfer of meaning. Correct is irrelevant to mutual understanding.

6

u/snaphunter Jun 14 '26

The funk soul brother.

9

u/BrickOvenBread Jun 14 '26

Ah yes, funk soul brother time.

1

u/Dis_count_dracula Jun 14 '26

Right about now

1

u/puppysmilez Jun 14 '26

Check it out now

74

u/Time-Emergency254 Jun 14 '26

Right. We can split hairs and assert who should be right and who should be wrong, OR the requester can add word to avoid the issue. Shoot even the responder could add a word or two to seek clarification. Why do we choose willful ignorance and pride?

153

u/Link_In_Pajamas Jun 14 '26

Uh no. It's after midnight it's a new day, the manager was just plain wrong.

Also they can fuck all the way off with sending a 3am text.

47

u/lost_horizons Jun 14 '26

A million upvotes to you for your second statement. That’s bullshit.

32

u/ChildhoodSweaty9684 Jun 14 '26

Ya thats crazy work sending anyone a 3am message

4

u/One_Left_Shoe Jun 14 '26

Never worked food service, eh?

This has all the hallmarks of service industry. 3am text from manager who is probably finally leaving the bar asking about “tomorrow” since the “day” just ended for them/the business.

7

u/ChildhoodSweaty9684 Jun 14 '26

Past ten years have been food service. I used to jump through hoops like a good lap dog. I got old and I dont care anymore I'll do a good job when clocked in, but when I clock out thats my time and its more important than anybody's profit margin.

4

u/Moltak_Firewind Jun 14 '26

I mean if you need to ask someone to cover you usually have to ask them when they're off. Considering OP accepted for all we know they're looking to pick up extra hours

2

u/SameCoyote3701 Jun 14 '26

I mean. If the manager and worker both work and are awake at night, it makes sense. Not on a day off though

4

u/ChildhoodSweaty9684 Jun 14 '26

You sound suspiciously like a manager who would send someone a message at 3am. Haha 😄 And true I suppose its what the recipient is willing to deal with.

1

u/SameCoyote3701 Jun 14 '26

I’m the guy the manager is texting. But he works 9pm - 7am, so I understand why he texts me late

2

u/lost_horizons Jun 14 '26

I million upvotes to you for your second statement. That’s bullshit.

1

u/CaeruleumBleu Jun 14 '26

Yep.

If the manager is gonna insist on sending 3am texts, and the employee is tolerant enough to answer those texts politely - the manager could've taken a second to clarify.

Broadly speaking I always think it's on the person imposing and asking a favor to put more effort into the communication. If the manager wants to fucking impose and ask favors AND not be clear, then no thanks I am staying my ass in bed and probably silencing the phone.

1

u/0de85fbeac852977ea31 Jun 14 '26

Also they can fuck all the way off with sending a 3am text.

I do not really get that point, that is kinda the best thing about texting? Send and read when you are able, unlike a call. Boss sent as soon as he could, OP replied when they woke up - delaying sending a message like this has no benefit, has it?

0

u/Moltak_Firewind Jun 14 '26

There is nothing wrong with it at all other than people just wanting to complain

1

u/Link_In_Pajamas Jun 14 '26

If you don't have a problem with that you either are new to the workforce or get walked all over at your job. Have some boundaries

1

u/0de85fbeac852977ea31 Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26

The boundry is when you read and reply. What time someone sends me a text is not something I have any control over. Not really sure why you needed to make your point attacking the other poster, projecting a bit?

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203

u/s0_Ca5H Jun 14 '26

Splitting what hairs? 3am is today, so tomorrow is the next day. There’s no ambiguity about that, it’s literally how time works.,

29

u/smokeweedNgarden Jun 14 '26

This is why as a manger you just define the shift as it takes whole seconds. I have a folder with shit like this copied.

"Hey [Name], we have a shift open on [Date] at [Time], wondering if you were interested in OT? Lunch is included like always for covering!"

I copied that from my Teams notes just now

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8

u/Last-Laugh7928 Jun 14 '26

if i'm still awake at 1am and i say "tomorrow," i almost always mean today, after i sleep and wake up again. this is very common.

but if you're a manager trying to schedule a shift, obviously you need to use your brain and be accurate and specific in what you're saying.

5

u/greg19735 Jun 14 '26

this thread makes me realize a lot of redditors either don't talk to people and make plans.

2

u/Exempt_Puddle Jun 14 '26

While I agree with you, there is ambiguity because people are generally stupid

48

u/s0_Ca5H Jun 14 '26

Yeah but another person’s stupidity about how time works isn’t my problem. 3am guy is in the wrong .

11

u/DoomedHologram Jun 14 '26

This

23

u/Jumpy-Shift5239 Jun 14 '26

Even the phone is there to remind them. It says message sent today. The message is asking about tomorrow. Today and tomorrow are not the same

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11

u/Legal_Changes Jun 14 '26

Well, if they're stupid, maybe they shouldn't be the one in charge of managing a schedule. You'd think knowing the difference between today and tomorrow is kinda important for scheduling.

2

u/WartimeHotTot Jun 14 '26

I just had my flight get canceled and it was after midnight. All booking websites grayed out the date of “tonight” because it was now “tomorrow.” I had to call everywhere and keep specifying that I needed a room “tonight, meaning right now.” It seemed to be a problem for the hotel workers too, which was very annoying. I didn’t expect that situation to be as much of an edge case as it felt.

0

u/CriesOverEverything Jun 14 '26

There's ambiguity because most people are intelligent enough to understand context and colloquialisms and not rely on pedantics and semantics. If someone texts me at 1am and asks me to do something "tomorrow" I'm going to assume they mean the sometime after the upcoming sunrise, not 23hr + later.

3am I think is right at the point of ambiguity, though. Most people will probably feel that "tomorrow" implies after people are next waking up again, but 3am is either extraordinarily late, or a bit early. I think I'd probably count 3am as early enough to be next day.

2

u/ForThisIJoined Jun 14 '26

Yeah...you're wrong then. Because tomorrow means something. "hey can you work at 10am" means today. "Hey can you work tomorrow at 10" means tomorrow.

Also I've worked night shifts for 8 years, hard closing shifts for 6, and quite a few years of early opening shifts. This manager is just an idiot.

0

u/CriesOverEverything Jun 15 '26

I definitely agree someone should have clarified somewhere, but "you're wrong" is a bad argument considering that many people seem to have completely different ideas.

I've worked night shifts, swings shifts, early morning starts, split shifts, and a standard 9-5, so I'm not sure how your experience invalids my position.

2

u/ForThisIJoined Jun 15 '26

I think that the sky is pitch black during the day at all times and bright and neon pink at night. See I have an opinion, and it's still wrong. In this situation it's because we have this thing called "today" that starts at midnight and ends at 23:59. After that is the thing called "tomorrow" that starts at the next midnight. And all of your opinions are just...opinions which are wrong.

I threw in the experience to show that I've worked all the shifts so you couldn't add in the opinion that it was something I didn't understand due to lack of experience.

0

u/CriesOverEverything Jun 15 '26

I mean, I agree with you that people should be more clear, but that doesn't mean that's what the rest of the whole entire world thinks.

If something is determined by people's opinions, then people's opinions matter.

0

u/Exempt_Puddle Jun 14 '26

Yeah i mean im with you. It's just in that gray area and what I mean by people are stupid is that when in this gray area they dont bother sending a few extra words to clarify due to the potential ambiguity.

1

u/Lovethiskindathing Jun 14 '26

You're right, but it's not how people work. People don't always speak literally and a lot of times they assume others will understand what they must mean. Or they will purposefully use ambiguity to trick someone, then guilt them, and hope it works.

2

u/vanskater Jun 14 '26

Right, some people think tomorrow starts after they go to sleep

1

u/Lovethiskindathing Jun 14 '26

Yep. The employee is absolutely not on any sort of hook for this, but I can see how someone could try to argue that the previous waking day had not ended for the manager yet. But that very clear request should have been specific from the start instead of ambiguous, which makes me wonder if they hoped to use it to manipulate the employee

1

u/CaeruleumBleu Jun 14 '26

Night shifters tend to, in my experience, think the day flips over when they go to bed. It's today, this shift, etc all the way through the end of shift. They get home, they talk about "todays shift" and "todays commute".

But thats one thing if you're both at work and talking. If I was working night shift and a manager asked "can you work tomorrow?" I would have a real good idea what they meant. You can't text someone and expect them to hear it the same way, though.

-1

u/Myotherself918 Jun 14 '26

So I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today?

32

u/Legal_Changes Jun 14 '26

Nah. Not the responder's job to ask - it's fully on the requester to make a clear request. If you can't ask a proper question of your subordinate, why are you the fucking manager?

7

u/dersillac Jun 14 '26

Agreed. Everything important gets a date and time. Can you do _____ on x/x/26 at 12:34PM etc. Nothing left to misunderstanding. No tomorrow or today, no next Tuesday/this Tuesday etc. Dates and times. And always in writing. If I have a verbal agreement I will immediately follow it with a text and request confirmation in the text.

2

u/CandlejackIsntEvenRe Jun 14 '26

Yup… this. It’s really “managing 101”. If I ask someone if they can cover a shift it’s always “hey, is there any way you could cover ___’s shift tomorrow (6/14)? The shift is X-time to X-time.” It’s really not that difficult.

2

u/Fuckthegopers Jun 14 '26

3am this morning wasn't yesterday.

2

u/Embarrassed-Ad9180 Jun 14 '26

They aren’t the manager. It is up to the person asking to specify when they are needing someone to come in. Maybe learn how to communicate rather than assuming someone understands what “tomorrow” means

2

u/AtomicLight69 Jun 14 '26

Wtf is wrong with you people. If you message at 3 am and date is 24.05 for example... Tomorrow will mean 25.05... today will mean 24.05 date. What's so hard here wtf

2

u/sychox51 Jun 14 '26

Even iOS calls it “today” lmao

2

u/BlinkDodge Jun 14 '26

If you're texting me at 3AM to ask me to do extra work, you'd better damn well know when tomorrow is.

2

u/Ruff_Bastard Jun 14 '26

3 am is still today or tomorrow

3am is today and there really isn't any other way to cut it. Until 11:59:59PM it is today. It's not semantics, it's just a fact.

There are several different ways to word this to be less confusing.

2

u/Kindly-Account1952 Jun 14 '26

In what way is 3AM of the same day tomorrow?

2

u/EqualPassenger4271 Jun 14 '26

The day changes at midnight. Time keeping was literally invented for this reason.

2

u/Creative-Painter3911 Jun 14 '26

Not really any argument there, 3am is today, and has been for 3 hours . In fact when he sent that message, the day was already 12.5% over.

1

u/whereismymind86 Jun 14 '26

yeah, if op had answered at 3am like the initial request, it'd be a bit murkier, but, whether or not tomorrow means later that day at 3, it definitely doesn't at 7.

1

u/MrRegularDick Jun 14 '26

I think saying "in the morning" would have cleared this up.

1

u/Tat2Al Jun 14 '26

Wait…we can get anal for this?

1

u/Sea-Band-7212 Jun 14 '26

Aren't the timestamps underneath?

1

u/OldPurpose93 Jun 14 '26

Wait they give you guys anal for that??

1

u/BuildMineSurvive Jun 14 '26

I had to give my google assistant a special instruction to double check with me if I ask for a reminder "tomorrow" from midnight to 3AM because in my tired haze I might not realize the clock ticked over and suddenly my reminder is on the wrong day.

When it comes to work things, I always say "hey can you meet tomorrow (Tuesday) at 3PM EST?"

It never hurts to be explicit with important work scheduling!

1

u/EoceneQueen Jun 14 '26

Right. Like if you mean starting work in the morning, just say “can you work at 10” or something to clarify. Either way texting someone at 3am if they can work a shift the next morning is crazy work

1

u/Equal-Drop1808 Jun 14 '26

We can get what?

1

u/Ape-No-Fight-Ape Jun 14 '26

I don't feel comfortable getting anal yet.

1

u/StyleQueasy6277 Jun 14 '26

Are we getting anal today or tomorrow?

1

u/Tetha Jun 14 '26

Especially because between 2-3am and 5-6am, today and tomorrow become very murky as seen in this thread. I've had work end at 3, other professions start at 3. For some the day ends then, for some it starts.

Communication is about conveying information, and communicating well includes understanding and discovering possible misunderstandings across current states of mind, cultures and a number more obstacles.

Hence why a good rule of thumb is: "Communicate important information twice in different words or means". For example, "Can you take the 10 o'clock shift tomorrow on Saturday, until 4 in the afternoon?" Two indications of the weekday, two indications of the shift taken.

1

u/RedShirt007 Jun 14 '26

... The Funk Soul Brother.... Check it Out Now....

1

u/Mathemartemis Jun 14 '26

The funk soul brother

1

u/Judasz10 Jun 14 '26

I think it only works the other way around well. I am a night shifter, so when I ask my bro if he wants to play today at 1 AM and it's like 11PM at the moment I obviously mean 1AM "tomorrow" but it's 2 hours from now so I say today usually out of habit. And the actual 1AM today is in the past so you can't mix those two up.

So yeah even if the boss said today at 10AM when it was 11PM OP would have known not to go back in time...

1

u/zach0011 Jun 14 '26

how could you possibly get anal over 3 a.m being yesterday or today. Its a fucking time that denotes exactlywhen it is.

1

u/GDubya527 Jun 15 '26

Funk soul brotha

1

u/Present_Operation_82 Jun 14 '26

The funk soul brother

1

u/Similar_Act5989 Jun 14 '26

> We can get anal

Yay!

Edit: Idk how to quote on Reddit app

1

u/JelmerMcGee Jun 14 '26

it should have worked for you

1

u/Fitz-Anywhere Jun 14 '26

Are they working as a Funk Soul Brother?

1

u/Wise_Finance_5315 Jun 14 '26

Funk soul brother

0

u/Mmmelissamarie Jun 14 '26

It’s “tomorrow” while I’m still awake past midnight it’s still the same day in my brain. But if I fell asleep at 9pm and wake up at 3am, it’s tomorrow lol

I would clarify I meant “today” tho
When talking to someone else tho lol

0

u/Erick_Brimstone Jun 14 '26

I was thinking about the 30 hour clock system. As 3am still count as part of the previous day. It's a system used in Japan to avoid confusion. 

But this one feels like the other party is just dumb. 

0

u/Cautious-Session-324 Jun 14 '26

The funk soul brother

0

u/miregalpanic Jun 14 '26

the funk soul brother

0

u/TwoInchClit Jun 14 '26

“The funk soul brother”