- - Woman ‘Speed-Books’ Vacation After Co-Worker Said They Were Eyeing the Same Dates for Their Trip

Natalia SenanayakeJanuary 2, 2026 at 7:00 PM

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A woman admitted to “speed-booking” her vacation dates when she found out her colleague wanted the same time off

The woman claims she previously told her colleague about the dates, and accused her of trying to "steal" them from her

She recalled the situation in Reddit’s “AmItheButtface” forum in December

A woman with a guilty conscience is seeking advice after she booked her vacation on the same dates as her co-worker — but she has a good reason for it, she says.

The 28-year-old took to Reddit’s “AmItheButtface” forum earlier in December to explain the situation and ask her fellow Reddit users if her actions put her in the wrong. She titled the post: “AITB for speed-booking my vacation the second my coworker tried to steal the exact dates I’d already told her about?”

She begins by explaining how she works in a “highly specialized retail department” consisting of only six people, the majority of which were all taking their vacations during the busy holiday season.

“This Christmas, four of them somehow got approved for 2–4 weeks off at the same time, leaving just me and Betty (50s) to cover everything,” the original poster (OP) writes. “No one else in the store is trained to help. It’s been an absolute disaster.”

She them names another one of her colleagues, Jacinta, who kept “texting me for department updates” despite being on her holiday vacation, the Reddit user explains.

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Woman looking at her phone

Continuing the tale, the OP then recalls an exchange between her and Jacinta that's an important piece of context for the rest of her story.

“Two weeks ago I mentioned in passing that I’m planning to take the last week of Feb plus the first week of Mar off,” they explain. Referring to Jacinta, she adds, “She never replied to that specific message.”

The plot thickens when the OP says she received a text message from Jacinta, who was still on her vacation, first asking for another department update before getting into her time off in 2026.

She then “casually drops that she’s ‘thinking of taking late Feb/early Mar off too,” the user writes of her colleague. “Word-for-word the dates I told her.”

After hearing this — and without clarifying whether Jacinta read her previous message — the OP says she “immediately” submitted her own dates to her manager.

“I panicked, contacted our manager immediately, got verbal approval, and submitted the official request that same hour. It’s now locked in while Jacinta is still away,” she writes. “She’s going to be furious when she sees I ‘took’ the dates she pretended she didn’t know about.”

Concluding the post with a request for her fellow Redditors, she asks: “AITB for beating her to it?”

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Angry woman looking at something on her computer

The OP adds more context in the comments section in response to questions from her fellow users, and explains that she’s based in Australia and is a part-time employee, while Jacinta is the only full-time staffer.

Further down in the comments, many users thought the OP didn’t do anything wrong in this situation, and declared her “not the buttface” (NTB).

“You told her you were taking those dates off - and now you officially are. NTB in any way, shape or form,” one wrote, while another echoed, “NTB, it's up to management if they approve her leave.”

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Others deemed her NTB but advised her to learn an important lesson from the ordeal: “Don't talk about taking time off with coworkers. You see now they can't be trusted.”

In response to another commenter’s similar advice, the OP agreed that it’s a “painful lesson learned,” but notes she specifically chose dates that aren't as popular because she didn't think anyone would try to "steal" them. She admits to booking her flights "months in advance" to save on costs because of this.

"So when I told this co-worker when I was going I genuinely didn't think they were going to steal my dates," the OP adds. "It almost makes me think they were doing it on purpose to be spiteful, because they ignored my text when I told them."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”