At about 3:30 this afternoon an employee came to the office and asked if he could leave early, around 5:30. His scheduled time off was around 8:00. He was sure to point out the fact that we were well staffed today, so it shouldn’t be anything to worry about, right?

Of course he told us why he wanted to leave early. I shouldn’t have given him the chance, but I went ahead and let me tell the story.

He and his wife had a baby about two months ago and they’re getting their son baptized. Unfortunately the pastor needs to meet with them a few times first, his wife schedule an appointment for his day off next week, but the only other time they could get in was at 6:00 tonight.

My mind started racing. A fair number of people on the staff know I’m an atheist, but I’m not sure how many, and I don’t know if he’s one of them. I’ve been at this location for almost a year so odds are pretty good that just about everybody knows by now. I can be a little paranoid at times, and in this situation I think it was justified. What if he complains to HR that I discriminated against him because he’s a Christian? What if he filed a complaint with the EEOC? This is Idaho, I would lose. This could get me fired…

Then I decided to put a stop to the paranoia, consider his request for a few moments and then give a rational, business minded decision. Yes, we were well staffed today. Thursdays are our busiest days. I make the schedule and I make sure that we have enough people so that the final rush at the end of an already busy day doesn’t leave us way behind. I explained this and told him no.

I’m not a complete asshole. I will let people leave for an emergency, but not for an unreasonable request like an appointment for a completely voluntary meeting of no medical or legal necessity. Unfortunately one thing about being a part of the most distrusted minority in the country is that if someone brings religion into the mix in any matter that can have potential legal ramifications or result in a negative change in employment status, you have to tread lightly.

As far as my thoughts about infant baptism…we’ll have to save that for another day.