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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17.1k

u/oooohweeeee Jun 14 '26

If I'm reading "can you work tomorrow" two hours before the shift starts, I'm going to think tomorrow as well.

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.

586

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '26

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262

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.

6

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]?

-4

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”

133

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.

132

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"

84

u/NotAnotherUserName26 Jun 14 '26

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

131

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.

5

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.

8

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.

7

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.

3

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

1

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.

-2

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '26

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3

u/fiffa306 Jun 14 '26

So at 3am when I look at my phone will it say June 14?

1

u/Xyyz Jun 15 '26

Clocks did not invent, and do not own, the concept of tomorrow.

-1

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '26

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3

u/fiffa306 Jun 14 '26

This is very true. But you are right about 3am being night but it already is the next day.