Back then yeah. I also had to ask for time off and often got denied.

I once got denied for time off to help a family member who was in the hospital who I was going to drive home.

I told them I'm not abandoning family and took off any way and got fired.

This was after I gave a months notice and marked my schedule unavailable.

I've also got fired for a similar situation but for a college final that I literally could not reschedule or miss.

Now I'm highly qualified and at a much better job. And I still, decades later, have a ton of anxiety about asking for off. And theyre like "if you need off, take off, why are you so worried about it?"