Do I Have the Option to Say No?

It was Friday evening. I was leaving office when a senior manager called.

“By any chance, are you available for a call tomorrow?”

The only thought running through my mind was: Do I even have the option to say no?

Are boundaries a real thing at work? If I set them and stick to them, will I still be seen as the dedicated one on the team?

At work, everyone asks you a question. But everyone already expects the answer to be yes.

Maybe that’s the real problem. Not the Saturday, but the “question” that was never really a question.