“Fired for Being Too Stupid” — Worker Can’t Believe June 10–13 Counts as 4 Days, Not 3

An employee who was taking off from work between June 10 and June 13 shared his shock and confusion in a viral TikTok upon learning he would need to put in for four days off ... despite there only being a three day difference between the 10th and 13th.

Ryan Roose (@ryan_roose) however, wasn't alone. Even though there were plenty of people who explained just why it was four days and not three, it didn't change the fact that several others were also left scratching their heads.

"OK, I'm over here trying to request off June 10th through 13th. That should be three days, or so I thought. Why is it, 10, 11, 12, 13, why is that four days?" he says, looking at the calendar, seemingly stumped that the 10th "counts."

Mathematically speaking, if you were to deduct 13 from 10, then we would be left with 3, correct? But counting works differently than subtraction, which could be the source of the confusion Ryan is feeling in his video.

"Like, isn't 13 minus 10, 3? So why do I need four days off? Wait..." he says before the clip cuts to him staring at his computer screen seemingly not understanding that June 10th through the 13th is a four-day period.

"Dude, if my boss heard me having this conversation I'd be fired for being too stupid to do this job."

The silence in between the bouts where he verbally expresses his thoughts permeates the video. He speaks again after looking off into the distance, contemplating this numerical debacle.

"Do you not include the 13 when you're subtracting? 13, 12, 11, 10, but 13 minus 10 is 3?" he says, after counting on his fingers as he continues to look off to the side. One might say that if you listen hard enough, you can hear the coals burning in his head.

"If I had three apples and I gave you two, I would have one apple left. So are you not including one when you're doing math?" he asks again as the video cuts out.

In case your brain is hurting over this dilemma, then one viewer's response to Ryan's video might help to clarify things for you — the reason he has to take four days off instead of three when it comes to the 10th through the 13th has to do with timing and shifts.

Because he's taking the full day off on the 10th, where his work day starts at 8 a.m., and then he's going to also take off on the 13th and won't be able to return to work on the following day, that's a full shift, so he'll need to put in for four days off from his job.

"8 a.m. on the 10th to 8 a.m. on the 13th is three days, but you are requesting 'til end of day on the 13th so you would return to work on the 14th at 8 a.m., therefore it’s four days," the TikToker explained.

This explanation was echoed by another user who wrote: "Four days. You have to count the 10th, the 11th, the 12th, and the 13th. Subtraction doesn't count both ends of the range. But PTO does."

Technically he's not taking off "days" from work, but rather hourly shifts at those times. If his shifts last eight hours, then he's putting in for 32 hours ... which is four days' worth of work for his shifts.

But that doesn't mean there weren't other folks on the app who also seemed perplexed by this very same conundrum: "I’ve been hiding my uncertainty about this for years," one person wrote.

Another penned, "I do this all the time. I know it’s right but it just sounds wrong."

While someone else remarked that even though they read the comments made by other users on the app who seem to have figured the issue out, they can't help but still feel a bit confused over the entire situation.

"All of the people explaining how math works in the comments. The rest of us counting our fingers and thinking about apples…" they said.

What do you think? Are the explanations provided by TikTokers enough for you to comprehend the dilemma that appears to be driving Ryan nuts? Or is it just as murky to you as it is to him and others?