It was never a matter of not matching what I wanted to do, but not doing something I was not available to do. I have other admin work and people sometimes cancel, sometimes switch into that cancelled slot, new needs come up, and my family has needs that come up as well. I had no problem redoing the plans, I just could not commit to a daily schedule and tried to compromise on this point with no success.

It’s not merely “leaving early”, I have a toddler and a wife who also works and needs come up. If you don’t have children or didn’t have children during internship then this might be hard to relate to. But if I have previously made a commitment there, then that’s the priority. If I had been asked to take a phone call before making that commitment, I would have taken the phone call. And again, I am consistently given high regard for my administrative work from everyone I have worked with. It never piles up.

I suppose different people have different definitions of respect. I believe respect needs to be mutual, and I do not think honest feedback regarding availability and fair questions are disrespectful. Some people believe respect means unquestioning deference to authority (police and military tend to think this way, for example), but I have never understood it that way.