For croissants - write-off, sorry. For dinner, absolutely not a write-off.
Once the dough has visibly fermented, it's full of gas pockets. Rolling a butter block through bubbly dough tears the butter sheet instead of sheeting it evenly - every bubble becomes a breach, and the lamination you'd fight for would be patchy at best. This is exactly why viennoiserie dough lives in the FREEZER between steps... the cold keeps the yeast asleep so the layers stay layers.
The accident's second life: knock it back gently and make buns, a rustic tart base, or a small focaccia-style bake. Perfectly good yeasted dough, just no longer lamination-grade.
And the process fix for chai-related emergencies: dough goes into the freezer BEFORE the distraction, not after. The freezer forgives everything, the counter forgives nothing 😄
