YOU ARRIVED AT THE OFFICE late one day. The boss greets you angrily by asking “do you realize you are 1 hour late and that you didn’t bother to call and now have the audacity not to apologize or offer up a reasonable explanation for your tardiness? I am waiting for your answer he angrily shouts loud enough for people in the next office to hear. You respond in a matter of fact tone of voice with a statement such as “yeah so I know I’m late. What’s the big deal?”
This person has officially had their ticket punched for entry into the employee stupidity hall of fame. Willful failure to act in a manner so as to protect your job is grounds for dismissal. If by acting in this manner your intent was to get fired so you can collect unemployment the fact is you goofed! Upon receiving notification of your claim your ex-employer will document your actions with your local Department of Labor resulting in denial of your claim effectively ending your dream of collecting unemployment while working on a 1099 basis. A classic get rich quick scheme blown up before you had a chance to blink.
Unless you are a blood relative or so unique in your skill set along with the value you bring to an organization your outlandish behavior could make finding a new job elsewhere more difficult than getting on the subway using a subway token. You can forget any chance of being given anything resembling a positive reference. Burnt bridges cannot be crossed!
Next scenario. Despite working tirelessly overtime your efforts go unnoticed. Being a super dedicated employee who loves what they do and for whom they do it for gets to the point where a lack of appreciation results in a barrage of four letter words directed at management. After all you did what you did without being asked to or expecting anything in return. Wouldn’t a better way of handling this situation been to either come to an agreement prior to putting in all this overtime or having a calm but frank discussion with your boss as to why not even a simple thank you was offered. You are entitled to your feelings but before you let loose consider is it possible the boss innocently did not notice what you have been doing.
Your boss elects not to offer you that supervisor positon that just opened up. Upon learning the news you say…WHAT? Worse yet you said WHAT in that sarcastic demeaning tone of voice that will endear you to nobody. Vent your rage out of earshot of anybody. Once you have cleansed yourself you may take the same option as above in asking your boss why you were passed over or say nothing and start a search for a new job and then parting on good terms. The company did what they felt was in their best interest so you did the same. It’s called win-win.
Your boss did WHAT so in turn you not only said WHAT but you did WHAT as well. Since the idiom turnabout is fair play is applicable here you both engage in a pointless childlike verbal joust that sounds something like “ Oh yeah well I’m going to…” which draws an immediate retort that sounds like “let me see you do that and watch what happens to you.” Sounds like these two could either use a marriage counselor or a bigger sand box to play in.
You get the point of all of this don’t you? You really don’t get the point? You mean you really don’t get the point of this article? Okay here is the point. The point is responding “tit for tat” as they say is pointless if not hazardous to your employment health. Or in other words engage your brain before your mouth springs into action blurting out anything and everything but not really making sense.
Of course your boss can be wrong or downright unsympathetic or just an imbecile who is clueless as to how a boss should empower people so forth and so on. Just remember the boss is the boss and what he says goes providing he is not violating Labor Laws.
So after all of this you have finally made it to the top where you are now your own boss. What happens now if your boss (you) gets mad at his employee (you) for being late? You the boss does WHAT to which you the employee says or does WHAT to you the boss of yourself. Wouldn’t you just love to see how that one turns out?
