From time to time, we have an immediate need for random items in the office, so when that happens, I make a quick run to get the needed item while I’m already out at lunch. This is NOT in my job description, nor anyone else’s. Someone at corporate orders regular office supplies, and that covers most of our daily needs. I’ve been working here for years and just took it upon myself to fill special orders, since I’m the only person in our office location with a company credit card.

Just trying to be helpful, right?

I had to special order some paper, which required me to go to the office supply store. It took about an hour. As I said, I’d been doing this for years with no issue, and my efforts had always been appreciated, so I didn’t think anything of it.

When I returned to the office, I was called in to explain my “long lunch” to my boss. I told him where I was and showed him the receipt for the paper, but to my surprise, he was still upset.

He said, “All office supplies have to be ordered through corporate.” He also said I could no longer use the company card without his okay.

When my coworkers sent me requests, I just told them they needed to contact corporate. Because many of these requests were specific to our department, I was the only one who really knew what was needed, so of course the orders got screwed up, and often took a week or more when they were needed the same or next day.

People making twice my salary have been tied up with supply orders and certain projects have been put on hold until special order materials arrive. Sometimes the items we’ve gotten are not what we requested, so that caused even more delays. My coworkers are getting frustrated and angry. I could easily resolve these issues, but I’ve been told to stand down, so that’s what I’m doing.

I’m anticipating my boss will want to undo his new rule as the outcry gets louder, but it’s really not my job. I was just doing it as a favor; I’m sure the experts at corporate can figure it out…

As our store started to take on more diverse stock and run more sales, our stock room needed more shelving to make it run more efficiently, as well as deal with more stuff in less space.

Me: “Hey, [Store Manager], about those shelves I needed—”

Store Manager: “—Talk to [Stock Manager] about it. I don’t have time.”

I went and asked [Stock Manager].

Stock Manager: “That little coward. He refused to sign off on the shelves and told me it was a budgeting issue. He knew that! He just wanted me to be the one to tell you.”

Me: “Ugh. We have [Big Summer Sale] coming up, and that stock room is going to be impossible.”

Stock Manager: “Tomorrow’s big shipment comes in early, yes?”

Me: “Yeah.”

Stock Manager: “I need you to tell the guy offloading it to pile them in front of the store manager’s door.”

Me: “Really?!”

Stock Manager: “Yeah. I’ll deal with the fallout.”

So that’s what I did. I made sure there was only the smallest gap to get in and out of the office. Later that day, the store manager runs up to me as I am carrying stock out to the store.

Store Manager: “Why are there a s*** ton of boxes blocking my office door!”

Me: “Talk to [Stock Manager] about it. I don’t have time.”

Brave of me, but I felt I had [Stock Manager]’s back. The store manager stormed over to the stock manager and asked the same question:

Stock Manager: “There was nowhere else to put them. They should have gone on the non-existent shelves.”

We had shelves by the end of the week. When I was talking to the stock manager about how quickly that worked, he gave me some advice that’s helped me in the decades since:

Stock Manager: “Things don’t get fixed until it inconveniences management.”

Customer: “I know the owner.”

Me: “Okay?”

Customer: “He says his friends can get a discount.”

Me: “My manager hates people, has no friends, and tells us to charge people who say they know him double.”

Customer: “…wut?”

Me: “I said, if you really knew the owner, you’d know he doesn’t give discounts to anybody. He hates pretty much everyone.”

Customer: *Walking away.* “He sounds like a d**k, and so are you!”

When I told my manager:

Manager: “Good. I really do hate people, but I hate you a little less after today…”

Here in the state of Hawaii, restaurants are required to have annual inspections. Once the inspection is concluded, you are issued one of three cards.

Green Card: Pass

Yellow Card: Conditional Pass (things need to be fixed, but nothing presents a danger to staff or customers, and a reinspection will be conducted at a set date). 

Red Card: Fail (something is a danger to staff, customers, or both, and this is usually issued for food safety issues or infestations; the restaurant is shut down immediately and cannot reopen without another inspection)

Recently, a restaurant in my hometown got the red card, and it reminded me of my first job in 2015 while I was in high school. This just so happened to be the first year of renewals, and our location had a lot of issues going into “inspection season.” I ended up researching all of the laws ahead of time at home just so I could do what I could to lessen the amount of possible violations we had, but I couldn’t do anything about our refrigeration, which would hold at around 63 while the requirement (unknown to me until I researched everything) was 41. 

Our manager was trying to get everything fixed, but so was everyone else. We ended up on the schedule for someone to come out near the middle of the next month. When I asked if we should shut down or arrange other refrigeration in the meantime, I was told to “shut up and let the adults have the conversations.”

Well, the very next day the cards on the restaurants on the opposite side of the mall started to change. Green cards were replaced by yellow cards or had their dates updated, and our manager called an emergency meeting.

Manager: “Okay, so, when the inspector shows up, just refuse him entry; we can c*** block them until the refrigeration is repaired next month.”

Me: “Uh, no, we can’t; denying access to a food inspector is illegal. We would be issued a red card and shut down immediately; they would also probably assess fines against the company, the owner, and the employee who turns them away.”

Manager: “What did I tell you about shutting up? I’ve been doing this for five years; I know what I’m talking about.”

Me: “Cool, hey, guess what? The state has only been doing this for one year, and you have no idea what you are talking about.”

Coworker: “D*** man.”

Manager: “You’d better watch out, kiddo. I don’t know who you think you’re talking to.”

Me: “I’ll tell you who you’re talking to, then. If you aren’t sure, I am a minimum wage employee. I am a minor who is covered under my parents’ insurance, so I am pulling no benefits. I will not deny access to a restaurant inspector and take on fines just because you tell me to.”

Manager: “Then you’ll get fired.”

Me: “As opposed to arrested? Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Three days later, while our manager was at lunch, an inspector arrived. He identified himself and what he was doing; I allowed him access immediately. It didn’t take him long to find multiple food safety issues and shut us down.

The manager was called, and he was livid; he yelled so loudly over the phone that the phone couldn’t handle the input and just turned into static. When he got back, he started yelling at me for disregarding his orders, threatened to fire me again, and blamed me for the restaurant getting shut down. In the middle of his tirade, the door unlocked and opened, causing him to turn around.

Owner: “What the h***, [Manager], shut down? How did you let this happen?”

Manager: “It wasn’t me; it was him! He let the inspector in! I told him not to, but he didn’t listen to me!”

Owner: “…”

Manager: “Yeah, now because of him we’re shut down! Until the appointment next month!”

Owner: “Sorry… I just… are you f****** stupid!?”

Manager: “THAT’S WHAT I SAID!”

Owner: “NOT HIM, YOU!”

Coworker: “D***.”

Manager: “What?”

Owner: “Okay, FIRST, refrigeration? I haven’t been informed of any issues with the refrigeration.”

Manager: “I…”

Owner: “SECOND! Appointment!? You authorized a vendor visit without consulting me? Your charge allowance is $500 with pre-authorization; it’s going to cost that much for them to open the door.”

Manager: “We—”

Owner: “—THIRD!! You ORDERED THE STAFF TO TURN AWAY A HEALTH INSPECTOR!?”

Manager: “I didn’t want to get shut down.”

Owner: “WE WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN IF YOU HAD DONE YOUR JOB! AND IF HE HAD LISTENED TO YOU, WE’D BE EVEN MORE UP S*** CREEK!”

Owner: *To coworker.* “How long has my refrigeration been f****d, [Coworker]?”

Coworker: “D***, owner man, I’d have to say… how cold is that thing supposed to be, smart kid?”

Me: “41.”

Coworker: “Sheeeeeeeeesh, I’d say we haven’t been that at that cold for maybe… eight months?”

Owner: “And you told [Manager]?”

Coworker: “‘Bout five months ago, owner man, I might not be a smart guy, but I know that sh…stuff isn’t supposed to be in the 60s. I didn’t know it was supposed to be in the 40s, though. That’s my bad, owner man; I could have reported that like three months earlier.”

Owner: “No, you did your job.” *Turning to manager.* “Meanwhile, you know the food-safe temperatures, and you didn’t get that fixed!?”

Manager: “I—”

Owner: “—KNOWING that this year is a renewal year!?”

Manager: “We didn’t have the money.”

Owner: “OH! We didn’t have the money!? Sorry, but by WHAT metric did you make that decision!? You don’t have access to ANY financial information aside from the store ledger.”

Me: “No money for refrigeration, but we have money for fines; that makes sense.”

Coworker: “OOoooooooo d***!”

Owner: “THAT TOO!”

Manager: “Look, I under—”

Owner: “—FIRED! GET OUT!”

Manager: “B-b-b-but! You can’t fire me!”

Owner: “I JUST DID!”

The owner grabbed the manager by the shoulders and steered him out of the door, surprisingly gently for how angry he was.

Owner: “Don’t even worry about your keys, I’m going to redo all the locks anyway.”

Manager: “B-b-but—”

Owner: “—Oh, don’t worry, I can AFFORD IT.”

The owner slammed the door shut so hard that the tempered glass popped; the security lamination held it together in the door, but it was now opaque with tiny cracks.

Owner: *Shouting at the manager through the door.* “I CAN AFFORD THAT TOO!” 

He turned to us, and his expression softened dramatically.

Owner: “What I can’t afford is to continue to pay both of you during a one-month closure with no incoming money.”

Coworker: “Ahhhhh, shoot, owner man, I’ll stick around. I got a link at GameStop; they’ll set me up with a temp role, no worries, just let me know when we’re back at it again.”

Owner: “I appreciate that.”

Me: “I could use a month off; this is just extra spending money for me in the end. I’m not in a rush to leave; [Manager] was the worst part.”

Owner: “Well then, I’ll see you both… potentially in a month.”

About a month later, the restaurant reopened, not only with new equipment but with a full renovation and a new manager who was much better than the last. I ended up working there through both high school and college. Sadly, when the owner retired, there was no one with the interest or ability to take over, and the restaurant closed.

I work in IT and worked with one client for years and years, looking after their various networks. Normally, it’s a 9-to-5 kind of job, but if something goes wrong after hours, it can quickly become a real emergency for them.

One day, the manager came down to visit our small team at this client’s office.

Manager: “We renegotiated the contract and took a 5% cut on the job, so we’re asking if you would all take a 5% pay cut as well.”

No. No one accepted that, and we were ready to walk if they tried to push it.

The next week, we were told:

Manager: “There is to be zero overtime without prior authorization from the company president himself, and there are no exceptions to this iron-clad rule.”

They had us repeat the new policy back to them and emailed it to us.

The only thing I said to them was:

Me: “This is going to end poorly.”

Two days later, the core router that connects all the different parts of the big data center failed at 9:00 p.m. In plain English, the core router was the central device directing network traffic between the facility’s computer systems.

Our manager called my cell phone.

Manager: “Jump in your car. The data center is down.”

Me: “I don’t have authorization from the company president.”

The company president had apparently gone camping for the long weekend with his family and was out of contact.

Me: “Sorry. I can’t do any work, as it hasn’t been authorized.”

Manager: “I’m authorizing it.”

Me: “You specifically told us earlier this week that it has to be from the company president, and there are no exceptions. If you can get hold of the president, then give me a call back.”

He was mad. The client was mad, as they were told I refused to help. He left an angry voicemail for the president about me.

They did get it fixed when the manager drove himself to the data center in the wee hours of the morning to pull the bad circuit board.

The next business day, first thing in the morning, the manager, the client’s CIO – Chief Information Officer, the executive responsible for the client’s technology – and our company president were waiting for me to come in.

Manager: “Come into the meeting room.”

It went as expected, with raised voices, accusations, and many “final warnings” until I pulled out the email and gave it to the client’s CIO to read.

It took him ten seconds to read.

CIO: “Head back to your desk and carry on with your day.”

I never heard what was said in the room after I left. But there was a new directive that afternoon stating that overtime work no longer needed prior authorization.

I worked another two years there before I left for a better job. But to this day, if there is a rule with “No exceptions,” I relate this exact story and ask them to rethink what they are about to tell us.