Have you ever been a boss? Or had a major dispute with a boss? Talk about it.

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Have you ever been a boss? Or had a major dispute with a boss? Talk about it.--Al

-- Al Schroeder (al.schroeder@nashville.com), October 23, 2000

Answers

I used to be a bakery manager. What a pain- ordering supplies that will be late, making up a scedule that no one will be happy with no matter how many times you rearrange it for them-ick. Incidently, I no longer eat pies, pastries, scones or donuts, as one never eats the food that they once produced en masse at a restaurant.

-- AJ (joijoijoi@hotmail.com), October 24, 2000.

What an utter hell of a question. Yes I have been a boss a time or two, also a half owner of a business. As a peon from long practice I learned to avoid conflict. A peon always loses, even when they win -- just like a war you know, there is a victor, but everybody loses. In these cases it is usually the peon who loses the most.

Bosses never paid me wages to fight with them and I tried to do what they wanted me to do. I was never asked to do anything illegal or unethical -- but oh, how many times have I done the stupid things that one boss or another told me to do.

Once in my work life I was given an order to do something and after thinking a moment I told my boss that if he would write out the order and sign it in front of witnesses I would be happy to do it. I was looking for another job at the time because of him and laughed when I found one and passed around wishing everybody goodbye, he sounded so wounded and astounded that I was leaving. Wow

I was a boss long enough at different times that when asked to try for being a boss in later times, my stock reply was, "I would like to be able to interview prospective employees who will work for me. I do insist that I will be allowed to have an usatisfactory employee removed from my department and never to return."

The first request was sluffed off as being part of personnel's duty. Yeah right, that is why so many square pegs were sent in to fit the round holes. My demand to be at least able to get one of those square pegs out of my department's round holes the answer was, to be diplomatic about it, "Even if Hell freezes over, you can't." Peaceful peon

-- Denver doug (ionoi@webtv.net), October 24, 2000.


I was a boss for two years. I had spent 8 years working as a transcriptionist in a medical office, very frustrated with management. Suddenly I *was* management. I loved it. I took over at a time when we were going through incredible turmoil and nobody knew what was going on. though I never saw myself in a leadership role, it was obvious that SOMEONE had to make decisions and it might as well be me. I secured my position in one weekend, barking orders at people, from clerks to doctors, and having everyone follow my orders blindly because at least SOMEONE was doing something.

However, the office was taken over by a medical corporation which set about replacing all of the doctor-faithful managers with corporation-faithful managers. They couldn't fire us, but they could make life miserable for us. My turn came a year after the take over and I bought into their scheme and quit. It is my greatest delight that (a) it took six months for them to find a replacement for me, and (b) both she and the next two replacements both quit because they couldn't take the corporate bullying either.

I like being the boss now. I have only one employee: me. The pay sucks, but the hours and fringe benefits are great.

-- Bev Sykes (basykes@dcn.davis.ca.us), October 29, 2000.


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