How Did You Feel When You Were Instructed To Do Things You Didn't Agree With?

On several occasions, employers have asked me to do things I refused to do.
I worked at a government-run halfway house for one month in a clerical position - maintaining files, generating reports, corresponding with Probation Officers, etc. Inmates who had less than 6 months of their sentences lived there & were supposed to work, keep their rooms clean & be drug tested daily. My job did not involve any contact or interaction with inmates; it was strictly an office position. I was told none of the inmates were convicted of any violent or sex-related offences; mostly drug related.
After a week, my supervisor started showing me how to do a "Face Page." That involves interviewing inmates in a locked room & filling out information about their offenses. Of course it was dangerous; some inmates got angry at the personal questions I was supposed to ask. And, my supervisor also lied about no violent or sex-related inmates at the facility. Several inmates had rape & murder convictions. As if that wasn't enough, she told me that when we were short staffed, I would be asked to collect urine samples from inmates for drug testing. She handed me an instruction sheet that included:
"The tester must personally witness the sample enter the bottle," I guess to verify that the inmate wasn't providing someone else's sample.
When I told her the job was not truthfully explained to me when I was hired, she said, "You're not a team player." I said, "You're not an honest person."

 

I had a boss who ordered me to send out a bunch of letters that would cause a lot more problems than it was worth. There were others in the department who were extremely opposed to having the letters sent out, but the boss wasn't the type who was going to back down.

They appealed to me to talk him out of it. I said I'd handle it. What I did was delay doing the letters. For a few days, the boss would ask me how I was doing with the letters and I'd say, "Hey, working on it, boss!" After that, he stopped asking me. He KNEW, on second thought, it was a bad idea to send out the letters but he wasn't one to back down on it. By not sending the letters, this allowed him to bow out of it gracefully and as long as the matter wasn't ever referred to again, everyone saved face.

You just have to know how to handle people.....

 

My first lesson in on-the-job professionalism by the Executive Director on how to deal with rude visitors/guests. As a receptionist I took the encounter personal. Luckily for me she knew how this person was.

 

I spent the majority of my secular career in Food and Beverage with some side stints working on my dad’s (and other) construction sites and whatever the job calls for to get it done, gets done.
In food and beverage, one gets used to the long hours and unappreciative guests and in construction, taking risks like walking a beam 2+ stories up is part of the job.

Now, in line with the question posed in the OP, I won’t put up with stupidity and have walked out of a few positions because of it.
In Food and Beverage in particular, my creed is that the guest is NOT always right and if management will not support a wait person or bartender who is being abused, I have a tendency to get a bit hot and will, after a shift tell said manager exactly what they are worth and have been known to do it in front of everyone and then walk.
Notably, I won’t put up with management or a Chef who abuses the help. One curse word directed at a cook, wait person or utility worker and when the shift was over, I walked but not until the mandatory public dressing down.

One other thing I deem as stupid is lying to a guest. As an example, if the menu says Sword Fish, it had best be Sword Fish and not Maco Shark.
I can barely put up with some time cutting devices such as the use of pre-packaged sauces but I will not put up with cost cutting if it involves deception.

 

The restaurant and bar business is an egomaniac’s paradise.
It’s a given that everyone has an ego and a slightly inflated ego is actually an important asset to have when dealing with the public’s culinary needs because the word “excellence” is more than just a product but a personal achievement.

Still, the wanna be Gordon Ramsay’s of the world flock into the restaurant business just to feed their their own egos and will treat the guests and employees as if they are somehow lesser than they unless of course, said guest has a bigger ego and richer pocket and the manager or chef can profit by the kissing of a posterior region.

Personally, if I had ever worked with Gordon Ramsey himself, I would have probably pulled the emergency plunger out of the inside of a freezer door and locked him in the freezer for a spell just to get that filthy mouth out of the kitchen proper.
Yup…..it’s been done and to a very deserving wanna be.

 

I have always been a bum and relatively poor in my mind. But also a prepper so I could walk off a job almost any time, if needs be. I wanted a job as described for agreed upon pay, I did the best I could and sometimes more if it was so.
But hey, it was only a job. And this was before the government paid me not to work.
There was always work I could do at home.

 

You are a wise person Mary. Not many people would think of that, let alone do it.

 

Well, I knew there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that I was going to get fired for trying it, so I had little to lose.