# Anyone have a boss that does this? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-a-boss-that-does-this/325797 "2005-10-11T20:25:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-a-boss-that-does-this/325797/1 "2005-10-11T20:25:32Z")
I had a rough day at work yesterday (Monday too, go figure 😛 ). One of the kids I tutor normally does reading. But last week his mom decided she would like him to get tutoring in math as well. Being the absentminded dolt that I am, I _forgot_ he was starting math last Saturday, and did a session of reading by accident. Fortunately, his mom was ok with the mistake, and I told her that we would just to math the next time they came in. He shows up Monday, and I get his math stuff together. My manager sees this, and tells me I HAVE to do reading with him, it’s on the schedule, woe be it to the mortal who dares defy the schedule, yadda yadda yadda. I was rather pissed at my manager about this. I was trying to fix my own mistake, and got chewed out for it. If there was a reasonable explanation, that would be fine, but there wasn’t. I was just trying to salvage a previous error I had made. This is just one of many examples of things I try to do that get coopted by my manager. I kind of feel like our manager wants to have it both ways in terms of employees- she wants robots, in the sense that they aren’t going to do anything outside of what she specifically said so that the employees don’t screw things up/get her in trouble, and yet she also wants problem solvers; people who are dynamic and can quickly deal with unexpected events and come up with solutions so that they can operate independently. Half the time, I’ll do something (like what I mentioned above) and get patted on the back for my quick thinking/good judgement. The other half of the time, I get chewed out for not passing it off to the manager. It can be rather frustrating sometimes. 95% of our company’s service is provided by people in my position, yet a lot of times I feel like we aren’t “in the know” about things as much as we should be. A big cause of these conflicts are built from manager/employee miscommunications, and I feel (unfortunately) that every month we run around in circles ‘setting the record straight’ about what everybody’s expectations are. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-a-boss-that-does-this/325797/2 "2005-10-11T22:12:11Z")
Does she even know that you are trying to correct the mistake from last week? I didn’t see that posted. Sometimes just informing your boss of your good intentions BEFORE you do it is a good approach. Also, telling your boss that the mother was already informed and she was ok with the make-up and she (boss) can double check with mom. As a boss, I like to know if there are changes to what I expect to happen and do not want to get caught off gaurd with something that I do not know the reason for since it was not divulged to me. Maybe your boss is a little tight-fisted on this one, but she sounds like someone who does not like surprises…even little ones. If it was me, I would talk to her after the shift to explain my reasoning and that I had no bad intentions by changing the schedule. If she has an open door policy, great. Little things like that should be pounded out with a conclusion on what to do the next time it happens. If she is unwilling to talk to you about it, then she is a control freak…start looking elsewhere unless you enjoy challenges. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Jibby\_Jabbish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Mr.Jibby\_Jabbish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Jibby_Jabbish)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-a-boss-that-does-this/325797/3 "2005-10-12T13:46:37Z")
You could try all sorts of tactics with a boss like this. Maybe become passive-aggressive. See how the boss likes that tactic. Or don’t show up for work at all. How’s them apples? Bosses, I tell you, sometimes I want to give them all a shock in the teeths.