# Stuff you can get away with at work now that would have gotten you fired in the old days **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591 "2011-02-16T15:55:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/21 "2011-02-18T18:31:34Z")
I’m a big old fashioned mannish dyke with hair that looks and feels better cut short. My work loves it when I rock up in a tie and nobody blinks an eye if I am in short sleeves and a tattoo is visible. Everyone knows about my partner and she is discussed as everyone else does their spouses. Such a change from the early 80s when I first started work and had to basically wear drag, have long hair and never discuss my personal life if I wanted to have a career. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/22 "2011-02-18T18:34:30Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > No, unions can be too strong. I have a close friend who crushes suitcases at the airport for a living. One of his coworkers came to work drunk and my guy wouldn’t let him operate any of the conveyor machinery or tractors. Drunk got belligerent and beat him up under the belly of a 747. > > My friend was back at work the next day. Drunk got a couple weeks off (paid!) so he could go to treatment cuz you can’t fire someone just for being sick. I meant the story. “A guy who hit-and-ran his supervisor while driving the company car drunk, and wasn’t fired because he claimed he was an alcoholic and started treatment.” Friend of a friend and all that. In the case of your friend, why didn’t he press charges for assault? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/23 "2011-02-18T20:06:54Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > In the case of your friend, why didn’t he press charges for assault? Bye gones. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/24 "2011-02-18T20:53:17Z")
Dress codes, of course. My Father-in-law was required to wear a jacket, tie, and white shirt. If anyone wore a different color, it would be remarked upon. A much more lax attitude toward attendance. If there was a snowstorm, everyone showed up on time. Now, you can be late and no one says anything. Similarly, you can take time to handle emergencies and personal business without being penalized. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/25 "2011-02-19T06:42:29Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > I meant the story. “A guy who hit-and-ran his supervisor while driving the company car drunk, and wasn’t fired because he claimed he was an alcoholic and started treatment.” Friend of a friend and all that.\ Eh, it’s possible that it’s not true, but I was in the room when the other workers were discussing what had happened with a guy they knew (the drunk); I don’t think they had any particular reason to lie to me or mislead me. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/26 "2011-02-19T18:29:02Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Dress codes, of course. My Father-in-law was required to wear a jacket, tie, and white shirt. If anyone wore a different color, it would be remarked upon… That was the plot of an early episode of **The Simpsons**. Bart put a red hat in with the whites which made Homer’s work shirts pink and Mr Burns ended up institutionalizing Homer because he showed up to work in a pink shirt. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/27 "2011-02-19T18:47:02Z")
Telling your boss that you’re not going to “hug it out, bitch” with him. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/28 "2011-02-19T18:59:30Z")
Texting. Not that long ago cell phones were concealed in pockets. We would often hear people in the bathroom texting. I [a manager] would walk out into the store and see people quickly put their phone into their pocket and think I didn’t see them. Over the years I confiscated a few phones (after repeat warnings in one day, and just until the end of a shift). I’ve gone into purses\* to shut off phones that had been ringing or beeping all day since the break/lunch table is right next to my office. A handful of people have even lost their job over problems with cell phone use at work. Now, we’ve more or less given up on it. As long as you still get your work done and aren’t letting your phone distract you, sending or receiving a handful of texts over the course of the day isn’t a big deal. As it turns out, it’s easier to do that then try to stop it and have everyone sneaking around and taking 10 bathroom breaks everyday. \*by ‘gone into purses’ I mean I’ve grabbed phones when I could see them in an open purse and turned them off, I never actually opened or dug through a purse without permission. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/29 "2011-02-19T19:55:22Z")
Check this one out: [Coffee break](http://www.archive.org/details/CoffeeBreak) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/30 "2011-02-19T20:49:26Z")
So apparently people have been taking extra-long breaks a long time. I can just see the Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt talking to his foremen - “The slaves seem to be lingering over their breaks. Can’t you just start whipping them and get them back to hauling sandstone blocks?” ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/31 "2011-02-19T23:05:23Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Texting. > > Not that long ago cell phones were concealed in pockets. We would often hear people in the bathroom texting. I [a manager] would walk out into the store and see people quickly put their phone into their pocket and think I didn’t see them. Over the years I confiscated a few phones (after repeat warnings in one day, and just until the end of a shift). I’ve gone into purses\* to shut off phones that had been ringing or beeping all day since the break/lunch table is right next to my office. A handful of people have even lost their job over problems with cell phone use at work. Now, we’ve more or less given up on it. As long as you still get your work done and aren’t letting your phone distract you, sending or receiving a handful of texts over the course of the day isn’t a big deal. As it turns out, it’s easier to do that then try to stop it and have everyone sneaking around and taking 10 bathroom breaks everyday. > > \*by ‘gone into purses’ I mean I’ve grabbed phones when I could see them in an open purse and turned them off, I never actually opened or dug through a purse without permission. For me it’s the opposite. I remember a time not too long ago when I could actually get by with not carrying a smart phone around with me. Even when I was issued one by the company, I’d just leave it locked in my desk. Now I need to have it on me all the time. Of course, that is also the reason I can come in late, leave early, work from home, take coffee breaks whenever and otherwise come and go as I please. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/32 "2011-02-19T23:45:58Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > Being queer of any sort and out about it. Gay, trans, whatever. Don’t break out the party hats just yet. It’s still legal in 38 states to fire you for being trans, and still legal in 30 states to fire you for being gay or lesbian. Trans people lose their jobs just for being who they are all the time. This country has a very long way to go toward equal rights for all. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/33 "2011-02-20T03:41:49Z")
Having sex at your place of work is rather difficult if not impossible for most of us now. Back in the dark ages when I was starting out in library work it was a tradition at least on the campuses where I worked to fool around in the library after hours (you know, Librarians do it in the Stacks, etc.). You would always tell your colleagues you might be “working late” on a certain night, so nobody ran the risk of running into each other, got your partner and whatever other items (picnic basket, wine, sleeping bag) into the building before closing hours and then got yourself and your partner out before the morning crews came in using your staff keys. Now the keys are electronic and code entry and departure time. There are laser beam security systems criss-crossing floors and cameras everywhere, not to mention more campus security. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/34 "2011-02-20T03:49:46Z")
Well, people DO shake hands an awful lot in the work place… ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/35 "2011-02-20T23:36:26Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > A much more lax attitude toward attendance. If there was a snowstorm, everyone showed up on time. Now, you can be late and no one says anything. Similarly, you can take time to handle emergencies and personal business without being penalized. I agree back in '99 we had a major snowstorm in Chicago, which was no big deal if you lived by the subway or took public transportation. I got to work on time, but of the 8 members of my staff 7 called off. One came in, Barbara and she DROVE in. I said, “Wow, you drive in and made it. I thought it’d be the opposite, the people taking the subways would come in.” She looks at me and says “Mark, I got a car payment, if I don’t come in, I can’t pay it and they’ll take my car. I HAD to get here.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/36 "2011-02-21T12:48:43Z")
Fired? I’m a woman… it hasn’t been so long since I simply wouldn’t have been hired. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591/37 "2011-02-21T19:43:36Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Don’t break out the party hats just yet. It’s still legal in 38 states to fire you for being trans, and still legal in 30 states to fire you for being gay or lesbian. Trans people lose their jobs just for being who they are all the time. This country has a very long way to go toward equal rights for all. Yep, I’m well aware of that. But there is a world of difference between the attitude toward queer folks in most workplaces now and even ten years ago, let alone “the old days”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-can-get-away-with-at-work-now-that-would-have-gotten-you-fired-in-the-old-days/571591.md?page=1)