Not sure what to think of this but I already have a job that will be morphing into a “completely new” job and have the ability to build the new company from the ground up but current owners request that I humble myself and find alternative means to work to keep worker morale up. Apparently my car would cause jealousy issues at the current job with the current employees until the job jumps to the new location. Word is other employees might have issues with their pay when person X shows up as a new hire causing the workers to act upset with there pay scale.
This was never a issue since I was a WAH employee and other employee’s rarely see me. It is a small office with around 10 people. Would it matter that i don’t want to drive my backup car (an old durango) for a few months to save people some potential workplace stress? By stress i mean that the workplace will run amuck with all workers asking for a raise or more reasonably asking why I can afford a certain car. This is something the “BOSS” would like to avoid. I dunno what to think.
What would you do in a situation like this? Yeah it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and yes it would be slightly inconvenient for less than a year, but it would make the boss happy, and yes i would still have this opportunity if i chose to take my “more expensive car” . After a year, we buy a new office and i will run it, later when “boss” retires I will be left with the company as the owner.
SO my question is what would you do in this situation? I was furious for about a hour but kept it all inside. I have since cooled off and am leaning towards just doing it so that nobody bitches at me.
Am i wrong to think that this is a stupid request? I am not a person that belittles others or flaunts expensive things in public. I reasoned with myself that I worked extra hard and that’s why I can have nice things, but apparently the other employees might not see it that way and might not work so hard while I am there. The other employees don’t invest or do anything other than their 9-5.
Any advise? Am i stupid? Are they being unreasonable?
I have to say I wouldn’t want to work with such a crowd of pissy babies, nor overly inclined to work for a boss that supports them in their pissy-baby-ness. I have never owned a “fancy” car but I don’t care if my coworker shows up in a gold-plated Bentley if he’s working hard and getting his shit done. WTF business is it of mine how he got his car?
thats how i feel as well its good to know im not crazy for thinking poorly on this. But the job is worth it and could very well end the best possible way if I stick with it.
What do you have, like a Ferrari? I can’t think of many cars that are so upper-echelon that they cause the entire staff to inundate management with demands for raises.
What kind of car do you have? Like ReticulatingSplines says, unless you have a really shiny car - and even an Enzo wouldn’t do it for me, you’d have to have a goddamn Veyron for me to be that jealous of you.
Anyway you might have to do it just to maintain the peace but I’d resent it every day of my damn life. I worked hard to be comfortably middle-class. Where does it end? Right now I can afford things like a new Kindle, a new camera, iPod, stuff like that, without a problem. One of my coworkers can’t. I don’t flaunt them in front of her but neither will I leave it at home. A car is an even bigger deal - what if your old Durango breaks down? Take the bus?
The more I read about this the more I am befuddled. Ok, so this same coworker, as of 3-5 years ago, was much richer than I was - able to afford brand new Mercedes and stuff. I never assumed she was making a significant amount more than me - I assumed, and rightly, they had savings/husband made good money/they lived beyond their means. All of which turned out to be true to some extent.
And you know what else? When coworker had fancy schmancy Mercedes, rather than being jealous, I was happy to get to ride in a really fancy car - all my life I’ve owned Toyotas.
Ask if you can drive your shiny car and park it further away, or something.
Perhaps the boss is testing you. Sole proprieters are often rather choosy about the hands in which they plan to leave their company and the well-being of their employees. Does he just want to know that yours is a character capable of giving up creature comforts for their benefit?
All just guesses, of course, but it’s an awfully strange request.
If it is a minor and short term issue that keeps the peace with your current boss and ends up with you having your dream job I would consider doing it. My guess is that it is more of an issue for your boss than your colleagues.
Quite apart from the (ostensible) ethics of all this, what other travel options are available to you? That would be an important part of the equation to me. If (for example) it’s a train, connecting to a bus (after a 25 minute wait), then a twenty minute walk, it’s a different proposition to what it might be if you can use a single, cheap, simple alternative to driving.
If it’s not actually a massive practical imposition, I’d be tempted to go for it on the condition that I get to spin it as my own, altruistic idea, or something.
ETA: wait. On re-reading, we’re not talking about giving up driving at all, are we? Just driving one of your cheaper cars instead??
well i drive a new amg s550. Its a six digit car (barely) but certainly not a bentley or ferrari. The boss drives a s550 as well would that be it? I don’t tell people how much i paid for it so i assume that they don’t know and that is how i act about it as well. The sad thing is that i aspire to a S65 one day.
No, i have been told that this would be the only issue that would come up. And again even this was optional. They are not unreasonable in other ways since they pay for any employee emergency’s give bonuses and boost commissions for some employees as well as buying a used car for the shipping manager so that he could never say he was late because of the bus. They have ALWAYS taken care of their employees that is why this decision has weight and thus a post in here to get dopers opinions because to me these opinions in here do matter to me.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but it sounds like your boss is a full of crap, clueless big talker with no intention of following through on his promises and he thinks you are gullible enough to fall for it. Things are going to pay off in a big way, but only if you don’t drive a nice car because then the bitchy employees will somehow ruin his big plan? He’s going to give you the company when he retires? For free? Right. Tell him to pull the other one, it’s got bells on it.
You could debadge it, then most people won’t be able to tell unless it’s something really unique. Then when you’re the boss you can rebadge it and fire all the babies.
IMO I wouldn’t give it up. There are a number of excuses you could give as to why you have a fancy car that aren’t related to pay grade. As TruCelt poses, maybe it’s a test, but it’s to see how you handle potential workplace conflict.
I work about 12 dense city miles from one side of Fort Lauderdale to the other side. 15 minutes by car, several hour walk, or about a hour by bus provided that i don’t wait for the bus very long. but still bus is out of the question since its a half hour wait both ways. I have a family i need to be able to get to in case a emergency. I also asked if i could park it down the street. The answer is either “please just do this thing for me” or “why not drive the durango” My reply is that the durango has horrible gas mileage (around 11 on a good day) and I know that MY durango wants to flip some day soon. I am very uncomfortable in it and although it has never broken down it requires attention often even for minor things.
No, i totally believe her since she did buy me a house about 10 years ago and the company did pay a 60k surgery bill, actually they were the ones who pursued me getting my shoulder fixed. She has also bought and paid off a 270k townhouse for a former employee who ended up breaking into their office and stealing a $30k customer database to start their own business with. I doubt the other employees will ruin their plan but boss x is so close to retirement she wants to minimize stress. Greatest boss ever, weirdest request ever as well.
Park it around the block and walk. However, as others have stated, there appears to be issues with your employer that probably won’t stop.
If you accede to their ahem “request,” be prepared when they confront you about the jacket you wear when it’s cold outside, then your work clothes, your shoes, and your hair style, ad infinitum.
Whatever happens, refuse to remove your Rolex from your wrist.
What’s with the assumption on your bosses/other employees part that all money in your universe comes from your salary at that particular job?
Money comes from lots of places. Investments, sales of assets, inheritance, gift, won it on a game show, won a contest, aunt dies and leaves you her house which you sell for a nice profit, large settlement in a lawsuit, you come from old money, etc.
I’d say if you can afford this really nice car, you can probably afford to lease for one year something that is decently nice. Not as great as your baby, but still better than the Durango beater (and perhaps get rid of the Durango to boot). And if this IS the fantastic opportunity you say it is, the lease doesn’t seem that severe a burden.
Lets say the boss is right and your fancy car does raise a shitstorm. That shitstorm could end up with you quiting, the employees raising hell, the business going under, the boss stroking out, or many other things were you don’t get this opportunity of a lifetime.
At the very least I’d try to make sure the bosses worries about a possible shitstorm are totally off the wall wrong. Keep in mind the boss works with these people.
It’s a stupid request, but that doesn’t mean that saying no will have no consequences. How much do you like this job? Sure, the request is stupid and it’d piss me right off, but it sounds like the person you work for is making it a big deal. She bought you a house? Go buy a used car you’re comfortable (and trade in the Durango if you need a parking spot) and do it.
I work for a small company myself and deal with the personalities of each person in the office. They’ve never asked me for anything this odd but they’ve also paid for a lot of leeway and flexibility by being good to work for. Personally, in the exceptional circumstances you’re describing (not just for any old job), I’d just find a way to make it work. Odds are, people are already complaining and she just is too nice to tell you.
