The Working Persons Pocket Guide to Boss And Employee Relations or

Introduction

This is not your everyday kind of book. This is a “get your boss off your back with quick wit and finesse” kind of book. This is the kind of book that every working stiff,  male or female, shouldn’t be without. It will tell you how to get your boss off your back and some funny insights along the way. I have had 22 different jobs and bosses and have seen all types. Now don’t get me wrong.  I was not fired from these jobs because of my work or my attitude, but when you realize your boss’s intelligence is limited to, “ I know what I’m doing,” as he pushes a pull door even when it is clearly marked PULL, and under his breath he says, “ Damn this door is stuck again,” you may be like me and be ready to move on to greener pastures and a place that is not so DIM.

Oh, did I mention that this is not a boss-bashing book?  It’s just aimed to the ones who are deserving of it. I can tell you that a boss and a manager are two different things.  A Boss, who we will be looking at in this book, is 9 times out of 10 a moron; a manager is a person who can get the work done without screaming, insults, or degrading people. Well you get the idea.  Owners are the same way. They are not left out either.  I have known great owners of companies and then there were the other types (you know, the morons).  The ones in this book are, you guessed it, the morons. To the other types, the managers, owners, and CEOs, who are thinking people who not only care about making money but to be a decent person, this book is also dedicated to you.  Hats off to you all. We need more of you. The workplace is filled with the other types with such wise questions like, “What are you doing?” even though they haven’t got enough brain power to actually LOOK to see what you are doing.  They would rather bother you while you are trying to do something to ask you mindless questions.

In this book I will be telling you some of the experiences that I have had and that of some of my friends as well as my wonderful wife (without her support and encouragement this book would not have gotten this far). (This is to keep me in good with her for all those long hours I was playing on the computer) hahaha

When I first started working, I was just 15 years old, and unfortunately for this book, my first boss was a good lady and was not a boss at all. She was a manager. So I was spoiled right off the bat.  I knew how a good manager should act, and all who followed can’t hold a candle to her. But the good news is the very next one was a true dolt. I worked at a grocery store for a short time.  My boss had me doing all kinds of strange things. He got himself cut really badly once because he wanted to wash the light bulbs on the outside fixtures. Yes, I said wash the light bulbs on the outside fixtures. They were fluorescent, nice and safe, right?       I was told to do it. I told him he was out of his tree. He wanted to show me just how safe they were.  He took a rag and proceeded to wipe down the florescent bulb.  (Instead of just putting new ones he ordered in that we got from the main store.  He wanted to save those until they went bad.)  Well, to make a long story short, when the bulb popped, he went to the hospital with 32 stitches in his wrist and a type of poison (that makes the light work) coursing thought his blood. Needless to say, the next day I put the new one in and never again was asked to wash down light bulbs.

This is just one example of the kind of ways some melon-heads want to save money and show a better bottom line. The book is filled with stories of such bosses with the “Higher learning” which got them their jobs.  It has never stopped to amaze me that someone with the intelligence that some of these people have lack common sense. Corporate, it seems like, has even less of a clue than even most of the nitwits I have had the displeasure of working with.  They don’t want to order stock to fill the shelves but give some kind of discount for not having it in stock. They say, “Well, if we don’t have it in stock, you can get a rain check for it at 30% off.”  They then pull the bonehead move of the year.  They bitch because their overhead and/or cost are up!  Well, duh!  We blue-collar people may not always be the most educated ones in the group, but we are certainly smarter than someone trying to sell something they don’t have, or who won’t order the product  because they are trying to keep overhead down, then turn around and give out discounts on sale merchandise they don’t have yet because they didn’t order it.  Then we really lose money.  But as we all know, for we have all seen it happen time and time again, “the bus driver knows best.”

A lot of people also wonder what went on behind closed doors. I have seen and heard what happens. They say we beat time.  HA!  It is just a way to throw their weight and make everyone nervous about their jobs, and who they can fire to make the bottom line look better and still not lose production.

They didn’t like my idea of getting rid of 1 of the 17 bosses they had at one time. We had more bosses than workers - two bosses for every one, NO waiting!

So needless to say, my idea was right. We couldn’t have that (it made sense).  I was told we needed all we have, and of course, I asked why?  “To keep the work going” was told to me.  Well I should have not said a word, but of course, I did.