17 replies to this topic

[taikara]

I've been thinking about this for a few  days, and I haven't started one of these "thoughtful" threads in ages, so I'll give it a go.

What is it about authority that makes people squirm?

I mean, some people obviously abuse their authority over others, like what happened to me at my law office job, but I honestly don't believe that the majority of people in charge of things are that bad. And in circumstances like that, I think it's better just to quit, or leave gracefully, than to challenge him, because it wouldn't get me anywhere anyway.

At least, my experience has been that most of my employers were just normal people doing the best they can with what they have available. They get stressed, like anyone else, but they get over it. I've had crappy jobs, but I've rarely actually had a crappy boss.

To be honest, I've had a lot more co-workers I've disliked working with than bosses I've disliked working with. People not doing their job, or backstabbing other coworkers in order to get ahead, etc., is a lot more likely than a boss not doing his job or backstabbing the workers underneath him. I mean, a boss's job is to tell his workers what jobs to do, and how to do them, and from my experiences, bosses are very good at doing that

I mean, given the choice, I'd rather run my own company than work under someone else, sure, but there are just as many cons to having authority as there are to working under someone else's authority.

I could be wrong about the likelihood of boss-abuse, but it's just been my experience that most of the time I get The Boss on my back, it's because I'm not doing a good enough job... and when I make an effort to do better, The Boss gets off my back. Except for that last job, when I was doing the best I could. But hey, maybe it wasn't good enough for him.

[DakaSha]

authority doesnt really make me squirm...

id say that i have a very low tolerance to injustice (at least my definition of it). so while i have no problem at all with a boss/teacher/drill sargeant telling me what to do i do have a very big problem with it if its abused or unjust.

actually i have two examples:

My first job was as a low paid idiot factory worker working shifts... crap job but it became alot crappier when my boss started asking me to do stuff that she didnt ask the others (or not all the others) like working 2 shifts a day    yeah right. i quit right before she leased me to a certain factory which kinda screwed her up i and was fined 250 euros... i new id be fined but i just thought screw this and did it anyway

My second job was as a Telecomunications Adviser (aka Door to door Salesman... yes i was a salesman believe it or not... with a tie and everything ). Now this job sucked even more... i was working up to 14 hours a day (no exageration) but it wasnt all that bad because everybody was treated completly equel... well of course we had our little brainf*** sessions where the people who sold alot the day before would do there little running in a circle giving high five thingies... but all in all our boss was cool which made it alot easier to work those long days



ok i dont really know what the point is... i guess i just mean ill work hard if my boss is cool and ill just flat out destroy the company first chance if he/she isnt

[taikara]

Maybe she asked you to work 2 shifts a day because you were one of her best workers?

Would she work two shifts a day? I think that's the easiest way to tell if someone's being a jerk, or just doing their job. If someone asks you to do something they wouldn't be willing to at least try to do themselves, it's likely they're just being a jerk.

Of course, it's not really a rule - some people aren't able to do certain things, so it's iffy. Like my mom might ask me to make curtains, but it's because she doesn't know how to sew without patterns, and she thinks I'm better at it.

[DakaSha]

nah... i worked for a company that hires workers and basicaly sells them to factorys for a certain amount of time. she wouldnt know how good i was (also i worked on a machine.. there is no bad or good working... either you haul butt or your fired pretty much )

i dont think she did it to be a jerk par se... but it came down to her wanting to make more money and using me as the tool. i was getting minimum wage and she probably made about twice of what i make off of just me. (as in she gets 11 euros and i get 5,50 most likly even a bigger difference)

now of course one can see it as a nice thing. i had the chance to make more money. but in that case i should be asked if i want to do it and not ordered on that day... i came into work and she just said: "well after this shift go get some rest and you can start on the next one." ha ha

the thing is i came in there basicaly pleading for a job... she was nice enough to give it to me but i truly think she thought she was in a position to use me because of that niceness... nope.

[DeathDude]

I know with me it depends on the authority. I remember when I first started my job last july that I'm still at today, I was pretty much the really hard worker, somebody ask me to do something, I would do it right away. As time passed on I eased up a bit on grabbing everything, but still keeping up the hard work ethic. You start to pay attention to how it goes in any job, there are the annoying workers though that abuse their authority, like one of our supervisors who sometimes just slacks off all nite, which is annoying, but granted you find that in any job.

Really when dealing with him at first it was more of just doing the job, now it's more of just nodding and agreeing to do it but in not so much of a rush.

[Tulac]

Well as they say power corrupts...

[taikara]

I'm not sure I'd personally say power corrupts.

I think it's more along the lines that power reveals the true nature of individuals

[A. J. Raffles]

Hmm, sorry if this is a stupid question, but are we talking about our attitude towards authority on an internet forum (i.e. Evil Power-Hungry Admins who want to spoil everyone's fun) or in our everyday lives?

[Tom Henrik]

I think both

[DeathDude]

Power definitely reveals the true intentions of individuals, seen it first hand with a fellow employee at work who kinda got more power because she works more often than a lot of people, some don't like it, I don't mind prob because she never causes any prob with me.

[A. J. Raffles]

*cough* Well, in that case you're probably going to call me a hypocrite. In my so-called "real life", I'm not a great fan of submitting to authority no matter what. Not that I'd challenge it needlessly, but within reasonable limits I do challenge it. Frequently. By that I largely mean harmless stuff, though, like openly disagreeing with my tutors when I think my wacky argument makes sense, even if I happen to know they're experts on the subject and have written a bunch of clever articles on it (luckily for me, they usually take it quite well, but I've had several teachers who didn't - ouch). And to be quite honest, generally speaking, I do prefer being in charge of things myself to having to follow somebody else's advice. I suppose that deep down, I probably think that authority is a great thing as long as I have it...
Internet forums are a different matter, though, because there, hierarchies are needed to keep the whole place together. Large forums that either aren't modded at all or have too few mods to handle all the posts usually turn into a total chaos very quickly, and then they're no use to anybody. I doubt I'd like to live in a society which was structured the same way as a forum, though, because I'd probably end up getting myself thrown into prison, or whatever the equivalent of being banned might be.

[DakaSha]

so do you have a problem with forum authority?

im asking because real life is the same way... without authority everything will succumb to chaos and your university(for instance) will not be of any use

[A. J. Raffles]

No. I don't think internet forums and "real life" work the same way.

[Puffin]

I sometimes find it hard to respect teachers. Especially if they're total morons, like one of my English teachers this semester. I basically tell her to stuff it. Same with my gym teacher. And occationally my Icelandic teacher, but he scares me to death.

With bosses at work... Well, right now I'm pretty much my own boss. I guess I abuse my powers there, but it's harmless.
But previous bosses.. Well, my first boss was pretty unfair on me, so I didn't like her. And quit. So yeah, I had a problem with her changing my shifts without letting me know, putting me on other floors that I'm not used to, all the time, but never doing that to the other people who had worked there for longer, and even knew other floors.

Then there was another one, who never did anything. She just pretended to be working, and let the others do all the work.

I definitely had problems with those two bosses!! But it was fair to dislike them.


On forums.. Well, I haven't really thought about it.. But I don't think I'm that big of a rebel, so I think I tend to follow the rules etc.. I think..

[DeathDude]

With profs I pretty much give them the respect as long as they show it back and they don't think so highly of their skills and act all high and mighty that's when I begin to trail off a bit.

Forum wise I pretty much follow the rules, don't cause trouble, make the odd joke or two to keep things interesting, all in good fun of course.