So, long story short: It's me and 4 other guys working here. I do the afternoon-evening shift and them others do the morning-afternoon shift. One of them tells our boss he can't come to work because he'll have to go to the hospital or whatever. My boss says “no problemo” and calls me. He says: “Since he can't come to work tomorrow, I'll need you to replace him”, to what I say “but he starts working at 8 am and I start working at 1 pm. I will have to work from 8 am to 9 pm tomorrow?” and he says: “That's it” :/
Now, out of morbid curiosity I asked him “will I at least get some extra money for the extra work?” to what he replays, and I kid you not, he says: “We were expecting you do this for the company.” Like, what?
Well, I say the obvious. I say to him: “Look, I won't do this. I don't think it's right”, and that's when he says the best part: “Look, we need people who are willing to make sacrifices for the company” and after hearing I start feeling something that I can't explain, I don't even know why I got so mad with that phrase, I just said: “Fire me, then” like, why did I say that? It was like someone else speaking for me because I'm not imperative like that, normally I do what I'm told. But something happened and I said that.
It was like something clicked inside me and I started saying “no” a lot more in this company then before. Like, I'm now typing this, 3 weeks later, instead of working. I'm enjoying this new version of me. I feel more in control now.
And, of course, never again did my boss ask something of me that isn't on my contract.
That's it, I guess. I understand that this is a privilege, to be able to say “no” to my boss. If you read until here, when you can, stick to yourself and say “no” to people. Don't take as long as I did.