Let me explain. I just got into a shouting match with my boss, at a trucking company I just started at. I decided to apologize to him, but honestly, it began essentially because I told him I wasn't going to let him talk to me like he did, and however he felt about me having to go home (due to a personal emergency, and I did explain what was going on to him, because he asked), you don't talk to people like that, and him telling me that me showing up late ONE day last week, because of traffic on both the main and alternate routes, traffic that, had it not been there, I would have been 45 minutes early, was somehow disrespectful to him. And it's not like I don't understand where he's coming from, it probably does seem unreliable when someone has issues when they start a job. But I had the flu. I even told them two days prior that I'd be keeping my mask on around them, because my family had it, and I didn't want to spread it. I like my job, so I probably should have just let it go, but you trivialize my problem, reason why I'm calling you and letting you know I have to go home early (I could have just had my trainer cover for me, but I decided to try and do the right thing), then proceed to have an attitude, and very rudely and disrespectfully berate me with the whole “we come to work to work, and if you don't want to work, I told you no call outs etc.”, after I explained to you that I didn't want to drive a truck in the middle of the night with the flu, when I'm barely coherent enough to speak, you know why I was late (came down to a 50/50 chance of route A staying backed up, or route B, and I chose B when I should have chose A), and then proceed to think you have some sort of right to talk to me like this, because “your the boss”, makes me a little too agitated to think about the consequences of not telling him off. I even gave him the chance to unfuck his behavior, and said “look dude, I'm trying to be respectful” and he cuts me off with “Look dude!!?? You know I'm your boss right”, and that's when I just lose it. I told him that yeah, your my boss, but you can't be that disrespectful and then expect people bow down to you like your god in return. That's when he goes off about the whole Missed a day thing and shows up late thing (he insisted I missed 2 days, but I work Monday through Friday and only missed Thursday. I had my trainer take the wheel Thursday for the last half of the night because I wasn't feeling well enough to drive (flu) and mind you, I'm an experienced driver, I don't need training driving, despite my trainers insistance that I drive to slow, I'm training to learn where I'll be going and what I'll be doing, and nobody seemed to have an issue with that at the time. I only showed up late because there was traffic because of an accident, so I took a back road to try and get there on time, but, as luck would have it, somebody fucked up and crashed on the back road too. He's a dispatcher, and was monitoring the traffic anyway, so he knew that what I told him was true. And I sent him documented proof that I both have the flu, and that the doctor said I shouldn't even be at work, but I came anyway to show good will, until I wasn't safe anymore. Not to mention the fact that, me going home early wouldn't affect anything. I told him that if I were on my own, I wouldn't have even considered it, but, since my trainer is here and has no problem going to get the other load and brining it back, that I needed to leave. I also told him that whatever he had to do (right me up, let me go, do what have you) I'd understand. But he decided the correct way to handle the situation is to start being incredibly rude and to become irate instead. I honestly should have just let it go. I'm 22, and my work history is spotty at best, so I should have just let this go and kept this job at peace, and generally I let this kind of thing slide. My trainer was making off the cuff remarks the entire time however, and was friendly in a way, but also very rude and generally seemed like not a people person, so that was already wearing at my nerves, and the tip of that iceberg had just been passed, when he acted like I was an idiot for not knowing where a truck stop I've never been to a day in my life was. And yes, I know I should have just let it go. I know that at the end of the day, my trainer could have covered for me, and no matter what, they probably weren't going to let me go, and that they couldn't stop me from going home either (they're trying to say I abandoned the load, which is nonsensical, since this was my trainers truck, on his account, and no loads were even remotely effected by this whatsoever. But if he is really serious, I will go to court in a heartbeat to have that load abandonment removed from my record, because that's BS, the load we had was delivered, and the load to be picked up was still picked up. No load was abandoned.), and yes, I know how it looks to an employer when you seem unreliable, and I know this from experience because, I've been unreliable, when I was battling literal homelessness. But that's why I made sure to have documentation to prove where I was and why. I'm so tired of being in these situations. Self caused it may be, the way employers handle these situations is outrageous. If he wanted to let me go because of this, that's all he had to do. There was no reason to decide to berate and belittle someone instead, and attempt to humble them to himself. I get it, you believe employees should show a certain. level of respect to the boss. That's fine, but I believe that everyone should show a certain level of respect to everyone. And me “disrespecting” you by showing up late to a meeting, when you know why, because you informed all of the drivers of the accident that caused me to be late (it usually takes me 35-50 minutes to get to work, so I leave about 35-45 minutes early to make sure that if there's traffic I shouldn't have a problem.), is not a good reason to be rude and irate to me. Sorry for the long post.