So I worked at a nuclear power site.
One day, I asked one of the maintenance workers – the guy that emptied the trash cans if he could give me a new trash can liner.
Trash can liners cost I would say approximately one or two cents. His demeanor, which had always been friendly and positive changed to an angry scowl.
He said ‘If I have to change every single blanking garbage can liner every day I’ll never get any work done.’
So I said ‘no worries man you don’t have to do it all I’ll bring one in’.
So he angrily changed the liner. I didn’t think any more of it.
They next day, I got called in by the Director of engineering… The Director of engineering!
I thought she wanted to talk about the project I was on – instead she got very serious and said, ‘did you ask maintenance for a new garbage can liner?’
I was thinking – ‘Oh my God, it’s April Fools! She is playing a joke on me!’
But apparently since federal contractor jobs are rules-based everything was to follow the rules and regulations to the T.
So apparently, I stepped out of line for asking for garbage can liner, so I immediately groveled like a 17th century French coachman and I did a mea Maxima culpa. ‘I will never do it again, boss!’
The next week, the garbage cans guy came back – he had an entire roll of garbage can liners. He angrily slammed it down into the garbage can causing the the roll of liners to bounce into the air, and then he stormed out.
Then his boss came by. His boss, was a preppy looking guy. He started haranguing me about why I was bothering his people over garbage can liners.
So now he was the third person to yell at me over garbage can liners. I didn’t think any more of it.
I ended up getting another job a while later.
Then, about two years after that, a former co-worker said to me ‘hey, the manager of maintenance down there was fired!’ I was like ‘say what’?
‘Why did he get fired?’
He said ‘oh, he didn’t keep up-to-date on his inspections on nuclear outflow valves.
So I thought about that for a minute…
Garbage can liners versus nuclear outflow valves. And then I thought – well it’s important to have your priorities!