My first job ever was at a small landscaping company owned by a friend of my Dads. The pay was crap, the work sucked and I had no idea what I was doing. But I was a gamer kid who had never touched tools really so it was whatever. My boss was cool but did not mess around if you pissed him off. We had 4/5 employees and 3 trucks.
It was my first job so I was pretty much a Yes Man my first two years, doing some of the dumbest jobs you could think of. I used my own truck to get to jobs and rarely ever got reimbursed for gas money. I was the only one willing to do certain jobs. I did most of my work by myself and ended up running a truck and trailer by the end of the year because another employee got a DUI and couldn’t run his route anymore. By the end of year 2, I was the only person who knew how to do every single job. I never asked for a raise because I was taught to believe they’re offered, not requested. And then something happened…
(Like I said, my boss was a friend of my Dads. He often kept tools or random equipment at my bosses shop)
One day, my Dad and I go down to my bosses shop on a Saturday and grab a couple of tools (my Dads tools) and I warn him we should text my boss and let him know (he has cameras). Not thinking much of it, I go on with my day. I’m at my (now ex-)girlfriends house having dinner with her parents and I get a text.
“If whatever you stole is not back in my shop by the end of the night, DONT BOTHER COMING BACK”
Being a teenager, I’m sitting there in shock. What on earth do I even say to this? I’ve always been a “Yessir” kid and I avoided conflict like the plague.
I sat there completely phased. I had worked my butt off for 2 years, never asked for anything and always tried to go above and beyond for my boss because he took a chance on hiring me… But anger hit me like a wave with this. I was at my breaking point with this job. I went off…
I responded with some long, thought-out text outlining all of the tasks I had overtaken and how my pay didn’t increase. I told him that even a “Thank you” every now and then would suffice. But the bullshit he texted me instead meant he could keep his job because I was quitting. And I also mentioned that nothing was stolen, they were my Dads tools and that he could get ahold of him to figure that out.
I don’t think 5 minutes went by before a looooong text, multiple phone calls from my boss and a call from my Dad came through. The only one I answered was the call from my Dad. He was cracking up laughing. He had just gotten a call from my boss, explaining the situation. My boss was apologizing profusely. Had apparently driven to my house (My moms house – I was 19) and knocked on the door to apologize to me personally but I wasn’t home.
The text from my boss read that it was a misunderstanding and offered me a $3.50 raise to stay with the company with an apology attached.
19 year-old me had no idea what had just happened. The emotions that ran through my body in the 1 hour window this all occurred were too much for me to process.
Looking back on it, I think that moment changed my whole perspective on jobs. As much as people need jobs, jobs need people. And as much as that first job taught me, I think that was easily the most valuable lesson.
Side note: I left for college after year 3. After college I came back to town and found out he started offering benefits, retirement plan, yearly raises and bonuses. Couldn’t be happier for him and all of the guys there. Hoping my conflict with him helped in some small way lol