R-E-S-P-E-C-T

General
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*I apologize in advance for the potentially offensive and volatile speech present in this particular rant. I advise every individual to proceed with the utmost caution. I am incredibly pissed off and shall not restrain my colourful vernacular due to the therapeutic nature of spewing foul language. Thank you.

  • UU*

This is how I feel about my job right now.

I believe in the following equations:

Respect = Respect

Experience ≠ Knowledge

Olds Methods ≠ OR > New Methods

In essence, respect is a two-way street; if you have knowledge – whether it is derived from experience or post-secondary education – it warrants a bit of merit. I did not receive any respect today. Instead, I experienced a blatant disregard of respect via condescending bullshit.

I currently work at a cemetery as a horticulturist. In summary, I tend to the gardens and flower beds. Upon being hired, I expected to be acknowledged for my combination of experience and botanical education. Granted, I am classified as a newcomer; I only have three years of landscaping experience and two years of education thus far. Nevertheless, I have accumulated a wealth of information and techniques in a short period of time.

My immediate foreman is a bit of a wiseacre (i.e. know-it-all) and likes to peacock his experience – hardcore. He is an older gentleman (40s – 50s) and is a bit obstinate in the “old ways”. I was planting new trees, shrubs, and herbaceous material today. My boss asked me if I was cutting the root balls (essentially, this prevents root girdling). I replied, “Yes, except for the immature roots; I was taught that cutting immature roots was bad for them.”

Well.

My boss instantaneously became defensive. “No! That’s wrong. You always cut root balls.” He barked about his thirty years of experience and how his way was basically the best/only method. Fucking hell, seriously? Just because my method is newer doesn’t mean it’s incorrect. I mumbled an apology, emphasizing that my method was taught unto me by my college. What brings my blood to a boil is how he subtly dismissed my knowledge/experience. Yes, I realize that my experience pales in comparison. However, I am currently attending a post-secondary institution which specializes in agriculture and horticulture. I am learning new and current information, which typically supersedes older and obsolete techniques. Unless you’ve been updating your scholarly database, I have a difficult time believing your methods are still relevant. I am absolutely livid by how my boss decided to barge in like he did. I was hired specifically for this task – do not micromanage my job! (Sigh) I didn’t really respond further. What else could I have done? God forbid I speak out against a superior lest he terminate my ass.

I am absolutely livid. I have never experienced such disregard from a peer within the industry. I have been experiencing a few similar instances since being hired on, yet none of this calibre. I am on the precipice of surrender; if this continues, I may need to quit.

I understand that he possesses a plethora of experience – I respect that. Nevertheless, I have some (new) knowledge/experience as well.

Respect is a two-way street.

/vent

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One thing I’ve learned in my few years of work, though it isn’t relating to my degree I’m working on…
Is that you just kind of need to nod and say yes sorry, okay once in a while.

It is a messed up system, but sometimes you can’t get through to people going by “old ways” even if the old ways are no longer valid. I used to just change my routine based upon who I worked with because they all had different methods, but I found that stressful and inefficient. So after a while, I just nod and say sorry, and keep doing it the way I am doing it when they leave or show them that it says so in our book or whatever the correct steps.

I totally understand you completely. Don’t let one bad apple deter you from something you love.

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Sounds really annoying UU! Hopefully it doesn’t continue but I hope that you just nod to what this wiseacre has to say and you continue on doing it the way you were currently taught is best. After all, methods change and not everyone gets with the times.

I do hope you are treated with more respect in the future :blush: Unfortunately you’ll never be able to turn people like that dude around, he’ll sit on his high horse until the cows come home. You’re best saving your energy and breath because no matter how much you know, this guy won’t take you seriously.

The good news: not everyone is like him, and I bet you’ll meet all sorts of amazing like-minded people as you progress through your career path :blush:

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If your job has Human Resources talk to them and let them know of the situation, but explain you just want to let them know in case something escalates, this saved my butt twice from insufferable idiots who for some reason didn’t like me, I used to work for Z.y.n.g.a. (shitty games for everyone!) and when they filed a complaint with HR because I supposedly “barked back at them” when I tried to reprimand them on some stupidities they had committed, like giving out UNRELEASED items (strictly forbidden) to Platinum customers (people who had spent $3,000+ or more), HR stayed on my side and said I had forewarned them a few months back about them and their attitude/actions, also that they would take no action and that they should adhere to the rules, and as a final insult the report and results would be forwarded to the head office for review… two weeks later they were fired.

Always have a backup plan to deal with the a-holes.

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@cujucuyo Wow, Platinum customers is a thing? I’ve played a couple Zynga games and I can’t even imagine how you’d spend that much on them.

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We had the “Z Black label” for customers who spent $10,000 or more, that’s a new level of sad in my book for shelling out that much money for a silly decoration game. lol

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But here we are spending thousands upon thousands on “cardboard” sigh :wink: The things we all do for leisure…

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lol yeah, but at least we can sell them in case we need to. If their Facebook account gets hacked, FV servers go out or there’s a wipe then you can’t get the stuff you purchased back, besides, how are you gonna sell a digital farm without giving up your personal Facebook? or who would buy such a thing? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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@pokemontrader, @cbd1235 - Thank you for the excellent advice! I’ll give it a try :blush:

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UU…
I don’t understand the differences in treating the plants but: any way you can do it his way but sprinkle in a couple using your method that won’t be easily detected by him then, some time later, compare the results?
If so, the proof could be in the pudding.

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As the saying goes, you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. :slightly_frowning_face:

I thought you handled the situation very well and you didn’t let it get out of hand. It’s not a good situation to be in but sadly, it do happen sometimes. Hang in there.

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Hey Tara sorry to hear you had such a rough experience. It can indeed be super frustrating to be disrespected and to have someone basically accuse you of knowing nothing when you’ve clearly taken the time to educate yourself in your career. I agree with others in recommending you to continue doing what you enjoy and see if you can block out his comments. And hey the proof will be in your plants surviving and growing well. :blush: I also agree you responded well by not lashing back at him even though its super hard to do. I do hope this doesn’t happen to you again and that your able to enjoy your job. Take care!

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Haha that would be a Robert Downey Jr. Quote!

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That thinking has saved me a lot of grief. I have had to deal with middle management people for a long time, in my various jobs. Just saying whatever you need to say to keep them pleased saves you so much stress.

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@milhouse

1 Like