"Ass-Chewing"
11 04 09 - 16:48 Category: .
I was chewed out at work today, and rightfully so to a degree.
I was handed a return on 10/14 to be done by 10/15. October 15th is the the last day that you can file a 1040, after filing your extension, and have it not be late and face penalties. We have several clients who need the full ten and a half months to get us their information. Needless-to-say I rushed the return. I thought some information was missing, so I left an open item note on the return stating what information we needed.
The return was reviewed by a senior, and then looked over by the partner. The partner then requested the information from the client. As it turns out, some of the information I thought we needed for 2008 was actually part of 2007. The partner got to look a bit like a fool. Part of our firms business model is the quality of work we put out dependent upon the multiple sets of eyes that see a project before it leaves the office. On top of that, there was a diagnostic error on the return that I didn't clear. The mistakes came back to me to answer for.
Yesterday, I was called "young man" by the partner with all the derogetory, disregard, and child-like reprimand that could be put into it. I wasn't happy. You don't demean people when they do something wrong. You don't disregard their skills or effort while placing all the blame on them. Call me an idealist if you will, but it makes them afraid to take action in the future for fear of future failure. It makes me not want to ever work on a project with him because coupled with his work style there's an increased risk of mistake that ultimately comes to me to answer for. I won't go into detail on my disagreements with his work style.
Today, I was called out for cutting corners on the job, something I by all means should not have done. I wanted it off my desk more than I wanted to make sure everything was done correctly. Today, I was also called retarded. I was told the level of work was not what I usually do, not what was expected of me, and "what I would expect from you maybe if you were retarded." But if that were the case "you wouldn't be working here."
My personal philosophy is that words are 100% about context. English is multi-faceted and human interaction is entirely contextual. I'm not easily offended, unless the context is right. It happened once in high school when I heard the term "queer" used in the vilest sense of the word, it came close to that level with "young man" yesterday. It hit that same level when my work was refered to the word of a retard today.
UPDATE: In the middle of writing this I was called into said partner's office on another project that I've born the brunt of the falacies on (on which I'd received minimal guidance and oversight from the partner). He apologized for calling me retarded. I gave him a half-smile back.
Try not to be too down about this. Everyone makes mistakes. Your boss is the ass here, not you. You’ve accepted responsibility for your mistake, now it’s time to move on. And boss better see it that way, or he doesn’t deserve to be boss.
Mike - 20-10-’09 20:35
I’m glad he apologized for the retarded comment. That was entirely uncalled for and, in my opinion, crossed a line. As you stated, you don’t demean someone when you reprimand them. Oh well, sounds like said partner doesn’t have very good management skills in all facets of the work environment.
Daniel (Email) (URL) - 21-10-’09 10:42
Dude, what a douche. See you have far more patience than i, because i would most certainly have gone ::finger wave:: “Oh no you di’int” on him. Which is also probably why i should never ever wait tables, throwing peoples food on them could get me into trouble.
Paul (Email) - 20-10-’09 19:28