Just nod and smile

Lots of people hate their boss. I think its kind of expected. It might be due to that ingrain rebellious streak that most people have, plus if you get in trouble they have to be the bad guy and it makes us hate them all the more.


I have never hated my bosses. Okay that's a lie. The first boss I ever had was sexist, but I quit as soon as it got too bad, and before that I mostly feared him. The second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth were all awesome people, and even when I got in trouble I never found reason to hate them or even dislike them. Of course I was that model employee who came in on my days off, always finished tasks and did them well, yeah, the teacher's pet. It paid off because all my hard work lead to me becoming a boss, manager of my own little store (well not mine really, but you know what I mean). I still had people above me, but I liked them, and we got along real well so there wasn't any issues there.

Anyway, Brandon does not like his boss. And recently had reason to really hate his boss. However, having been a manager myself my thoughts went the route of "what would I have done?" and I ended up defending his boss and thus making Brandon feel all gained up on. Brandon would say something like, "my boss is such a fake!" and then I would ask why and he'd say "he laughs at jokes that aren't funny, and thanks us for our numbers at every meeting, etc" and I responded with "well maybe he really thinks the joke is funny". That's the most tame one.

So, I learned that when it comes to Brandon complaining about his bosses I should just listen and nod, and frown with him, and sympathize, and keep my managerial thoughts to myself.