Some jobs are best handled by “acting your wage,” which means not going above and beyond and expecting to be thanked for it.
But those same jobs can be a lot easier to stomach on a daily basis if everything is running smoothly.
OP worked printing photos at a pharmacy, and was super handy fixing the printers.
To preface, I used to work in the photo lab of a very prevalent retail pharmacy. You know the one. I was good fast, efficient, and always provided the most excellent customer service.
Customers loved me. I adapted official procedures to make them better and improve the final project. And I fixed the photo printers.
If you’ve worked in a 1hr photo lab, you know that no one fixes those things. They jam constantly, overheat, never get replace or updated. They’d break at least weekly, if not more.
Same thing with the kiosks and receipt printers and POS system. It’s a nightmare.
I haven’t worked there since 2017 and they finally updated the PIN pads… 6 years later.
He was supposed to just put in a ticket, but it was easier to do it himself.
Because the printers would break so often and I had experience fixing printers from when I worked at a school, I’d just whip out a screwdriver, open them up, and fix them myself.
It was faster and easier than putting in a ticket, and it meant I could keep churning out orders during peak instead of being 1-2 printers down at all times.
Then one day, a new manager told him to stop it.
Now, shortly before the holidays, we got a new Assistant Manager.
He’d previously managed another store but had to step into a “less stressful” position due to a heart issue.
The guy was a jerk and created stress for himself. He treated team members like garbage, and most people were too afraid to stand up to him.
I had a good working relationship with our GM, so I was not afraid of this guy, and he would often single me out because of it.
At one point during Christmas rush, he caught me with my metaphorical pants down, screwdriver out and disassembling a printer that had suddenly stopped working.
He chewed me out, told me to stop fixing the printer immediately and just put it in a ticket.
If he caught me fixing a printer again, he’d have to take disciplinary action.
So, he did.
I stopped fixing the printers and just put in tickets.
In about a day, we were down to 1 functioning 4×6 printer that was overworked to hell and back.
That printer almost caught fire while I was off shift because no one was able to unjam it.
He never told me to stop fixing the printers again and left me alone the entire rest of the time I worked there.
That manager soon learned his lesson but OP was ready to move on.
I ended up being wrongfully terminated due to an ADA leave for a major surgery when corporate “never got my paperwork” despite my PT faxing it over, and I found a better job that I love at a company I still work for.
Jerk manager ended up getting fired several months later for customer complaints.
I wonder if Reddit is going to blame this on OP’s being an overachiever…
The top comment hopes OP reported his bad boss.
Some people are just too dumb to be in charge.
Seriously, don’t let them off the hook.
There’s all kinds of corporate speak when transferring folks.
And yeah, there’s no real benefit in going the extra mile.
Life would be so much better if people would just be kind.
Apparently that’s just not in the cards.
If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.