There is usually time to stop and consider your words and your tone – both at work and in your personal life – to keep your relationships happy while still getting things done.

Sometimes, though, emergencies can push niceties to the side.

OP is an expert at his job.

About 14 years ago I went to work for a major petroleum company in Indianapolis.

Over my 4 years there I applied myself and gained enough knowledge to be more knowledgeable than the most senior guy.

Recently, he had to take charge of an emergency situation.

Well, one day stuff hit the fan and we were looking at a potentially major spill because the packing in a pump had failed.

Nobody was doing anything and I’m a take-charge kind of guy, so I started barking orders.

Now you have to understand this would have been an EPA nightmare so there was no time for niceties.

His coworkers complained about how he spoke to them in the heat of the moment.

The other employees went and complained and I was called into the manager’s office and was told about the complaints that I just barked orders and didn’t ask nicely.

He told me that I did the right thing and that next time if it wasn’t going to be a major issue to give them enough rope to hang themselves…Bet!

So, the next time he saw a problem about to crop up, he tried pointing it out nicely.

So the next time I saw that they had the valves set up in such a way that 2 soap tanks (for making asphalt emulsion) would overflow and while not an EPA big deal it would bring scrutiny from the Health, Environmental, Safety, and Security decision of our company.

I mentioned to them that they might want to check the valve lineup because something didn’t look right.

They didn’t want to listen, so he left them to it.

Well, they told me to mind my own business, as it was time for me to go home I called the manager from my car and said you should probably start heading to the terminal because two tanks are about to overrun.

I tried to tell them but they told me to mind my own business.

I didn’t get halfway home before a neighbor to the facility came knocking on the door saying liquid was overflowing two tanks.

As the only first responder not involved in the incident, I had to return to the facility and supervise clean up until the big guns from corporate came in about 3 hours later.

Talk about making your own bed!

All 3 were put on probation and then eventually fired for more screw-ups.

The beauty of this was after that incident they were told to follow what I said explicitly, and never again complain that someone doesn’t say please and thank you in a crisis.

They all hated me until the day they left, why? Because I was the only person to take charge when no one else would.

The top comment says maybe it’s about managing expectations.

There’s a time for every attitude.

Tense situations tend to cause tense voices.

You have to be able to read the room.

Terse tones make people listen, after all.

I don’t think this guy did anything wrong.

Those people got themselves canned in the long run.