Unwritten Rules to Follow on the Job

A job is more than just something that brings you money and helps pay your bills. It is also your livelihood and an item that gives you satisfaction, pride and purpose. It hurts your dignity to lose your job. You are about to learn many things to avoid doing in order to keep your job.

Do not work a very light schedule, especially if you are a new hire. When I began my first job in July 1991 at a fast-food restaurant in high school, I worked a few days a week before the new school year started. After school started, I only worked on Saturdays. This greatly hurt me because I did not work enough to master cooking, working the drive-thru window, operating a cash register, etc. As a result of my incompetence, I missed out on learning skills, I spent almost all the time sweeping and mopping and I started being scheduled to work on a rare basis.

Do not display a bad attitude or frown. Once while working at the restaurant, I heard a manager say, “We fire people mostly because they have a bad attitude.” While mopping the lobby on the last day I worked there, the boss told me, “If you don’t work a little faster, I don’t think I’m going to have you working for me anymore. I’m watching you today, Todd.” I frowned and continued mopping but never saw my name on the schedule again even though I started working faster. My Sunday school teacher told me my frown probably cost me the job.

Never use dirty mop water. Sometime after I lost the burger job, a schoolmate told me the boss just fired him because he mopped with dirty water. While I walked by as a patron at a different place a few years ago, a supervisor scolded a worker, “Why are you using dirty mop water? Clock out.”

Do not be so quick to call the police if you see someone doing something you think is illegal. When I saw a fellow worker making a copy of a film while I worked as an audiovisual assistant, I left the room and called the campus police. A few days later, my fellow worker came into the room and said, “Why did you call the police? It’s only illegal to reproduce films if you distribute them. That really (beeps) me off. If I was a mean MF, I would beat you into the ground.” The supervisor warned me to discuss such matters of concern with him in the future.