Welcome To The Real World, Kiddies

[sam_gordon]

They learned the boss was a jerk who is such an egomaniacal tyrant, he'll fire anyone that even proposes anything.

Even if they had a legitimate proposal, you DON'T submit the proposal as a petition. Go to the boss (even as a group), state what you want to change and why you want to change it. If he says "no", you decide if it's worth going over his head for. THAT'S the professional way to do it. It doesn't matter if you're an intern or an employee.

 

[CPanther95]

Even if they had a legitimate proposal, you DON'T submit the proposal as a petition. Go to the boss (even as a group), state what you want to change and why you want to change it. If he says "no", you decide if it's worth going over his head for. THAT'S the professional way to do it. It doesn't matter if you're an intern or an employee.

Even better if they decide how important it is before even bringing up to their immediate superior. Once you go to your boss as a group for something so trivial, you'll be working the rest of your time there under the direct supervision of someone that knows what a ******* you are.

 

[CPanther95]

Just read the whole article and saw this.....(I'd say this hammered home the lesson these kids learned):

We were shocked. The proposal was written professionally like examples I have learned about in school, and our arguments were thought out and well-reasoned. We weren’t even given a chance to discuss it. The worst part is that just before the meeting ended, one of the managers told us that the worker who was allowed to disobey the dress code was a former soldier who lost her leg and was therefore given permission to wear whatever kind of shoes she could walk in. You can’t even tell, and if we had known about this we would have factored it into our argument.

 

[Christine]

Just read the whole article and saw this.....(I'd say this hammered home the lesson these kids learned):

We were shocked. The proposal was written professionally like examples I have learned about in school, and our arguments were thought out and well-reasoned. We weren’t even given a chance to discuss it. The worst part is that just before the meeting ended, one of the managers told us that the worker who was allowed to disobey the dress code was a former soldier who lost her leg and was therefore given permission to wear whatever kind of shoes she could walk in. You can’t even tell, and if we had known about this we would have factored it into our argument.

I don't feel like that intern had learned his/her lesson at all, although the response from the website was a pretty good one and maybe that sunk in. I've read the thing a few times and, each time, it kind of takes my breath away. I just can't believe their gall to do what they did.

I have two adult children in the "intern" age. I always raised them (as I was): authority matters. Not to never question but when you have NO leverage, nothing of power or substance to offer the "authority" you just need to be on your best behavior. Why an intern would EVER think it was cool to go in and make that sort of change is lost on me.

I've been working (and working my way up) in my workforce since the 80s. Only now, when I am in a position of leadership, would I ever even think of changing the dress code of my employer. If a new employee, not even and intern, even approached me with something like that, I would laugh so hard.

 

[Planogirl]

It's hard to believe how naïve some people can be. I always think it would be nice if colleges would school their students a little about what to expect. I'm not saying that it's necessary but it would be helpful.

 

[RedAngie]

What idiots. I hope the one who refused to sign was not let go!

Hopefully not. The article said the ones who signed the petition were the ones called into the office and fired.

Letter writer sounds like an entitled snowflake who never heard the word "no" before.

It doesn't say how many interns there were, but only ONE had the sense to refuse to sign??? None of the others even paused to think, "hey, maybe this isn't such a good idea"? Or even if they hesitated a bit, they still went along with it?

As for the veteran who as allowed to wear whatever shoes she wanted, it was none of the interns' business. Even if she hadn't lost a foot, did they even consider that, as an actual employee, she might have privileges that interns don't?

They learned the boss was a jerk who is such an egomaniacal tyrant, he'll fire anyone that even proposes anything.

If that's what they learned, they're even more stupid than originally presented.

 

[Mkrop]

Just read the whole article and saw this.....(I'd say this hammered home the lesson these kids learned):

We were shocked. The proposal was written professionally like examples I have learned about in school, and our arguments were thought out and well-reasoned. We weren’t even given a chance to discuss it. The worst part is that just before the meeting ended, one of the managers told us that the worker who was allowed to disobey the dress code was a former soldier who lost her leg and was therefore given permission to wear whatever kind of shoes she could walk in. You can’t even tell, and if we had known about this we would have factored it into our argument.

Gee what a shocker...school is not like the real world...who would have thunk it...lol

 

[mom2rtk]

They were interns; most likely working for free.

I don't think that's typically the case any more.

 

[pocomom]

Oh yeah and welcome to the real world kiddies. You know. the world that that selfish generations before you totally wrecked. They ran up the debt. You get the bill. They polluted the planet. You get stuck with the clean up. Stinks to be you kiddies.

Um, if you think the current generation is worse off than generations before , I think you needed to pay more attention in history class.

 

[King Schultz]

I don't think that's typically the case any more.

You might well be right. . .

I'm old, and in my day we worked for nothing and we liked it!!

 

[leebee]

IME, interns these days are fairly well-paid. DD22's boyfriend interned at 3 different engineering companies over the summers during college and was paid about $20 an hour. I only make $14 an hour with my master's degree.

I'm having lunch at my SIL's. There are a whole bunch of people here for the weekend, 4 of whom own companies. I brought up the article and all 4 of the business owners said, "I'd fire them." College kids need to learn that their uninformed, inexperienced opinions mean nothing to the people who employ them, and a group effort or petition to change business practices isn't going to be looked on favorably. Employers don't really care what a bunch of 19 and 20 year old interns (or TBH, new employees) think. Time for a reality check.

 

[monsterkitty]

Ha! This sounds like me two years ago when we got our new principal. Our first staff meeting he told us what we had to wear and what kind of shoes. It was the first week of August and was in the 90s. We have no A/C in our school, except the principal's office. I teach in an inside room with no windows, so by law they have to bring the air in from outside. They pull it from the roof over my room - so if it's 100 on the roof, it's 100 in my room. If its 50 on the roof, it's 50 in my room.

That afternoon I went in for a pre-year meeting with him and he asked if I had any concerns. I explained that my room gets over 100 and that in the past I've been allowed to wear shorts. He said absolutely not, that it was dresses (umm no, I am up on a podium when I'm conducting) or the slacks he had shown us examples of. No shorts, skorts, or capris. I also explained that I had nerve damage in my foot and the shoes he told we had to wear were not something I could wear. To bad, so sad!

I tried to follow the new rules. I really did. Several times I invited him into my classroom so he could see the conditions. No go. Then I started breaking the rules. He wrote me up. I signed. I continued to break the rules. He continued to write me up.

One day I was wearing my Hoka running shoes with the approved slacks. In comes Mr. Principal with guests from the state department of ed. They've been in my room before and have seen me teach. Principal has never seen me teach. One of the guys comments on my cool shoes. He runs with them as well and loves them. Mr. Principal makes a comment in front of my class that I'm a rule breaker and he's written me up several times because I can't teach and breaks the dress code. I was really mad!

How did I solve the problem and keep my job? Two things- the parents of the kids in that class were crazy mad and let him know it. Second, I went in to my doctor for an ear infection. I told him why my blood pressure was off the charts. He wrote me a prescription that said I was allowed to wear any shoes that I needed due to the nerve damage and that not allowing me to wear clothes conducive to the classroom conditions was dangerous and could be grounds for action. Mr. Principal took this to high admin and they told him he was not going to win this war with me.

Guess who will be back at our school for her 27th year and guess who won't be for his third year?

 

[mom2rtk]

Ha! This sounds like me two years ago when we got our new principal. Our first staff meeting he told us what we had to wear and what kind of shoes. It was the first week of August and was in the 90s. We have no A/C in our school, except the principal's office. I teach in an inside room with no windows, so by law they have to bring the air in from outside. They pull it from the roof over my room - so if it's 100 on the roof, it's 100 in my room. If its 50 on the roof, it's 50 in my room.

That afternoon I went in for a pre-year meeting with him and he asked if I had any concerns. I explained that my room gets over 100 and that in the past I've been allowed to wear shorts. He said absolutely not, that it was dresses (umm no, I am up on a podium when I'm conducting) or the slacks he had shown us examples of. No shorts, skorts, or capris. I also explained that I had nerve damage in my foot and the shoes he told we had to wear were not something I could wear. To bad, so sad!

I tried to follow the new rules. I really did. Several times I invited him into my classroom so he could see the conditions. No go. Then I started breaking the rules. He wrote me up. I signed. I continued to break the rules. He continued to write me up.

One day I was wearing my Hoka running shoes with the approved slacks. In comes Mr. Principal with guests from the state department of ed. They've been in my room before and have seen me teach. Principal has never seen me teach. One of the guys comments on my cool shoes. He runs with them as well and loves them. Mr. Principal makes a comment in front of my class that I'm a rule breaker and he's written me up several times because I can't teach and breaks the dress code. I was really mad!

How did I solve the problem and keep my job? Two things- the parents of the kids in that class were crazy mad and let him know it. Second, I went in to my doctor for an ear infection. I told him why my blood pressure was off the charts. He wrote me a prescription that said I was allowed to wear any shoes that I needed due to the nerve damage and that not allowing me to wear clothes conducive to the classroom conditions was dangerous and could be grounds for action. Mr. Principal took this to high admin and they told him he was not going to win this war with me.

Guess who will be back at our school for her 27th year and guess who won't be for his third year?

I'm glad that worked out for you. But I don't see this as the same thing at all. Interns are by their very nature short-term employees. It's very cheeky to try to change policy when you're going to be in and out so quickly like that.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm glad that worked out for you. But I don't see this as the same thing at all. Interns are by their very nature short-term employees. It's very cheeky to try to change policy when you're going to be in and out so quickly like that.

Well, it's sort of the flip side - the principal was new and making changes that were not in keeping with "what's been done in the past" (whether it's actually written down or not). But with our intern, he learned that rocking the boat when you're the new sailor onboard is not a good idea.

 

[monsterkitty]

Well, it's sort of the flip side - the principal was new and making changes that were not in keeping with "what's been done in the past" (whether it's actually written down or not). As with our interns, he learned that rocking the boat when you're the new sailor onboard is not a good idea.

Thanks for seeing the flipside point!

 

[pryncess527]

I don't think that's typically the case any more.

95% of the criminal justice interns I placed at my Uni job were in unpaid positions. I'm sure other industries have more paying internships, but unpaid remains very common in many fields.

 

[mom2rtk]

95% of the criminal justice interns I placed at my Uni job were in unpaid positions. I'm sure other industries have more paying internships, but unpaid remains very common in many fields.

That's interesting. Every single family member and friend of my kids who got internships had nicely paid positions.

 

[mom2rtk]

Well, it's sort of the flip side - the principal was new and making changes that were not in keeping with "what's been done in the past" (whether it's actually written down or not). As with our interns, he learned that rocking the boat when you're the new sailor onboard is not a good idea.

But I imagine the principal didn't enter into the job knowing (or expecting) it to be a short term position.

 

[mnrose]

I wonder whether this REALLY happened or was made up to make a great letter and answer on the website. There is NO information given that enables one to determine whether it's real or not. No company name. No "fired intern" who is verifying it. Etc.

It sure feeds in well to the "entitled" young people story line.

So, lets jump all over them. Anonymous people. Anonymous company. Sure, why not.

 

[Mokat76]

Wow, Monsterkitty, that's some bad principal you had. Bravo to you for total victory!!