Modern corporate standards often pit “self-centered loners” against brilliant and selfless “team players,” preferring, of course, the latter (unless, of course, your first name isn’t Michael and the last name isn’t Jordan…). But is this really so?

No, of course, teamwork is incredibly important for ultimate success, but how often bosses and managers abuse this term, dressing the banal manipulation of employees in the shining armor of ‘team play’! A striking example is this story from the user u/WaterFriendsIV from the Antiwork community on Reddit.

More info: Reddit

The author of the post lives not far from work, while their colleague’s home is around 20 miles away

Image credits: Pixabay (not the actual photo)

One day, the colleague had some trouble with his car – and so the company was under menace to stay short-staffed

Image credits: u/WaterFriendsIV

The manager thought nothing better than to ask the author to give this coworker a ride

Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)

Image credits: u/WaterFriendsIV

The author agreed but asked that they cover their mileage as it was actually 40 extra miles per day for them

Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)

Image credits: u/WaterFriendsIV

The boss flatly refused and accused the author of not being ‘a team player’

So now meet the Original Poster (OP), who is lucky enough to live just a few miles from their place of work. Lucky, unlike a colleague whose house is located about 20 miles away. And it so happened that just recently this very colleague had some troubles with his car, which automatically turned his work commute into a kind of hell on earth.

And so, one fine day, the manager approached the author of the post and asked them to take a ride for this hapless colleague until he solved his problems with the car. The OP reasonably objected since the coworker lives in another part of the city, so each ride would mean a 40-mile detour for them.

However, the author was not against “working as a driver” for a colleague. But only if the company paid them for the extra mileage, as well as punched them in for an extra 40 minutes – simply because they would have to get up much earlier and return home later. Now guess what the boss answered and what reasoning they resorted to?

That’s right, the boss said in an offended tone that they had considered the original poster to be a team player who cared about the interests of the company. The OP calmly countered that if the coworker was so important to teamwork, why wouldn’t the company pay him for an Uber? Of course, this idea did not find a response…

So, now the company has become short-staffed for an indefinite time, and the author of the post seems to have earned themselves a reputation as an egoist. However, it cannot be said that the original poster is too worried about this at all…

Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual photo)

“Of course, there is a blatant attempt at manipulation on the part of the manager,” presumes Alexei Shkurat, the founder and director of the Peach Art Studio from Ukraine, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment on this case. “If a boss cares so much about an employee’s importance to the collective success, then what’s the problem with paying for an employee’s taxi or actually paying a co-worker extra to give him a ride for a few days or so?”

“In any case, I do believe that the employee did the right thing in this situation. Giving a ride once out of friendship is one thing, but essentially acting as a ‘free driver’ for an unknown period of time is quite another thing. And if this employee ends up having problems with their working performance, no one can guarantee that the boss won’t later make them guilty,” Alexei says.

Most people in the comments also categorically sided with the original poster, arguing that if their boss actually cared so much about teamwork, then they should drive themselves and give their subordinates a ride. “Why isn’t your boss going to pick him up? Isn’t he a team player?” one commenter asked quite sarcastically.

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Also, commenters are pretty much sure that the boss is practically trying to make the OP a trouble-free freeloader, while they are just trying to defend their personal boundaries. “Well done, OP. ‘Get your pay before you play, or it’s no dough when it’s time to go.’ Your manager is inconsiderate,” one of the folks in the comments reasonably concluded.

Well, the management of many companies, unfortunately, often falls for the bait of their own desire to save on small things – and then gets heavy backlash. Like, for example, this CEO who once created a ‘no overtime’ policy – only for it to fail epically as soon as they went on a long vacation. However, it seems to me that you may also have your own similar stories under your belt, so please feel free to share them in the comments below this post.

Most people in the comments praised the employee for standing up for their personal boundaries against a manipulative boss

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