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Some employees are lucky enough to work for companies that offer generous reimbursement policies, including lunch stipends, mileage reimbursements, and even perks like work-from-home equipment or home office spending allowances. Honestly, that sounds like a dream. Meanwhile, plenty of people are stuck fronting the bill for things that should be covered, like driving across town for a meeting or buying basic office supplies when the company printer runs dry.

But then there's the other extreme: employees who take advantage of every loophole, expensing things like artisanal water or a $15 "client meeting" that's suspiciously just brunch with their roommate. Reimbursement policies can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how petty people are willing to get, which brings us to today's story.

Anyone who has worked in a customer-facing role has had to learn how to navigate working with a difficult personality. According to this drive-thru employee, Susan was no exception. She was the kind of entitled customer who liked to throw tantrums if someone got her order wrong or even made the slightest, negligible error. However, this employee managed to be one of the chosen few to get in her good graces. 

This made for an easier experience for everyone on staff whenever she came by to order, but it also paid off for the employee down the road when he was struggling to stand up to the new general manager of the location. This newbie, Jack, had a habit of enforcing pointless policies just so that he could flex his muscles and reinforce his authority. For instance, he once pulled the whole staff aside during a shift to inform them that they weren't smiling enough. You know, that kind of guy. But what happens when these kinds of managers have to deal with those kinds of entitled customers? 

It's fun for us little guys to see the trust-fund kids and the silver-spoon-fed wannabes take a walk in our work boots. Unbeknownst to them, the toughest trials in life don't come from familial pressure to take over the family business; it's the 10-hour shifts at the waste management company, slogging garbage bins and wiping trash juice out of your eyes at the end of every workday. 

You want to wear this Carhartt jacket because you think it makes you look hipster? Well, buddy, take a walk in the workman's boots for the day and let me know how many blisters you have to pop tomorrow. Then—and only then—can you earn the stripes of a blue-collar worker. 

This trust-fund child had just graduated from college and was excited about his prospects in the working world. But before he took over the multimillion-dollar family business, he just had to roll up his sleeves in the working man's break room, taking on the role of an entry-level employee.

 As we'd all expect, he was in for quite a ride with the hazing.

There really is just no place in the modern workplace for a public grilling; calling someone out and delivering scathing criticism in front of an employee's peers to "set them straight" is an old-school mentality that does nothing but harm morale. The only purpose it serves is to fuel your own ego, showing the team that you wield the authority through a proper dressing down. So, if you want to make an example out of someone—well, don't. A constructive approach is far more effective than public humiliation in handling a performance issue. This, along with putting undue pressure and micromanaging as a form of control and management, creates a hostile working environment where staff feel scrutinized rather than supported. Stifling any creativity, motivation, and initiative. 

But, if their poor performance needs to be addressed or there are other factors that put a dismissal in the cards, do it professionally and through the proper channels. Performance evaluations, constructive performance plans, and coordinating with human resources are better ways of handling issues within the team than the aforementioned alternatives.

Where there are old school management tactics, there are also those workers who are a part of the furniture and secure in their roles, or uncaring, they are willing to take poor managers to task in a way that others don't dare to. Luckily for this worker, their coworker was there to take a stand for them when their manager gave them a very public dressing down.