'I'll make you watch me work': Auto shop employee demonstrates how slow their computer is to their bosses

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 8, 2023 11:00 AM EST

There are some things in life that are perpetually irritating, like getting stuck in traffic. When you have somewhere you need to be, and the cars in front of you are inching forward at a snail's pace, it's pretty annoying. Plus, there's nothing you can do about it. It's a small thing, but when you deal with traffic every day, it might start to take a toll. 

This person, u/Rhelyk, had a different sort of waiting issue. They had to deal with a slow computer. Oh man. In today's day and age, when we're all used to lightning-fast internet and zero lag, having to use older computers is a pain. That's especially true if you have to work on the slow computer all day long, every day. It's a true test of one's patience. And, as the OP discovered, even if you tell the boss how slow your technology is acting, they don't care. They're not the one using the computer all day. So they're happy to save money by just not addressing their employees' issues. Who cares about morale if you can save a few dollars? 

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  • As the evergreen advice goes, “Show don't tell.” The OP managed to get their boss to finally see what a day in their life was like. Scroll down to read the entire story. Then, this video game store employee was this close to quitting their job all because of an advertisement.

  • 01
    'I could tell she was getting really impatient, but she couldn't say anything about it'
    via Federica Galli on Unsplash
  • 02
    Won't get me a much needed PC upgrade to properly do my job? OK, I'll make you watch me work XL OC I run the parts room at an independently owned auto body & collision repair shop, we'll call the owners Mr and Mrs Bossman. We do mostly insurance repairs and always have between 20 and 50 vehicles on-property in various states of repair, depending on how busy we are. Once the estimate for a specific vehicle is approved my job is primarily to order all the parts for the repair, track and receive an
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 03
    for all ongoing repairs as they arrive, input the invoicing and process any returns for wrong/damaged/unnecessary parts and such. Plus IT work, because apparently I'm the only person there who knows you can just google a problem and somebody has usually already posted the answer on a message board from 6 years ago. I complain a lot, but in actuality I very much like my job and I've become exceedingly good at it over the years. My coworkers are generally pretty great, there's almost no office dra
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 04
    he is there on-site pretty much every day, while Mrs Bossman comes in periodically to do the books, which she watches like a hawk. Mr Bossman is a decent guy so far as bosses go, but Mrs Bossman is great. She's just one of those high-personality types who's all peaches and sunshine and rainbows 90% of the time, right up until the moment something doesn't go entirely her way. At which point she drops the smile and becomes the stubbornest Immovable Object you've ever butted heads against. May God
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 05
    So I deal with Mr Bossman on a daily basis and only deal with Mrs Bossman a few times a week when she needs something for accounting. My default work ethic used to be set to sack-of- potatoes, but that doesn't fly with the Bossmans and ESPECIALLY not Mrs Bossman. I have learned the hard way to be very, VERY proactive in my duties, which is directly why I'm now a great Parts Guy. Didn't take long to find out that it's just far easier (and safer) to be able to redirect The Coming Storm with knowle
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 06
    your and 3: cover your !", to which I'd add a 4th rule: always send an email beginning with "per our phonecall, I'd just like to remind you...". ALWAYS have an email, saved my so many times, (becomes relevant later) and she freaking loves me because I have become exceedingly excellent at making her job easier through diligent bookkeeping. 'I As you also might imagine, doing all this ordering and invoicing and emailing and such demands heavy use of a computer, and for years I had to make-do with
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 07
    computer originally only meant for the shop foreman to occasionally check estimates. At any given time I had to run our estimating software plus 2 to 4 pricematching programs (and their accompanying background scanning programs) plus multiple Chrome windows for email and parts-vendors and parts-finder websites, plus image software to view repair photos or edit diagrams to email back and forth. The budget computer had 2 gigs of RAM and a dual-core 1.3Ghz processor, it could barely handle running
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 08
    For 4 years I'd mention it to Mrs Bossman and it was always "oh right, I keep meaning to look into that" and then nothing, but that was better than bringing it up with Mr Bossman. Mr Bossman was a former repair technician before they opened their own shop together, so anything on the office end is already good-enough until it breaks and not worth wasting more money on in his eyes, all the upgrades should be on the production side of the shop since that's what he knows well (she's much more pract
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 09
    don't it?" and walk away far too pleased with himself. Mrs Bossman had been going back and forth with a specific vendor that was arguing against some outstanding credits and unpaid invoices that didn't match our numbers, which means they don't match my numbers, so she came into my office to ask me to look into them as normal. But today is not normal, it's especially busy and I'm already a day behind where I should be. Cue Malicious Compliance.
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 10
    This time I decided that unlike normal, my workload was light enough (HAH!!) that I totally had the time right then and there and could look them up for her right on the spot instead of bringing her the files later that day, this seemed urgent after all! So I began searching our database for the problem invoices, and very deliberately and thoroughly went through every program I possibly could, opening every estimate and reconciliation and digital footprint to pull up any scrap of even-slightly-r
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 11
    seconds that drag on and on and on like waiting for a traffic light to turn. I was just being properly diligent, you must understand. "Oh, here it is" I'd say in my most- matter-of-fact perfectly-normal everything-is-fine-and-standard-and- typical voice. "yeah, that part was returned back on...huh, oh let me pull up the credit memo...oh, y'know actually that just shows when I generated the return but not when the vendor actually took it back...actually, I remember this one now, the driver didn't
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 12
    this is a followup email that was part of another chain, let me forward you both of those, and actually I think I can still pull up the estimate here since it has the full reconciliation...uh-oh, I hope it didn't freeze completely, just wait a sec and it usually catches back up.." She kept her smile up, but I could tell it had shifted and she was getting annoyed "Does it always take you this long to look up the invoices?" I could tell she was getting really impatient, but she couldn't say anythi
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 13
    "Huh? Oh yeah, this is normally like this," I said casually, "it's kinda frustrating sometimes but Mr Bossman doesn't want to buy another computer since this one does technically do everything I need it to do" **perfectly innocent moon-eyes** "It doesn't slow me down too much. Not usually" **Blink,blink, puppydog face** I continued doing this for all 5 or so problem invoices and honestly, it WAS a 100% typical thing to look up and really only took maybe 15 minutes total in the end. The only diff
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 14
    "Well, I really think we need to look into getting you a new computer, this can't be good be good for production turn- arounds if it's always being this slow" Huge success. Storm of Fury successfully redirected from self to vendor, armed with timestamped acknowledgements for every rogue charge, and finally knowing the I have to sit through each and every time I double-click. With all the invoices and credits properly tracked on our end, vendor's accounting had to admit the feth-up had been on th
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 15
    Hurricane may just pass you by for a less-prepared target. She waited a few weeks to find a good deal, but sure enough I had a new computer shortly thereafter that is MUCH more capable of running everything I need to run without derping out on me, and it's been an absolute champion. Decided to write this because it's been almost exactly 2 years working on the new machine that's still going strong, and just today I got an unrequested raise for good performance so I'm feeling overly pleased with m
    via u/Rhelyk
  • 16
    TL:DR - Bossman didn't want to "waste" money upgrading a work PC to actually handle the workload I needed it to handle, so I made his wife actually sit and watch me while I did the tasks she asked for, prompting an almost immediate upgrade.
    via u/Rhelyk

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boss old workplace-stories upgrade jobs job malicious compliance bosses work malicious-compliance-reddit technology client slow workplace Tech malicious compliance reddit
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