'Get your priorities straight... NOW': Teacher ditches work after getting berated by an insensitive boss so that he can attend to his injured wife in the hospital

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Aug 4, 2024 1:00 PM EDT

What's more important: Work or your wife? 

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  • Do you put your family first or do you consider your employment more pivotal to your survival? Most of us value our relationships outside of work more than the call of duty in the office, but there are moments in every employee's career when the lines blur and they're forced to ask themselves, “Do I really need to be at work right now?” 

    Luckily for the teacher in our next story, their insensitive boss made it pretty crystal clear where his priorities lie during a mandatory training exercise. With the school year on the cusp of starting, a lot of teachers are starting to get a little itchy over the end of their summer holidays. Dreading the return to work, even the most esteemed teachers are bummed out when they have to report back to their superiors in the schoolyard. 

    Our story begins the morning of a mandatory training exercise before the start of the school year. The original poster (OP) of this tale started his morning in the emergency room in the hospital after his wife suffered a terrible ankle injury. Although his wife was getting her broken ankle reset, the guy had to report to the school for his shift. With tensions high and a gaggle of unruly teachers set before them, the dude's boss was in a particularly irritable mood upon arrival. But nothing could excuse the boss's outburst…

    OP was rightfully distracted the whole day, but when he was attempting to get some news from his injured wife, he got humiliated by the grouchy boss in front of the whole class. Cue the malicious compliance. Scroll onward to enjoy this tale of MC where a guy puts his wife first, making it clear what his priorities are and where his true allegiances prevailed.

  • 01
    G-school CONTENT -Cents C -Ret -Shop Ck -Dol) "I walked out"
    via canva
  • 02
    "You need to get your priorities straight... NOW" M I'm sending a special shout out to all teachers who are starting the new school year!
    via Ancient_Educator_76
  • 03
    I was at a training yesterday morning. 24 hours prior my wife broke her ankle. Pretty badly. Like it had to be reset. I was with her all day that day, and yesterday during the training she was recovering
    via Ancient_Educator_76
  • 04
    from her surgery while I learn how to use "IXL", a math program that's pretty easy to figure out for the most part. The night before the training my wife and I discussed the
    via Ancient_Educator_76
  • 05
    financial aspect of missing days, and though I took the day off when she broke her ankle (obviously), we both decided I would go to the (aforementioned/yesterday's) IXL training.
    via Ancient_Educator_76
  • 06
    I get there a minute early (or fourteen minutes late according to the USAF) and situate myself. I open up all the websites they say to, do the padlet Al welcome page drawing they request of me, and get ahead of the
    via Ancient_Educator_76
  • 07
    program. The rest of the room is jibber-jabbing as the presenter the other district personnel meander around the room. I see a text from my mother in law, and as she's at the hospital with my wife I decide to look at it.
    via Ancient_Educator_76
  • 08
    "Gina" my wife is asking about my pay. Her phone got an alert about a payment (my Rapid Card has an alert that goes to her phone) but her phone died before she could see how much.
    via Ancient_Educator_76
  • 09
    I decide to log in to my Access page to see how much and tell her whether we are covered for the deductible that they haven't collected yet. It literally took like twenty seconds to do this, and of course this is when miss Low Glasses decides to pretend she's my teacher.
    via Ancient_Educator_76
  • 10
    She pokes me on the shoulder repeatedly (I'm pretty sure she thinks she's tapping me, but it's uber aggressive) and says "You need to look at the screen she's showing you!". I start to comment back by saying "Sorry I was j-"
    via Ancient_Educator_76
  • 11
    When she interrupted me abruptly, shouting enough for God and Satan to hear "You need to get your priorities straight!!" Enter Malicious Compliance
    via Ancient_Educator_76
  • 12
    I was so embarrassed and at the same time (Empissed?). It was totally uncalled for. It was when everyone was jibber- jabbing, and it was to check on an important time sensitive thing. It made me realize that, yes, I DO need to get my priorities straight...
    via Ancient_Educator_76
  • 13
    I replied, just as loudly, as I had everyone's ear now: "You know what? I DO need to get my priorities straight. My wife's in the hospital! I'll be leaving now." and I walked out.
    via Ancient_Educator_76
  • 14
    The lady looking at me through her lowered glasses scoffed, and the other district personnel pulled her aside and chided her as I walked out. One of my homies yelled out "Love you OP. it's gonna be fine text me" as | left.
    via Ancient_Educator_76
  • 15
    graidan 2 hr. ago OMG F that Karen. Good on you! Hope the wife is okay.
    via graidan
  • 16
    WinginVegas 2 hr. ago . She is lucky you didn't auto react to her "poke" and smack her hand (or head). If I am aggressively prodded like that, I immediately stop them from doing that again. First, stop the threat, then assess the situation, then move on as appropriate.
    via WinginVegas
  • 17
    unicacher 2 hr. ago The thing I've learned about teaching is that admin comes and goes and the teachers stick together. Miss LG's only power is her contract with the district and she quickly learned that her spot on the totem pole is not proportional to her fee.
    via unicacher
  • 18
    One thing I loved about zoom meetings is when the veteran teachers would talk before the meetings. You could see the look on the consultants' faces that they clearly felt out of place... as we argued about
    via unicacher
  • 19
    who had been in the district the longest and shared common stories going back decades, as if to say, "Say what you want, but we're just going to move on without you." Give your friend a big hug for being supportive!
    via unicacher
  • 20
    ThriceFive 2 hr. ago Good for you! Employers that have no compassion for people and their lives are the worst
    via ThriceFive
  • 21
    LtDouble-Yefreitor . 1 hr. ago I've been a teacher for nearly 10 years now, and I've never seen anything even remotely close to this level of disrespect. That's unbelievable. Good on you for walking out!
    via LtDouble-Yefreitor
  • 22
    Bagettibelly 52 min. ago I just broke my ankle and it's a simple break. Can't imagine what your wife is dealing with. Good luck to you both. Updateme!
    via Bagettibelly
  • 23
    TheDailyAloy 23 min. ago She needs a dose of her own medicine. To always get cut off by those she's speaki―
    via TheDailyAloy
  • 24
    Fantastic_You7208 - 7 min. ago I was a teacher for 12 years. I wish you the best and hope you can stay in. Bullying behavior from a district level administrator was why I left. My principal supported me, but it wasn't enough to stay.
    via Fantastic_You7208
  • 25
    I left for even less money but it was worth it and eventually I made up the salary. Good luck to you
    via Fantastic_You7208

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humiliation boss mc worker employee manager job malicious compliance work coworkers wife working ceo employees husband supervisor workplace company coworker business
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