Is This You? From Being Boss to Worker Bee

There are more of us that will always be worker bees than there will be boss types. I have been lucky enough to be both. So, from life I have the perspective of both sides of the fence. But! Yes, a working woman’s “but.” I must admit as much freedom as the boss hat gave me, I really enjoyed the worker bee spot in life. Let’s do some comparing.

My generation, for most of us, we have never been ones to shy away from responsibility. Not that we all don’t want to be the boss of someone. This is not the boss of kids or spouses. Oh yes, to be a boss, without having a boss is the bomb. To be a boss without a boss is the best boss possible. That only happens if you own your own business. Well, with owning your own business, and being the boss, take a guess at where the buck stops! Right in your lap. 

It didn’t take long at all for me to realize it was hard enough to be the boss of ME, let alone taking on the responsibility of being a boss to others. Others that I would have rather had as friends. However, that friendship afforded me the opportunity to work with rather than have someone work for me. That is a very fine line that is walked everyday by a boss. It is most evident when there is a problem. Be it a problem with work or a personal problem. Once I had an employee who had partied a bit too much and was found the next morning in jail with a broken leg because he had gotten caught running away from the police and tripped on the pile of snow in the middle of the street, fell and broke his leg. Strangely enough I often and laughingly, tell my friends as they leave to go on a trip, “Have fun and I have bail money—just in case,” and we laugh. Then you get THAT CALL.  Or you have an employee that continually calls off sick, causing a kerfuffle in the whole balance of others needing to be called in on their day off. 

That happened to me too. I finally had enough and told the gal she couldn’t do that anymore. She got huffy and quit on the spot. Then after that when I would see her, she would wave at me---but just use one finger! So it was turned around to be the boss’s fault. As it usually happens. 

Yes, I agree there are bosses who boss with a terrible iron fist. But after

being a boss for a while, I can see where it would be hard not to. When everything from rewiring lighting fixtures on the ceiling, to cleaning around the toilet in the bathroom, things can get a bit touchy.  I was very lucky and those who worked with me, more often than not, are still friends. Being the boss was not, and is not something I wanted to or want to do again. Ah, but being the worker bee. Now that’s my cup of tea.

Being a rural girl I have not been thrown into a huge company where there are hundreds of employees and bosses too. Mostly in my working world there were just a few of us underlings and fewer owners/bosses. I did find it very easy to walk out of work and forget all about what the boss or owners still had to do after the closed sign went up. Once I worked for the phone company and my supervisor had to deal with the guy that came in morning after morning smelling like toothpaste and whiskey!  Or working as a short order cook and running out of food to cook. I found it pretty easy to tell the customers we were out of eggs because the lady in charge of that stuff fell down on her job, but could I offer pancakes instead? Because the batter was something that was just mixed with water!

Yes, the buck is easy to pass along as a worker bee. Leaving it all on the other side of the door. Much easier than being the owner of the lap, where every buck lands in a business atmosphere. Both sides though have definite responsibilities. Even though as a boss/owner your job is your bread and butter and income to pay your power bill at home and groceries to feed the family. It is just as important to remember that a worker bee is working for that paycheck for those same reasons. Both sides of this coin have to depend on the strength of the edges to hold it all together.

Trina lives in Diamond Valley, north of Eureka, Nevada. She loves to hear from readers. Email her at [email protected]

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