Usually workers don’t expect much praise from their supervisors when they do exceptionally well, and actually some of them realize that they shouldn’t overdo it, because it can lead to companies taking advantage of them. It’s a sad reality, but it actually does more harm than good. It is proven that praise can actually boost their performance as it makes the recipient feel good about themselves and can make them improve even more.
While not getting praised can lead to less motivation, being undermined when you know that you are good at your job can defeat a person completely. But Reddit user SlickHeadSinger shared a story of a person who not only didn’t allow such remarks to get him down, he came out the winner from his experience.
More info: Reddit
Reddit user shared a story about their summer job boss' rise to success while unintentionally bringing down a company that nobody liked
Image credits: Images Alight (not the actual image)
The Original Poster (OP) is a teacher who used to work some odd jobs during the summer to earn some extra money and this story isn’t theirs, but their boss’ that they got to know during one summer.
The OP assumes that the story took place in the early '90s or the '80s as they heard the story in the mid '90s. Their boss Jerry told them about the time he had just begun his bricklayer career and was working in a community of small rural towns.
The OP is a teacher who used to work summer jobs and during one, they worked for Jerry, who managed a bricklaying business
Image credits: u/SickHeadSinger
Jerry was working for who the OP in this story named Jerk and Jerk’s Son. They were the only ones who provided bricklaying services and nobody liked working for them or with them.
Jerk and his son were always very mean to their employees, constantly belittling and humiliating them. No work was ever good in their eyes despite the work being perfect. General contractors hated the duo as well, but their business was standing because there was no other company in that area to choose from.
Jerry started off as a regular bricklayer and worked for an insufferable boss who would constantly bring his employees down and humiliate them
Image credits: u/SickHeadSinger
Because of how the Jerk and his son treated employees, they were coming in and out, but not Jerry. Somehow Jerry never allowed his boss’ words to get to him as his father taught him that if he wanted something done, he could do it. Also, he learned to look at his own work to determine whether it’s good or bad instead of listening to what others said.
So Jerry did just that and became a pretty good bricklayer despite all of the insults and constant reminders that he actually sucked at what he did. Jerry knew he worked well and he realized that Jerk also saw how much profit this employee was bringing him. But what Jerk didn’t understand was that his undermining words meant nothing to Jerry.
Not only did employees hate the boss and his son who was just like his father, but general contractors did as well
Image credits: u/SickHeadSinger
One day Jerry was presented with an opportunity of a lifetime. He was doing his job amazingly as usual and as fast as ever. His skills were noticed by the general contractor of the project and at the end of the day, he had an offer presented to him.
First of all, the general contractor told Jerry that he shouldn’t believe what the Jerk and his son were saying because he didn’t think like that at all. And because he saw how good Jerry was, he proposed a deal: the general contractor would buy Jerry a mixer and he could start his own business. The only conditions were that he would have to pay back for the mixer whenever he was earning enough profit and that he would have to be the general contractor’s subcontractor.
One of the general contractors noticed how good Jerry was at his job and offered to finance the start of his own bricklaying business
Image credits: u/SickHeadSinger
Jerry was indeed thinking of having his own business one day, so he agreed with the conditions and informed Jerk and his son about leaving their company and about his future plans. Unsurprisingly, their reaction was one of disdain, but Jerry kept his composure as always.
Jerry knew what he was doing, so after a year, his business was flourishing and it seems that he had become the first choice for bricklaying in the area, because Jerk came to his house drunk and begged his former employee to come back because nobody was better than him.
Image credits: Chris Northwood (not the actual image)
Jerry accepted the offer and quit his job, but not without being humiliated by his boss and the son, which was to be expected
Image credits: u/SickHeadSinger
Obviously, Jerry declined the offer, but not before asking why Jerk never said how valuable of an employee he was while he was working for him. Jerk didn’t answer because there was probably no logical reason for such ruthless behavior.
Eventually, Jerk and his son went out of business. It was never Jerry’s intention, but the OP and people in the comments suspected that this was the general contractor’s plan all along, because as mentioned, clients hated working with Jerk as well, so he set up competition for him that he couldn’t win against.
However, Jerry was the one who got the last laugh as his business was so successful that it drove his former boss to bankruptcy
Image credits: u/SickHeadSinger
After hearing this story, the OP’s respect for Jerry grew and he was mostly amazed how his boss remained so self-confident when the people he worked for never appreciated his skills.
Even though OP posted this story in the ProRevenge subreddit, it must be one of the most wholesome ones there. The edit is even better as the teacher contacted his former boss after not having contact for 20 years just to tell him how highly people on the internet thought of him.
Jerry never meant for that to happen, but the OP thinks that this was the general contractor's plan all along
Image credits: u/SickHeadSinger
Image credits: Sean Hagen (not the actual image)
Redditors were really fascinated with how Jerry handled himself and were happy that he experienced a success story. They also shared some of their similar experiences of reaching success or witnessing bad people getting what they deserved.
What do you think of this story? Do you think the general contractor meant for Jerk’s company to go bankrupt by setting up competition and financing Jerry to start his own business? Also, why do you think Jerk and his son were so mean to everyone? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
People in the comments agreed with the OP's suspicion, and they were also amazed at how strong Jerry was and glad he was rewarded for his efforts
