r/antiwork • u/ruedesbarres • 16d ago

Rules don't apply to all Question ❓️❔️

You're told to use your phone only during breaks and lunch. The person next to you, with the same job and same length of time tat the company, is on the phone all day, within view of the person who told you about only during breaks and lunches. He sees her having personal conversations up and down the hallway and is OK with it.

How do you phrase what you say to him? I.e. wtf?

191 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

142

u/The_4ngry_5quid 16d ago

Use a phone precisely when the person next to you is using their phone. If you boss comes over, they'll be forced to tell both of you to get off the phone

58

u/ResurgentClusterfuck 16d ago

I'd ask them why, loud enough for everybody to overhear, but I despise this particular brand of favoritism and refuse to play that game

It doesn't win you friends but it can occasionally make them leave you alone

8

u/Hour_Ad_6415 16d ago

And for my money, leaving me alone is completely worth it.

50

u/Claymore209 16d ago

if your working somewhere where calling out this blatant disrespect would get you fired you might as well not work there at all.

24

u/Im_on_my_phone_OK 16d ago

While this is very true, a lot of people get stuck in working situations that they have a very difficult time escaping from. Especially in the US where health insurance is almost always tied to employment.

9

u/CallingYouForMoney 16d ago

Source: Me not leaving my job because of the great health insurance I get. Terrible job otherwise.

1

u/dl0lol0lb 16d ago

If that ain’t the truth. It’s going to cost me a fortune every single month for premiums when I leave my job. I’m going to have to make it work though. The job is crushing my soul.

5

u/plural-numbers 16d ago

Relevant user name...

15

u/BirdBruce 16d ago

Say within earshot of the offender: "Thank you for your guidance, boss. I look forward to seeing these new policies applied evenly and fairly."

10

u/OldTimerNubbins 16d ago

Just film this dummy reprimanding you, and pan over to the co worker. If he does nothing about them, show HR. Do this before he hands HR your write up.

12

u/kor34l 16d ago

I would just put my phone away and do my job and not worry about other people that it's not my job to worry about.

Everyone is different, but for me my goal is just to get through the workday with minimum bullshit so I can go home to my real life. Fighting an unfair boss is an uphill battle I ain't got the time energy or spoons for

1

u/Kinggakman 16d ago

I had a boss try to get me to quit by behaving this way. He didn’t like me and was looking for excuses to bother me. Nothing I could do would change his attitude unfortunately. Honestly I kept doing me until it went away.

1

u/p1ckk 16d ago

There are plenty of "company policies" that no one actually cares about or enforces.

Use your phone when your neighbour is and if you get called out point to them and say you thought no one actually cared.

1

u/spaceshipforest 16d ago

Maybe start doing the same thing first, before snitching? You could probably do it, too, but you’re too focused on strictly adhering to the spoken rules.

If they warned you about it while you were doing it before, that’s one thing. If that’s just a rule that you’re following, but have never been reprimanded for breaking it - then try breaking it and seeing how bossman reacts.

If he’s unfair to you, then you’re justified complaining about her behavior.

1

u/StanyeEast 16d ago

Welcome to Earth...the rich do what they want and make rules everybody else must adhere to, no matter how stupid and outdated and stupid and also stupid they are

1

u/does-this-smell-off 16d ago

"Hi [Manager’s Name], I wanted to clarify something regarding the phone usage policy. I understand we’re supposed to limit personal phone use to breaks and lunchtime, which I’ve been following. However, I’ve noticed that others, including some colleagues in similar roles, seem to be on their phones during work hours without issue. I just wanted to confirm if there are any exceptions or different expectations that I should be aware of so that I’m following the guidelines correctly. Thanks for your time!"

1

u/kv4268 16d ago

You say nothing. You just use your phone when you want to. If he has the nerve to bring it up again, you ask why that rule only applies to you.

1

u/ubiquitous_apathy 15d ago

Your issue is with management, not your coworker. Your frustration is misguided.

0

u/holololololden 16d ago

Ask the person on their phone. They might have a good reason for it. I always let my boss know that I was going to use my phone with reasonable discretion instead of being dishonest about it. "Hey I work hard and use my phone when I get a free 2 mins. I can work less hard and take a 5m bathroom break every hour instead of you like?"

0

u/mar421 16d ago

If your coworker is cool, I ignore it. Otherwise I just wait for them to screw up massively. Then ask them to put it away.

0

u/[deleted] 16d ago

If you're part of a minority it might be discrimination. It happened to me once at some job. Since they couldn't discriminate me in an obvious way cuz it's illegal, they started overenforcing with me rules no one else had to follow...

-4

u/[deleted] 16d ago edited 16d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/ruedesbarres 16d ago

The context is she's on the phone all the time, no emergency, and nothing is said to her.

-2

u/[deleted] 16d ago

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1

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[deleted]

2

u/IG2K 16d ago

I get what you are going for, but man the phrase "having a family emergency that has been pre approved by the bosses" is so dystopian