There’s authority and there’s those under authority, and when you’ve got it you’ve got the say, and when you’re under it in the end you do what they say.
When I worked at the diesel engine plant, occasionally there were times where my buddies blew up at some work issue. Even with the union’s help things couldn’t be made right enough. So they would “hit the wall” – stop working and sit down in a line along the nearest wall. Management and union leaders would come and everybody stood around for awhile. There would be some raised voices, and within a few hours the guys would go back to work with nothing changed, but they’d act like they showed ‘em. We all knew they were trying to save face and act tough, because we all knew they’d be fired if they stayed on the wall.
The wallers loved the big show of force, but they weren’t respected and never accomplished much with management.
There’s something about being pushed that makes you want to push back. And there’s something about pushing and not being resisted that makes you quit pushing. Think of arguments and kids and marriage and siblings and work and disagreements with returning the solar landscape lights to Wal-Mart.
When my wife, Brenda, pushes me, I always feel an inner resistance towards her. When she’s more suggestive, I hear what she’s saying instead of how she’s saying it.
With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone. – Proverbs 25.15
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