You should always hide a spare set of keys. I’m at 48 years.
My wife and I have 63 years in.
Congratulations. I watched the last interview with Johnny Cash before he died. He was only 71 or so and June had died about 6 months earlier. At any rate he was asked what made for a successful marriage that long and he answered “separate bathrooms”. Then he said “I’m serious”. We’ve got separate sinks but not bathrooms but that helps.
When an employer asks me to do something which I feel is unethical, illegal, or unreasonably dangerous, I have no problem saying “no”. I have paid the price of being fired several times after refusing to do something or arguing with the owner, but the fact remains that if you’re good at your job, you can always find work somewhere else. I can remember being fired on a Monday or Tuesday, and having a new job by Friday, paying at least as much as the one I left.
I am sure this mechanic and service manager landed on their feet just fine. Hopefully, the owner’s greed and arrogance caught up with him, and he’s out of business now.
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I hope you’re right
But I’ve known a lot of vindictive bosses and/or owners who tried to black list people
One can hope . . .
A few months ago, I was supposed to replace a set of shock absorbers
They were coil-overs, and I was only supposed to replace the shocks, while re-using the springs
Anyways, the tool I was given wasn’t up to the task . . . it was compressing the spring, but the tool was literally bending
When I saw this, I stopped what I was doing, got the boss and showed him the tool wasn’t up to the task
I didn’t get in trouble
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One of the hats I wear at my work is promoting safety. We promote the “speak up” culture. That means, anybody at any moment could stop anything, no fingers pointed. It is difficult to change the culture and get rid of hierarchy, but with practice, it gets better.
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In the trucking business, someone is always trying to get you to do something illegal or unsafe. Everyone has to pick their own battles. Pulling overloads did not bother me but I drew the line at bad brakes. Back when I was a city driver I had a steady tractor, A ford cabover C850 single rear axle. It was old and the air tanks were full of crud and kept plugging the air lines to the front wheels. Without front brakes, it took forever to stop without a trailer because there was no weight over the back wheel and it would just slide or hop the back axle. I kept writing it up and the shop would blow out the air lines but a couple of stops they would plug again. They needed to clean out the4 tanks but would not do it.
I came in the next day determined not to drive it if it was not fixed. I wend up and down the yard a couple of times and they stopped working again.
I told the shop manager they were not working and I was not driving it. He tpld the shop foreman to drive it the length of the yard as fast as he could and slam on the brake hard to demonstrate they were working so he could get me fired.
The foreman got it up to about 50 mph and gave a mighty stomp on the brake pedal and got ONE front brake to work and the tractor spun like a top slamming into the dumpster parked in front of the shop that the shop manager had been standing in front of. Luckily the sliding panel that allowed things to be put in the dumpster from the side was open and the manager dove in just before the tractor hit it. When he climbed out all I said was “guess I need another tractor.”
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When I have been put in that situation, my response has always been, “Okay, as long as you put it in writing, in the form of a memo”. In most instances, the supervisor then said… “Never mind… forget about it”, and in the other instances, at least I had a hard copy of their questionable directive, just in case the feces hit the fan.
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Not that different than in the military. There were two times my mother was verbally given a blatantly illegal order. On the one hand the orders were illegal but the situations were such that refusing the orders would have gotten her written up and even possibly court marshaled. Her response, she stated she required the order in writing. Order rescinded both times.
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Yup!
Being an underpaid, underappreciated, frequently disparaged educator is not that different from being a member of the military, in many respects. The only major difference is that I wasn’t subject to being Court Martialed.
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@VDCdriver Now there ya go, catching my misspelling! I’ll have to put you on my proofreading/editing team. 
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I don’t know that I’ve ever been asked to do anything unethical or illegal. One instance comes to mind though. Edited. Use your imagination.
This would be a small claims case, so you don’t need a lawyer. Get three estimates for repair, look at kbb.com for fair market value, and compare the numbers. My guess is the numbers will be about the same (probably ~$4,000). Talk to your insurance to see how much they will cover. They will probably give you $3,500 and be done with it (assuming your deductible is $500). Junk the Sentra and buy another $4k car. Ask the mechanic for the $500 (or whatever out-of-pocket it costs you up to the FMV of your vehicle at the time of damage). If they don’t pay, take them to see Judge Judy (you will win because you have proof of everything). This will be the least stressful path.
It will be your insurance’s decision to pursue reimbursement from your mechanic or mechanic’s insurance.
Just my opinion but BBB is a waste. If you get a judgement in small claims court, you still have to collect the money. Lots of people walking around with judgments and no money. Sure they are in contempt but doesn’t do any good to jail someone if they have no assets to be gotten. Honest people pay their judgments but slime balls run out on them. Just something to consider.
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I guess I was a risk taker, sure I know better than working solo to run network fiber and cat 6 cables in a drop ceiling on a 16’ step ladder alone, in a plant with one operator on duty, sure I have a fear of heights, but I did it anyway. Had to work weekends so as not to interfere with plant operations. Got 3 weeks of comp time for a CA trip to tour colleges with the daughter and wife. Stupid yes, survived unscathed yes, do it again, no.
+1
When Smart Money magazine published their research report on The BBB, they summarized their report with the following words:
Few people have actually benefited from the work of The BBB.
Is it any wonder that The BBB is known as the Better For Business Bureau?
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You just HAD to throw in that terminology, didn’t you . . . ?!
That’s what I stated earlier
Isn’t it the case that even the sleaziest business can pay money and receive a very high rating from the “Better Business Bureau” . . . ?!
Kind of like JD Power and Associates . . . not much credibility there, either
Edited
Heading for another flag day I guess. Whatever.
Well, not exactly, but because the BBB solicits membership fees from companies, those who pay their dues to the Better FOR Business Bureau are unlikely to get a bad rating from them, no matter how badly they screw their customers.