What Did an Employer Say That Instantly Made You Regret Working for Them?

Adrian S. Potter
2 min readFeb 22, 2023

Cringeworthy stuff.

Photo by Yan Krukau: https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-having-aa-argument-7640481/

Early in my first job out of college, I caught my new employer with a lie about what my working hours were — they were a lot more than what he first cited during my interview.

But I was young and eager and in dues-paying mode. A few extra hours didn’t deter me. I was energetic and wanted to make a positive impact and a good impression.

However, the most memorable interaction came when I later asked about benefits.

About two weeks into the job, I asked, “When can I sign up for dental insurance?” I had filled out paperwork for medical insurance and thought the dental forms might have gotten lost in the shuffle.

My boss, who was also the owner of the small firm, looked me dead in the eye, smirked, and then scoffed, “Dental insurance? Well, Adrian, dental insurance is for people with bad teeth.”

It was grandstanding at its finest and in front of nearly everyone else at the small firm. My boss was making a big deal of it because, as it turns out, the company was not offering what he promised.

I was a bit of a hothead back then. I lost any measure of professionalism for a moment and snapped back.

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Adrian S. Potter

Antisocial Extrovert · Writer and Poet, Engineer, Consultant, Public Speaker · Writing about self-improvement, gratitude, and creativity · www.adrianspotter.com