The foreman who made me redo a corner three times for no reason

Back in March on a job in Portland, this older foreman watched me lay a corner and then said it was 'off plumb by a hair' when my level showed it dead on. He made me tear it down and rebuild it twice more, each time the same result, and then he just shrugged and said 'good enough' and walked off. I was 6 months into the trade then, so I kept my mouth shut, but it stuck with me how he never once put his own level on it. I've seen that kind of thing since, older guys flexing on newer guys just to feel important, and it burns me up. We're all trying to make a straight wall, not play mind games. Has anyone else had a foreman or lead do something like that just to mess with you, and how did you handle it without losing the job?

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olivia75718d ago

Oh man, this hits home. I had a lead do almost the exact same thing to me when I was about a year in, kept moving my chalk line over a hair every time I snapped it and then acted like I was the one who couldn't follow a straight mark. Finally one day I just asked him real casual, "Hey, can you show me where you want it?" and handed him the level. He grumbled and did it himself, and after that he pretty much left me alone. Sometimes you gotta call their bluff politely, you know? They feed off you looking scared or frustrated, so just staying calm and acting like you genuinely want to learn from them takes the wind right out of their sails. It's annoying as hell but most of those guys just want to feel like they still matter, and once you let them think they taught you something, they back off.