And trades people like you mentioned don’t have seven years of university to pay for. A friend’s son took two years of community college and is now a licensed truck mechanic with his own business and no student loan to pay off.

Grace is right: if people feel you are there to serve them, you won’t get much respect; if they see you demonstrating some authority, you will get more respect.

Being put in charge at work one day in the boss’s absence, I was telling the girls what they should do in a soft way — and they ignored me. I asked a fellow worker and good friend, what I was doing wrong. Why won’t they do what they’re told? She said, “You have to be a b—-.” Then she said, ” No. Be ASSERTIVE.”

So the good news is, you will have more success if you can be kind but firm. Or change jobs. I’m not assertive by nature and I hate conflict; I’d never succeed as a manager of a hired staff.

I always say to stay away from doctors and the hospital as much as possible unless absolutely necessary and use natural remedies when one can. Thanks for this post. Appreciate your courage to speak out against yet another giant of power and greed.