I had a good friend who was talking to his boss once. His boss said, "we can be friends, you know." And my friend replied. "You can fire me. Can I fire you?" I

I had a good friend who was talking to his boss once. His boss said, "we can be friends, you know." And my friend replied. "You can fire me. Can I fire you?" I don't think this means that personal relationships at work are futile, just that there is another component to them. The business and structure of the business come first. Coming out of college, this is a bit confusing because when you're young nearly everything is personal, there is no professional life. Kids have to learn these boundaries, and, I'm sorry your lesson was harsher than it should have been. This is a bit unrelated to the point you were making, but not unrelated to the story: the truth is that a lot of executives become executives solely (or at least primarily) for the prestige and respect the positions attract. Although I might not think there's anything impressive about being an executive in a company, many people do. And enough people do, that it effectively becomes the truth. It's something to look out for in future jobs: - Do the executives use their captive audience to inflate their egos? - Are employees afraid of the executives? If so, you're not in a business, but in a social hierarchy. And one where people enjoy that they have power over others. This was part of the point I was originally intending to make: why would the executive care that you left during his story? You'd think all he would care about is that you were an effective employee. But in your case he did not become an executive to improve the business. Likely he became one to attain status. This is what I mean: his status shouldn't have anything to do with the effectiveness of the business. But of course, the effectiveness of the business is not truly his primary concern. (if it were, he wouldn't hold a bunch of employees hostage talking about his stupid fishing trip.)