I’ve had this ’theory’ for a while that first jobs and first bosses and co-workers matter a lot because this is where you develop your sense of what is ‘normal’

I’ve had this ’theory’ for a while that first jobs and first bosses and co-workers matter a lot because this is where you develop your sense of what is ‘normal’. E.g. over the years I’ve worked with all kinds of people, and I’ve taken a habit to at some point engage into conversations about first jobs we’ve had and how was the work environment. As a result, I feel that many of the individuals that started in hostile environments have been damaged for life and come to new jobs bringing their twisted ‘normal’ with them. I consider myself lucky to have had what I consider excellent bosses and work environment in a couple of my first jobs. So at least when I finally landed into abusive and hostile job, I could with some confidence say that this is not normal, no one should be tolerating this, and hey boss, watch me go! Whether this ‘theory’ actually holds true, I don’t know. But having had it in my head has certainly allowed me to curtail my bad behaviors over the years. And hopefully has allowed me to be one of the better examples for the next generations. All this of course assumes that leadership wants to optimize for humane treatment of people.