Blood was slowly dissipating from my fists. I watched the fleshy tone of my skin trickle away into whiteness. But I couldn’t unclench them—it stopped my arms from shaking. Waves of anger were crashing against every particle of my nervous system—and I didn’t dare stop it. What else was I supposed to do? I couldn’t yell nor could I show my boss how furious I was with her. That was simply ‘not done.’ Her eyes locked with mine, and the waves crashed harder.

Most of us have had them—the horrible boss that you’re convinced rose from hell just to spite and torture you. The ones that are so fickle and impossible to please—no matter how much of a perfectionist you are. I know how it feels like—I’ve dealt with my boss for most of my life and still contemplate ways to torture her excruciatingly. However, I do have to point out that my boss happens to be my mother.

We own our own business, which most people would consider as something of a boon. It’s not. There are many reasons why, but I’ll just single it down to one simple thing: nothing is ever good enough, and she’s always right no matter how wrong she is. However, that’s probably the case with most dream jobs—they always come with a catch. The usual ‘catch’ that causes the weak to flee would be the boss from hell.

Remember what they said? It’s all about survival of the fittest. So, really, the point of the matter is that we all should survive a tyrannical boss. It only makes you stronger. Of course I will admit that this would cost a lot of tears, frustration, and endless hours of consolation from loved ones. I completely understand—I deal with an Asian Mom. However, I’ve compiled a list of reasons (stolen from my own experiences that helps get me through the day) that shows why experiencing a tyrannical boss will benefit YOU.

1. You gain the ability to put their needs above yours—or at least look like you’re doing so. If this means sacrificing your lunch just to do a quick errand for your boss—then do it. This is a quick way to get promoted and will earn you brownie points, which will make you stand out from other employees. Either that, or you’ll gain a person that will recommend you as extremely hard working. In this day and age—that sort of compliment is hard to come by especially with the ginormous amounts of people wasting time on Facebook.
2. You learn to ability to really switch gears and become incredibly organized—especially when they aren’t. If my sister and I could list the amount of times my “boss” didn’t pull through and we were prepared ahead of it, we’d have a Christmas list going. The quickest way to become organized is experience the consequences if you aren’t; especially if your boss will chew you out the first time. Once you become organized, these key skills will benefit you later on in life when you get promoted or move onto better jobs. You’ll quickly learn how to anticipate anything that could go wrong!
3. Learning to be respectful and not talking back. It doesn’t work when you yell at people, or make snide comments. It just makes it worse. Hence, you’ll learn how to phrase your answers better and impress your boss—especially when your boss isn’t American.
4. Learning the ability to read moods. By being able to discern how your boss feels on a day-by-day basis and discover patterns. For example—at the beginning of the week, your boss might have tons of bills to pay. Hence, they’re going to be extremely frustrated, which you could cater to and impress them! By harnessing the ability to read people, you can anticipate their needs and learn when to bring in your needs. You could also become a semi professional fortune teller or learn when people are lying.
5. Manipulation. As an underling, you’ll be forced to jump through so many hoops—especially if your boss is comfortable enough to show you their dark side. (I get this on a regular basis. Their ‘dark, I’m going to kill puppies with my LAZER eyes’ mode is probably the worst part of the job.) Although it might really make you question staying in that position, it’ll also teach you how to get your way indirectly. You learn to sweet talk or concoct a plan, involving a series of indirect actions, to get your way. It’s like playing a really horrible game of chess, where the consequences are real and scary.
6. This may just be in my case—but my mother always told me I was fat. Of course, most of my friends told me that she was crazy. However, no matter how much this bashes at your ego, it teaches you one really important thing: the importance of appearance. You should be worrying about if you’re getting fat (so you maintain a healthier life style) and how you present yourself at work. Do you have a stain on your shirt? (You shouldn’t.) Do you feel free to eat like a starved pig during lunch? (NO!) Always ALWAYS look your best, even if you aren’t feeling it.
7. Perfecting your poker face. Enough said. Your work life isn’t a soap opera.
8. Becoming a harder worker. If someone expects more of you, then you’ll eventually evolve. You won’t slack off as often (for now its out of fear but later…), and you’ll get used to always giving your best.
9. You learn to take your own initiative at getting things done. Although this bleeds into the whole manipulation thing, you do find an underhanded way to get things done and still make everyone happy. (Delegation! Delegation!) It also enables you to develop the key skill taking initiative and not being lazy. This ties again with the anticipation of skills thing—you just learn how to hit the ground running (a skill most companies look for) and making sure the job is done right. These will be great on your resume!
10. You gain better anger management skills. No more throwing things around and screaming like an enraged dinosaur! With the fear of god instilled into your system by your boss, you learn to hold in your anger or find suitable ways to get rid of your anger! (I’m taking up some healthy outdoor sport.)
11. Gaining the ability to think creatively outside the box. If you’re lucky, you’ve landed a boss that will put you in a variety of difficult, ridiculous situations that others would loathe to be in. It helps you practice your creativity. I’ve had so many instances where things didn’t work out like they should’ve—and my boss threw her hands up in the air and left me to work it out. Such as the time when all the outside lights weren’t turning on—I had to rig lights sketchily on a chair perched outside. These are the kind of things you can laugh about—but they also teach you how to creatively solve future problems. By working out your creative muscle, you’ll understand how things simply work and apply it to future problems. Of course you’ll encounter mistakes and screw things up. In the end, you’ll still be able to say that you tried, as you stand there next to your sketchy installment.
12. At least you’ll have tougher skin and a great story to talk about. If you can deal with this boss, all other bosses are easy in comparison! You’ve gained great people skills! That…or something on your resume.
13. If all else fails, then at least you’ve come up with a lot of creative ways on how to decapitate or torture someone.

Of course, these are things I’ve gained along the way. There are probably more benefits I’ll probably think of later. As I said, I know it’s a difficult path. It’s probably the worst experience you’ll go through. In the end, I hope you find that all of it was worth it—even if it didn’t feel like it at the moment. If all else fails, I hope you find yourself a cute puppy or an ice cream sundae to drown all your sorrows away!