[the-alt-one]

>At my last workplace, I was chewed out for doing so because apparently I was "wasting time".

Here's more of a general cultural topic: When people say "I was chewed out at work", then what does that entail?

I'm Swedish, I'd call "being chewed out" to be asked questions on how I'm doing some part of my job, for example planning. Is this what people mean?

I'm exaggerating a bit, but in Swedish workplaces you can have a relatively light touch and still have great effect imho.

[a_e_k]

At least in the United States, being "chewed out" means being reprimanded or chastised.

[the-alt-one]

And why do highly educated people with well paid jobs accept this treatment? Is it because they want to treat others the same too? Before you ask: Yes, I am naive and ignorant :-).

[notRobot]

You're assuming that (i) I'm highly educated, (ii) I was well paid, (iii) I accepted the treatment and (iv) not accepting the treatment was an option.

No, I would hate to treat anyone else that way.

For reasons that I don't want to get into right now, it's not easy for me to find work that pays well. But I did start looking once I realized how toxic the workplace was, and moved to the next when I could.

[the-alt-one]

Yeah, I know that I made some heavy handed assumptions based on where we are (HN). Especially considering that 1 and 2 would make 4 more likely to be true, and 1 and 2 is likely true on HN AFAICT.

>For reasons that I don't want to get into right now, it's not easy for me to find work that pays well.

Just to be clear: I wasn't expecting you to defend your behavior in this particular case, that would be cruel and unsympathetic of me to say the least. I was only interested in how in general this treatment can occur in places where people are well paid and highly educated (with the implication that they're likely to find work regardless).

[ghaff]

It's a very colloquial term that covers a lot of ground. Yes, it could mean that they were yelled at in a room full of people. It could also mean they were informally and quietly requested to do something a different way next time.

[dcminter]

Lots of people are shy or quiet or introverted and thus unwilling or unable to push back against this kind of thing (or see through it when it's bluster).