working with family ?

[NS whitetail]

Just wondering how many of you work with family members ? Being a commercial lobster fisherman and my Dad owning his own boat and license, I do. On board our boat are ~ my step-brother ( he goes as captain ) we get along great, we are both very ambitious and will do whatever it takes to catch as many lobster as we can and make the most money that we can, my Dad is 68 years old and still goes because he loves it, he fills bait for us and bands the lobsters claws, he would go crazy if he were to stay home.

My beef is ............. my brother, he is 45 ( 3 years older than me ) and how to I put it ? ................ ummmmmmmm, he is just plain out lazy, he hates his job and does not put out and pull his own weight onboard the boat. Justin will know what I am talking about when I say just how hard it makes things on me. Every once in a while I will loose my temper but I am the kind of person who will hold my tongue and not say much most of the time, a boat deck is no place for fighting and arguing, espically when family is involved. It is no good to say much anyway because my brother is one of those people who just gets worse if spoken to, just for spite. Luckily, our season closes on May 31 and I get a 6 month break before having to work with him again.

Does anyone else here have to deal with a situation like this ?

[ruttinbuc]

I have never worked with family, but know people who have. I heard the scenario before. Always one member of the family riding on the hard work of another. They wouldn't get away with being a slouch anywhere else. Who is in charge of personnel? Maybe it is time to find someone who can pull the weight and show your brother the real world. Might just be the wake up call he always needed.

[birdhunter39]

i use to work with my one brother , we both thought alike so we had no problem . i would pull him off to the side after this run and tell him the real deal , i wouldn't on the boat as it might create bigger tension between the two of you .

[Dawg]

My first cousin, mother-in-law, aunt and uncle by marriage, and two cousins by marriage all work at the same facility I do. We are all in different departments so I don't have many work related dealings with them.

[NS whitetail]

Funny you say that Mike, my step-bro and I were talking just a few days ago about how he would never make it on another lobster boat and that he is lucky we are family or he would be gone.

and birdhunter39, I could talk until I was blue in the face and it would not change a thing, he is the kind of guy who doesn't even relize how bad he is.......... he is always talking about this guy or that guy who is a lazy SOB, and the truth is ...... there are alot of no good lazy people around here :chair:

[Shaun_300]

My brother used to work with me about a year ago, he got hired on as a quick lube man changing oil at our dealership. He was doing good and liked it, but then got in a car accident and screwed up his back. Couldn't work for us anymore. Which is too bad because I enjoyed working with him.

[birdhunter39]

he needs to stay off that boat then , at the job i was at we had a guy like that if he moved one thing in 8 hours he thought he accomplished a lot. while other guys would do the whole job in less time .

[Tominator]

Nope.

Growing up in the burbs it was all about paying the bills I think. Post WW II vets, baby boomer moms and dads I think viewed work as a means to an end. My dad was an accountant for GM for 37 years. His routine was get up, out the door by 7, home around 5:30 (dinner better be ready), eat dinner, sit down in the chair, read the paper, watch the news, fall asleep a few times, watch primetime sitcoms, eat a tub of popcorn or abooot a half pound of potato chips with a diet pepsi, snooze, watch the news, doze off during Carson, go to bed, wake up, repeat. Day after day. Only break in that routine was when we'd pester him enough so that he'd go out back or front and toss some sort of ball around for an hour or so, and Tuesday nights from April through October was golf league, September through March Thursday night was bowling league. Year after year. I personally didn't know what work was for real until I entered the service.

Thanks Lewis, I feel better.

[wtnhunt]

My first boss was my step dad, he owned his own business. He and I bumped heads a lot for a long time working together, but I learned a lot from him. Had to work with a few of his nephews too, being the youngest working at his shop(started at 13), I got the crap jobs.

Unfortunately he let his one of brothers into his business at a time when things were going very well and things ended up heading south within a relatively short time thereafter.

[suro25]

Its good that your working situation is going good with your family. I have heard several stories that working with families hasn't worked out and tore the family apart.

[Goinghuntin]

Me, my dad, my wife, my mother-in-law, and my brother all work at the same warehouse, although my brother is in a different shift. Lets just say that it can become quite a circus at times...

Nathan

[kidd]

my brother and i work in the same school....he is a math teacher and I a science teacher....