I wasn't speaking of a difference in basic humanity, I was speaking of a difference in skill level and options. I also wasn't trying to justify treating anyone poorly, but when your job takes a minimum of skills and you are easily replaceable then, realistically, you have less bargaining power than someone with a much higher skill level or cost of replacement. It would be nice if everyone treated everyone with basic respect and dignity, but on lower wage jobs (trust me, I have held a number of those prior to my going to college, which I did later in life than most peers) you are more easily replaceable because the skills necessary for the job are easily acquirable by most anyone. That translates into less understanding/leeway from a management perspective. This shouldn't be license for management to be a dick, but it does mean that things like getting written-up/disciplined for being 20 minutes late is the norm, whereas in my experience in the tech field being 'late' doesn't even make sense since there aren't really set hours (the presumption is you will get your work done by some deadline, regardless of what hours you choose to work in order to accomplish that). The idea that someone who expects to be treated like a competent adult is being a 'prima donna' is just a strawman insult used by management, likely due to insecurity which drives the need to try and pull power trips to 'show who's in charge'.