16-year-old working first job as restaurant busgirl told to work faster by manager, slips breaking over $100 worth of plates: 'I was doing what you said'

There's certainly something to be said for working within your limits, particularly for the sake of safety and not making costly mistakes. Especially when a job requires manual labor, it's a matter of self-preservation. By overextending and injuring yourself, you could permanently impair your ability to do that job.

I remember working at a beer distribution company just out of high school; the older guys liked having me around on their routes because I could sling the fresh kegs around for them. They'd always be telling me, though, to make sure I was lifting them carefully. I never listened, but I shudder now to think of the permanent problems I could have caused myself at such a young age.

This story is a bit like that, with this young worker instead being pushed by their boss to work faster and with less of their natural caution. Encouraging them to push past the bounds that they were physically capable which resulted in an incident that luckily only went as far as a few broken dishes and not a serious workplace injury.