No Crystal Stair

The other day I came across an e-mail from one of the higher ups. One of his flying monkeys had sent me a terse e-mail about breaking one of the many mind numbing procedures we must abide by. Egads! I went off and had an independent thought, an egregious error in my work environment. I responded to the e-mail by giving an explanation which sounded perfectly reasonable to me, for my actions. Apparently my 'explanation' went to the higher up and I was chastised. His exact words were, "you think you're special." Pardon me but this screams personal vedetta and not constructive criticism. There are many reasons to dislike, even hate my job. Chief among them is the fact that, no matter how good a job you do, you're judged by a yardstick of flimsy arbitrary dislikes by people with questionable common sense and even fewer brains. I had to take a deep breath and NOT take the bait, which is what I considered his insulting statement to be. Had I responded, he might have then charged me with insubordination. I wonder why that works in such a one-sided way? If I, an underling have the audacity to defend myself, I am insubordinate. However by virtue of exalted position, I can be insulted, and have doubts cast on my professional reputation by someone strictly because they're in a higher pay grade. I think the fact that I am able to do a good job despite it all DOES indeed make me very special!