> why you didn’t feel it was worth it to be honest with them
Being "honest" with folks who might be persuaded to give terrible references later and tell all their friends you are an ungrateful piece of shit is a bad idea. Never be honest with people that have more power than you, unless it is praise.
If I can be ruined by saying the wrong thing (this means any kind of criticism) then your portrayal of what I do is entirely missing the mark and frankly extremely dismissive of the realities of life for people that aren't filthy rich.