March 30, 2005

>> University of Hell

[ Rant ]

concrete writes...

"I am a professor at a very large midwestern university where almost everything is run moronically and evry projcet is purely aimed at profit (oh, unless one is wasting $$, of course). In this dystopian world, my department actually stands out. We depend heavily on student enrollment and will thus allow anyone with $$ to sign up for our courses. Our students are sometimes unwittingly hilarious: one guy repeatedly missed a class I taught because he forgot what time it was held. Another stopped attending becasue he thought that the term was over in October rather than December. My personal favorite, "Lying Lisa," was continually late with her essays because she had 1) chronic kidney problems, which she must have forgotten about by the time she 2) had to go to Mexico for a trip with her dying dad, who must have been worried when she developed 3) serious liver issues (apparently the original renal problem had flown out of her head). But she was nothing next to "Chatty Chad," who consistently interrupted lectures and regaled his captive classmates with vacuous details of his empty, silly life. We learned that he was getting married (date, time, and ALL of the details), that he looked like his sister (complete with photo backup), that his family had a "crest," that he...the list goes on endlessly. But "Sleepy Sue" was spared his ramblings as she would usually enter the room, plop her coat onto her desk, stretch her arms out and fall into slumber: drooling and snoring included! Marie, though was my honey: she refused to do the reading for any of her classes because the, "books were too expensive," as I learned when she snarled at me as if I personally benefitted from text book sales. Yet this gal didn't let a little thing like not reading get in the way of her arguing about the material during class discussions. She loved to "take on" other students, who were both baffled by her inane "insights" and frightened of her obvious anger issues. Oh, there's more, lots more, but I have to go teach now. I feel so awful for the good students. They live in hell!"

01:05 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 29, 2005

>> F**king Cublicles

[ Rant ]

Margaux93 writes...

"What is up with the stupid cubicles we have to work in???

I work at a computer software company and we all have some decent sized cubicles which in itself is fine. However, they have it set up so if you were to walk into the cubicle, you see the back of the person working and the front of the computer they are working on. I can't tell you how many times I have been startled, jumped right up to the ceiling, when someone has come by to ask me something out of no where.

Is it just me?? I don't like being sneaked up upon, it makes me nervous and is uncomfortable. I assume that companies situate cubicles in this way so that managers can walk by and see what employees are doing. I feel like a little kid. I mean, if I was goofing off all day and not working, it would be pretty obvious since I would not be producing anything. Personally, I'd like to be treated more like the adult that I am and be *trusted* that I was actually doing work rather than having someone check on me. Makes me work better.

If you ask me, if we are trying to build a 'teamwork' type atmosphere where employees can openly share information with other employees, the most effective thing to do would set up work spaces which are condusive to that. I'd much rather speak with someone to their face when I go over to them rather than talk to the back of their head.

Does anyone know why cubicles are set up this way?? Does anyone out there hate it as much as I do? Of course, higher up's get offices with the computer facing *them* while they face the door when people come to see them. Ridiculous. I don't see why that should be just their luxury."

01:08 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 28, 2005

>> Overpaid, overrated Queen of all Slackers

[ Work ]

Anonymous writes...

"For the past three months I have been working with this woman who has got to be the most overpaid lazy slacker I've ever known. Okay, so like I said she has been with our company for three months. She has a role here that requires 100% motivation to be successful. When she interviewed with us, she was up against another candidate who in RETROSPECT would have worked out much better but I digress... the last two weeks have been hell. I had been so busy during the first couple of months she was here that I did not notice how little she actually works. But, my boss (there are three of us on our team) went out of town for business for a week and I saw all of the true colors. Monday, comes in at around 10 am (most arrive at 8:30) and makes an announcement to everyone in our row that she's dying for a coffee, does anyone want anything, and then leaves for a 30 minute coffee break at the local coffee shop (which she does every day). WHICH IS ONE BLOCK AWAY. Okay, so then at 12 she leaves for lunch and goes to lunch for 2 hours and 25 minutes, missing one meeting, to do what? GO SHOPPING. Then, in the afternoon, she goes for an ice cream break- another 30 minutes (every day). And then after another hour of work she has to go to the grocery store for a snack before she goes home for the night. While she is at her desk, supposedly working, all I see her doing is shopping online. This repeats every day of that week, with another 2-3 hour lunch each day, some of which were supposedly for chiropractor appointments and to get her car detailed. More meetings were missed which I had to cover for. Then when my boss gets back to the office, this woman does the same thing. Comes in later, takes about a 2 hour lunch and the two 30 minute food breaks in the am and pm, and leaves at 6. This isn't taking into account the endless chatting she tries to engage me in that reflects poorly on me like I an INVITING it or something. I am afraid that this is going to reflect poorly on my boss and myself, but I don't want to be a tattle tale... I need a suggestion or two on how to resolve this issue."

01:03 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 27, 2005

>> No more garbage

[ Rant ]

Anonymous writes...

"I work in an office area where we sit close to each other (but not in cubicals). We each get our own computer, desk space and trash bins. The co-worker on the right of me is a germaphobic. I'm ok with being clean and everything, but this is a bit extreme.

My co-worker get so upset when her trash bin gets almost half-full, she cannot stand it. So, while I am in a meeting, at lunch, or just anytime I am away from my desk, she will empty her trash into my container. This must go on 3 to 4 times a day. While I have confronted her about this (in a nice matter) she totally denied it.

I wouldn't care except then my trash overflows and makes me look like a complete slob. I just cannot believe someone would be so rude!"

01:06 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 26, 2005

>> Too Much

[ Boss ]

Anonymous writes...

"My boss is in his office with the door closed interviewing a headhunter to help him find someone to replace me. He never said a word about it, just sprung it on me this morning. He is one mean mother-fucker. He has been very abusive to me the last couple of years but I have hung in there because this job is what enables me to live in my home and maintain a car..luxurious huh? I have worked here for 8 years and from the very beginning I knew he was a moron but being the professional that I am I thought I could help him. The problem is he gets very defensive (because he is such a moron) and everything has to come from him which it never does because he does not have a fucking clue! He is so stupid he has squandered millions of dollars with me just sitting here watching it happen. I suggested to my supervisor that we talk to him and let him know that we don't necessarily agree about how he conducts himself and I was roundly chastised.

Here is an example of the abuse:

Jan 1, 2004 he gave me a raise and a one month bonus.

Jan 16, 2004 we had a meeting where he went off on me for over an hour:
I don't like your clothes
You make too much money
The files are too complicated (this one really hurt because when I came on board I completely redid all the files into a coherent form. In addition he gives me his "working file" which is full of duplications and tells me to put them in the file, thereby making it cluttered with bull-shit)

It goes on but I am tired and despondent. I don't hate him, I feel very sorry for anyone who is that dumb and unhappy that he has to take it out on an underling."

01:05 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 25, 2005

>> No one cares...

[ Rant ]

Anonymous writes...

"Okay, so there is a woman that I work with who quite possibly has the most annoying phone and conversation habits....ever.

First, there are 2 daily phone calls. One at 9:15AM(15-30 minutes after she arrives) and 2:15PM and they go something like this, "Hi....I was just calling to check on the girls?" Honestly, I am sure your two daughters are fine and if something actually did go wrong someone would call you.

Second, the 2;15PM phone call is usually to the husband. These calls general consist of telling him to pick something up at the grocery store, which is fine, but then it turns into where said item is located in the the store and what the packaging looks like. Then it turns into a huge list of things he should or should not be doing...Are you kidding me? Anyone with some intelligence knows what carrots look like and where they are in the store.

Finally, if I am having a conversation with the person next to me don't interupt the story and finish my sentences with what you think I am going to say. The sentence is NEVER completed properly......so annoying."

01:12 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 24, 2005

>> Front Desk Woman

[ Rant ]

Burger writes...

"I used to work in a school of education at a university in the Midwest. The school's top administrator is an old-school administrator, doing things the old-fashioned and stupid way. She works out the budget - which is huge and complicated - on paper, in pencil, and then distributes it to the department heads at a meeting and reads it to them. Line by line. Someone told her about Excel and her face just lit up - she was so happy to be able to give her secretary her pencil-written budgets and have her type them into a spreadsheet . . . which she then edits with a pencil while reading off the paper copies she's given to the department heads. Attaching a file to an e-mail is simply beyond her. I could go on and on about what a dingbat she is - all the poor judgments she's made because she believes it's still 1954, in terms of management concepts - but the corker is about a woman she hired to work at the school's front desk.

The front desk area is like a reception area, and the person working at the front desk is the first point of contact for anyone entering the office for information on programs, registration, etc. You'd think you'd want the person at the front desk to be a with-it, pleasant, professional employee, right? Well, the front desk position had been empty for a few months and the top administrator really wanted to get it filled. She formed a committee that interviewed 4 people for the position. The committee's first 3 choices all wisely turned down the position when they discovered the position description was vague, there was no clear line of reporting for the position and the compensation was paltry to a criminal degree. But #4 took the job, which was fine by the top administrator because she really liked her.

The new front desk person wasn't in position more than a few weeks before it became apparent she had a screw loose. She would sit at her desk - where she was the first person anyone entering would see - and pick at the skin on her arms until it bled. When the sores she'd created scabbed over, she'd pick at the scabs. She also picked at the skin on her stomach - lifted her shirt over her belly and picked at her stomach skin until it bled. She constantly submitted requests to the technical help desk for issues she was having with her computer. (Issues that could never be duplicated when the tech support guys showed up.) When the support guys would show up to check it out, she'd accuse them of stalking her and wanting to sleep with her. She would walk into peoples' offices and fart - loudly, noticeably - and then leave. She would talk, loudly, to her work-study students about her supposedly lurid past, telling stories about waking up naked and handcuffed to some guy she didn't know and having to pee really bad and having no recollection of how she came to end up that way. She glommed onto other people's stories and made them her own - when one woman mentioned in passing that she had friends from Pakistan the front desk woman did too! When someone had a grandchild with a rare disease - she had a nephew with the same disease! When someone planned a missionary-type vision trip to a remote village in Guatemala - she had been there too! My favorite weird behavior of hers was her habit - during school-wide meetings that were catered - talking loudly about how she was allergic to this food and that food . . . and then eating some of those foods. About an hour later, the paramedics would be in the office, responding to her 911 call and telling her there was nothing wrong with her. The woman worked in the school for 6 months and the paramedics were out to the office 6 times. At first we couldn't understand why the woman hadn't been fired early on, but then we figured it was because she was the one person in the school who couldn't challenge the administrator on an intellectual level. But the university finally got fed up with being charged for the paramedics' having to respond to false alarms and she was let go."

01:03 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 23, 2005

>> Hygiene and Safety was Paramount

[ Work ]

Confused writes...

"Last year I was working for approximately 11 months in a factory environment which produced and bottled cosmetic products e.g. shampoo, conditioner and various hair products, and body creams.

The environment was SUPPOSED to be totally sterile because of the nature of the products we processed. This meant that the filling room where the final product was processed was airconditioned because all the windows were sealed and doors closed. No germs or bacteria allowed!

Well this business is operated in a sub-tropical climate in Australia so you could imagine the summers are very hot and humid.

Because the new products they were doing daily had to be filled into jars at a certain temperature so they could set naturally and not get a skin on them - OFF WENT THE AIRCONDITIONING. Yipee. We all wanted to loose weight through dehydration anyway.

Not only that - the airconditioning had to remain off until the product had cooled to a certain temperature and was sealed with lids. This meant for the majority of the day - us poor workers had to work in an environment that was like working in the "SAHARA DESERT", sometimes when you checked the temperature it would be around 38 degress +.

The fact that we were subjected to working most of the day in the middle of summer with no airconditioning, no open windows (sterile environment don't forget) and wearing little disposable nylon (which is very hot) hats, coats and latex gloves (for hygiene). Must keep a sterile environment for the product don't forget. No water fountain at all and we were not allowed to bring bottled water into the work area. "Against regulations."

The most ridiculous part of these rules, regulations and necessary steps to cover us up and make us constantly wash our hands is that whilst working under these extremes when we were sealing, and capping these products in stifiling heat, many of the workers, were actually sweating into the products whilst working over the top of them. UCK!!!!!

Now what about the hygiene?

Since leaving this wonderful place of employment due the fact that I was instructed to operate a faulty machine and in the process injured my back, and was off work for approximately 5 months, I am very wary when buying such products. I look at them on the shelf in the shop and think - "I wonder who sweated into that jar?"

I gave up trying to make sense of the rules, regulations and hygiene standards. Managment also wondered why they had such a large turnover in staff - complaining that people just don't want to work. Ha! Ha!"

01:09 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 22, 2005

>> CYA!!!

[ Boss ]

Amthyst826 writes...

"Working with three other "specialists", we are responsible for all the data entered into our MRP program for the production of... let's say widgets.
We have a huge project, to produce every conceivable combination of widget. All colors, all color combinations, every conceivable size and shape of widget we could ever produce.
Create the data to be entered into the MRP system and then, send that data to one of our other facilities so they can load it too.
My boss tells me that I am taking too much time to create this data. I explain that first I have to pre-search to see what exists in four databases, and then I have to run this in-house written "tool" we are using to create this data. (A pet project of hers, which lost its creator when she wouldn't give the creator the credit he was due for his work) Accounting for what already exists, I configure the database to create the data we are missing. This Access database has a flaw or two and will inadvertently duplicate information that already exists.
So I compare the output to the existing data, remove the duplicates, and then finish that section off.

I am told to stop all the checking. No "pre-search", no checking. I am to allow the tool to create what it will, slam the results into the MRP program and send the data to the other location(s) that need it. If there are duplicates, we will "handle it at a later date"
This drives me nuts! I can't work like this. I know the output is faulty. But, orders are orders.
30 days later, the people at the other locations are having kittens because of all of the duplicates. I jump in with both feet to resolve and correct the duplicates as quickly as possible. (Thoroughly annoyed at having to go back and fix what I knew needed fixing a month ago!)
Then I hear that my name is being bounced around at all sorts of meetings upstairs. Anyone who is coming up short on a deadline is pointing at our group, specifically me, as the reason deadlines are not being met. AND MY BOSS IS IN THOSE MEETINGS!! She NEVER spoke up to say I was working under her instructions. She would make vague statements about a poor judgment call on my part, which the department recognized and is in the process of correcting. This experience will prevent this from happening in the future. She muses that maybe the job was too menial for me, that my intelligence was beyond the task, so therefore I missed these duplicates.
It gets even better. She comes to me one day and tells this story of "When the child is given the chore of doing dishes, and keeps breaking dishes, you find another chore for the child to do" basically telling me that I am not capable of doing this job that I have been doing for three years. So she wants to find another "chore" for me to do. She has never acknowledged that she instructed me to slam that data in. This is just one of a multitude of episodes with this boss.

When our systems admin deserted us to go work for IT, I stepped up to keep the boat a float until a replacement was found. We have 85 people/computers in our group, plus three department specific servers. I know enough to keep the day to day stuff working, but I do not have the experience or training for long term maintenance. They never found a replacement. Part of the job, which was writing custom programs for our department, was given to another person. I was given the title of Systems Administrator and all other responsibilities. No training, no guidance, just sink or swim.
Calgon. Take me away!!!"

01:04 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 21, 2005

>> Living in the Twilight Zone

[ Rant ]

Sarah writes...

"My second year of college I started working at daycare that was a school and a church, so it supposed to be a Christian atmosphere. During the school year I worked with the aftercare program and during the summer i worked at the daycamp that the school offered. I enjoyed working there because all the workers were college students that were around my age, so it was a fun atmosphere to be in, and my boss was pretty easy going. She was in her 30's and was a little spacey, but she had alot going on with 3 kids and a daycare to run.

Over the summer i became close to one of my co-workers, Jamie, and we got to the point where we would hang out on the weekends. She started hanging out with me and my group of friends, and she always talked about how she had never had this many girlfriends before. She talked about her friends but never really brought them around.

Over time i began to understand why she didn't. When this girl began to drink, she turned into a completely different person. We would go to a bar and she would get completely plastered within the first hour and dance on top of tables/guys/chairs/etc. So at first we thought it was funny, haha, no big deal. When we'd talk to her the next morning she'd say she didn't remember anything that happened the night before. This never bothered me until she started being a psycho when she drank. She would be fine one minute and the next she would start yelling at me/one of my friends for nothing. And then, ofcourse, when the next morning she would ask me why i left so early and i would tell her... she wouldn't remember yelling at me. Or anything else she did. She even left my friends a few times with out rides at the bar and other places. She would bring them and decide to leave without telling anyone.

So after a few times of things happening like this, i just did not want to hang out with her anymore. I really liked her as a person, but all she ever wanted to do was go to bars and get drunk. And when she got drunk she turned psycho. I couldn't handle this, so i just started turning down her invites to go out. I was still friendly to her at work, but i'm sure she knew something was wrong. I didn't want to make a big deal of it because i still had to work with her.

Well, she found new people to go out with (who also worked with us) and all was fine...for a while.

One night me and two of my friends decide to go to the bar that we used to always go to with Jamie. We usually went there on Friday nights because it was ladies night with free drinks from 9-11. Jamie happened to be there but i never went over and said hey, and we left a few minutes later to meet up with some other friends. A few hours later i get about 3 voicemails from her because i didn't hear my phone ring, and when i listen to them it's her screaming in the phone, so i couldn't make out alot of it, but basically pissed that i didn't say hey to her when i was at the bar. Because of this she says "Don't f**king come to work on monday because i'm going to hit you. F**k our boss and everyone else, I'm going to beat the sh*t out of you." Ok... so needless to say i get a little freaked out. She also left a message on my friend Natalie's phone who was also at the bar with me and didn't say hey to her. She left around 7 messages on her phone. All screaming and full of fowl language. I guess she was upset that we didn't say hey to her....

This was around this Christmas holidays, so i had taken off of work the next week anyways but all of my friends kept telling me to go talk to my boss because Jamie was in the wrong and she threatened me. I didn't want to but i didn't know what else to do, so on Monday i went and told my boss the story and even let her listen to the messages. I never knew this before but my boss was very partial to Jamie, because she made excuses for her saying it was just the alcohol and Jamie was a great girl she was just having an off night... riight. Jamie had even left Natalie another threatening message the nxt morning, but my boss chose to disregard that.

Everyone that i talked to about this said that at their workplace if an employee threatened another employee, regardless of where, it was grounds for being fired. But my boss said that because it didn't happen during our job she couldn't get into it. Regardless of the fact that Jamie had threatened to hit me at work and even mentioned our boss in the messages. My boss said she knew i would not get hit at work and since i had the week of anyways, she would talk to Jamie and straighten everything out that day and call me. I never recieved a call.

The next weekend me and my same two friends went out. We were playing pool with these guys when Jamie showed up. We were on complete opposite ends of the bar when we noticed her and that was fine. She proceeds to get wasted within an hour and as i'm shooting i see her walk over to where we are out of the corner of my eye but i keep concentrating on hitting a ball in. Out of the corner of my eye i see her walk up to Natalie, who's sitting on a bar stool, get in her face to say something and proceed to walk away. Then, Jamie turns around and hits her accross the face! Natalie pushes Jamie away and Jamie goes back to where she had come from. We were all in complete shock that she would actually do this. We did call the police, but that is a whole different story b/c Jamie lied to the cops and the cops were complete dicks to us.

Since i still had not heard from my boss and i'm supposed to return to work the following monday, i'm not too happy.

My boyfriend tells me to talk to my bosses boss, who is the preacher of the church. When i go talk to him he seems very compassionate towards me and understands my akward situtation. He tells me to take the next few days as a paid holiday and promises action, but he tells me he does have to talk to my boss about anything he does b/c she has say in it also. When i leave his office i'm under the impression that Jamie is going to be let go.

I get a call the next day from my boss (not the preacher) saying that jamie cannot be fired for this because her story of what happened is different and basically all the same bull that she has told me before. She wants me to come to work the next day so that jamie, her, and I can talk it out. I told her i didnt want to talk it out! Jamie threatened me and hit my friend. The only reason she didnt hit me is because she knew she'd get fired. My boss says that if jamie ever did hit me, in or out of the workplace, she would be fired. So thats what it takes? she actually has to hit me before she can be let go? forget the fact that she threatened my friend and acted on that! By this time i'm convinced this girl is a mental case and so is my boss. I'd always liked my boss before but she thought this was just a spat between friends and that i had my feelings hurt! This is the person who is supposed to be running a daycare and she's going to allow a person to work there that threatens and hits people?

At this point i wanted to quit so badly but i couldn't because i had bills to pay and basically no savings to help me. I was avidly searching for a new job but and applied for a few but never got anywhere. Basically the only jobs i had at this point were working with kids. So i had to keep working at this place with these people because i had no choice. I was so miseable, i dreaded going to work. My boyfriend kept telling me just to quit, and now i wish i had, but i just kept wondering how i would pay my bills if i couldn't find a job soon enough. Jamie proceeded to be as threatening as she could at work, and my boss said that she was to give me a formal apology, but that never happened.

My boss believed everything that came out of that girl's mouth and doubted everything i said. It was unbelievable. I felt like i was in the twilight zone or something because i was in the right, yet nobody would believe me. Jamie was also friends with the girl that was incharge of the after care workers (because she had been there the longest) so she got away with doing no work and just sitting in the office talking to her. I finally ended up finding another job, months later, and i did the repectful thing and gave notice. I so badly wanted to go in that office and say "f*ck all of you i'm leaving!"

After i quit and me and my friends would see Jamie out she would just stare us down like she was trying to scare us. It was really psycho.

Also, I worked at that job for a year and a half with no raise, even when i was hired i was promised a raise each year. Then, when i did get a raise, it was a 15 cent raise that EVERY one got... even two girls that had just started two months prior. The catch was that we weren't supposed to talk about it, so we really couldn't complain b/c we weren't supposed to know.

Sorry my story was so long, i just had to get that off my chest, thanks for reading!"

01:02 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 20, 2005

>> Either they just dont care or ........fill in the blank...

[ Boss ]

OfficialOfficeSlave writes...

"So I just ended my 90 day probationary period here at a place I was once thrilled to be at! I thought this was going to be my breakthrough chance to be in an exciting environment that finally had CAREER written all over it. I have had 6 years plus of experience in operations management, business management and office coordination prior to taking this job in a professional work environment not to mention the freelance work Ive accomplished as a special events coordintor and artist agent.

So I was told that this is a fast pace environment and throughout my interview I was asked several questions of what I was looking for, about my freelance work and the particular industry I was involved in for over 10 years that they were so interested in and just briefly my last part time stint as a business consultant that lasted a year. No questions about the 6 years I spent as an operations manager at one company. However, I felt that we all got along well and within 2 days I was offered the job. The pay was about the same as what I was making before, but I was looking for a place that I felt could advance into something bigger and better along with all the lovely fulltime benefits in a fun environment that I was eager to be a part of.

I came on with only 4 hour of training, the person I was replacing was quickly leaving, so I have been left with a blank canvas to work with. I have found myself in complete chaos! I was really intrigued that this company had an unlimited amount of financial resources because as a start up company they had 100% backing from their parent company, so I was under the impression that there would be no problem to get additional staff.

Well here I am, a full time employee, being paid on the clock. Since day 1, I have been working anywhere from 45-55 hours a week, including having to sacrfice time to come in on the weekends. We are sharing the entire office space with the parent company's employees and their accounting, HR handles all of our payables, recievables and payroll. There are about 30 staffers with this company and I generally am the only person working that many hours. Here I am 10pm as we speak, working a 12 hours plus work day, Ive already been working 10 days in a row without a weekend.

I have a huge amount of responsibility which is consistently deadline intensive as I am the immediate contact with the parent company's A/P, HR and A/R departments. I am giving the position of being a manager, but I have no staff to manage! I am doing everything from entering our billing, sending out mail and fedex packages, running errands, ordering supplies, coordinating our payables budget, working on daily database updated and reporting, printing out items for other people (because I seem to be the only person with a horrible color printer at my desk and nobody seems to want to use the company shared laser printer), coordinating with vendors, involved with sales, marketing, you name it, I am doing it all. I have a pile of paperwork for 3 months that needs to be organized and filed, we have inventory floating around filling up cubicles that I have had no time to organize and keep track of, I am constantly being put on the spot to rush last minute payments (that arent allowed within the parent company's policies, they only have a weekly check run) and to print someone's last minute print job on my very slow, cheap printer.

When someone asks me why dont I have things prepared, primairly my boss who will ask "why arent this press material already ready to go? or "why cant you set up the billing on a weekly basis"? It is because I am so busy dealing with this company's slapdash process that I have not had time to organize and prepare in advance. I do not have staff support to make it happen. I have made a request to hire an intern or assistant but my request has been overlooked, I have had one meeting with my boss but nothing has happened since then, his only suggestion to me is that I block out and manage my time. We do not have staff meetings, I am never in the loop with what's going on, I am just given last minute projects that are almost considered to be miracles that I have to stress over and complete. When I make requests from other staffers to follow certain procedures so I can have things completed which is to help them out and make their life easier, they do not respond to my request. I believe my boss has given the impression that I am the office bitch and not a person of authority. I have had 1 meeting with my boss within 3 months and there I had a slew of questions and told him that I need to be informed of what's going on, what our goals are, what needs to be prioritized. Still no staff meeting, after Ive requested it 2 weeks ago. He assures me others are working 16-18 hours, but yes if that is the case, those are the people that are making much more money than I am and basically should be living and breathing what goes on here.

I seem to have no authoritity, again I am a manager who has no actual staff below me to manage, everyone runs off and does their own thing, when I make requests for help. For instance, the mess with the inventory being cluttered everywhere. My boss will just send me a note telling me to ensure it's taken care of, after I have told him it is a mess and we need help. That does nothing for me, there is nobody here to help me 'handle' it!

I can only work so much without having to I dont know, sleep and have somewhat of a life, but since Ive been here, I have not been out on a weeknight, not even dinner with friends. I am having to come in on the weekends quite often as well, I am too tired on the weeknight to do anything but to have dinner, watch tv for a few hours, then to find myself just falling asleep, and then 9 hours later, I must be back in the office.

Granted my hours are flexible as far as when I come in, I do appreciate some of the other perks and even if I do get paid overtime, it is not nearly enough for the amount that I am putting in. On top of it, my boss micromanages almost everything I do, sending me emails, calling my extension several times to remind me I need to do the same thing, that I have not forgotten about. My work has been very exceptional and a few of my co workers even realize that I need the help but instead of bringing in any assistants they will hire additional staff for other departments that will help increase business revenue, rather than help our productivity.

I just dont know what to do at this point, it is such a boys club around here, we have about 7 women on staff, the rest are all men and all the men have main directorial positions that I still need to report to. Granted I have just spoke to my boss, I have not taken up my concerns and complaints to the president, it shouldnt have to come to that point. But really, how thick can anyone be? It isnt my job, if Im just the office bitch to be here all the time, but Im a really hardworking, loyal employee. Im not ready to walk out the door, but maybe it's time I just did the regualr 9-5 like everyone else around here."

01:13 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 19, 2005

>> Its all in the details

[ Fools ]

The Baroness writes...

"I design databases. I try to make them as idiot-proof as possible, but every time I think I've accomplished that, they lower the idiot bar. This was a conversation that took place just a few minutes ago --

Coworker: Hi, there's a problem with the [NAME OF DATABASE] database.

Me: Okay, what's the matter?

Coworker: I'm getting a message.

Me: What's the message?

Coworker: I don't know.

Me: Did you write it down?

Coworker: No, but it happened three times. Will you fix it?

Me: Suuuuuuure."

01:05 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 18, 2005

>> "I Can't Print"

[ Rant ]

Anonymous writes...

Story........: I walked into the office at 9:30:00 this morning. At 9:30:01 I was cornered by helpless employees who were unable to print.

Them> "We can't print!"

Me> "Did you try restarting the Print Server first?" (which I ask every single time someone is unable to print)

Them> "Yes!"

Me> "Fine - let me look."

I look.

The Print Server was turned off."

01:07 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 17, 2005

>> Sick Building Syndrome

[ Work ]

gimmeajob writes...

"Every Monday I get a headache. I have to take Tylenol, every Monday. That's because it's so friggin(are we allowed to swear here?) hot now. My boss puts the temperature inside at the same temperature it is outside. Right now, the thermostat says 25 deg celcius. I think it's only 20 degrees outside. The place where I sit, I get the scorching afternoon sun. I look to the right, and the lovely huge windows let the sun in on my disgusted face. I look to the left, and there are those other uncovered windows burning me up. Then, the ventilation. It's so damn stuffy in here! I think this place is making me sick. I often smell the an amalgamation of what everyone had for lunch. Plus the thick, stagnant air. There's water leaking from the ceiling due to a rainstorm.

Did I mention that a shelf almost fell on me? This is not a joke!

The interior of the microwave has just been cleaned, after about 2 years worth of food splatters.

We had an extension to our tiny office. The majority of the co-workers, myself included had to work through the deconstruction, construction, sawing, hammering and the like, throughout the lengthy process. I could have gotten high due to the nasty smelling chemicals the contractors were using. Plus some of the construction workers smoked. Where is my Tylenol? Of course, through all this, my boss had absolutely not regard for the health of this employees...ever since I started working here, I've been getting headaches almost weekly.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say that my boss made us work through a power failure. Hello stupid boss, but eye care isn't covered by insurance!!!"

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 16, 2005

>> Hello?!!! Are you there?

[ Rant ]

Rudolph the Red writes...

"I work in an audio-visual department at a large medical school in these United States and we deal with a lot of classroom, PowerPoint heavy- single microphone type stuff - not too complicated work, loads of fun and rewarding because the job is really fun. There is this guy who before working here managed to acquire a Master's Degree in Instructional Media. This is a pretty good feat. I know of no other people that have done this but his use of this knowledge reflects more the level of a summer intern who is in between semesters in High School. None of us want him to be at he mixing boards when we are in the classrooms because he seems to complicate the most simplest of requests. We always wear headsets to communicate between the classroom and the studio where we mix the sound. The sound usually is one voice - the professor. So this is not very complicated.. Not like mixing for a band or a panel discussion. So, a typical class begins like this.. We place the lavaliere microphone on the presenter and have them muted at the board. All the person in the studio has to do is, roll the recording, un-mute the mic. and standby at the mixing board to assist us when we have to adjust the sound for the students to be able to hear the professor. Now, there is usually one microphone on the board at a time, but he can never seem to figure out which one is actually on. When we ask him to equalize the presenter, he continuously asks us to repeat what we have just said because he is too busy on the phone planning his next lawsuit or whatever. One time there was feedback in the room and instead of going over to the mixing board to turn down the EQ or the channel volume, he turns down the monitor in the studio instead. This only reduced the feedback coming from the monitor - it did nothing to alleviate the high pitch shrill in the auditorium. He has worked here for about 4 years and every day is like his first day here. We are constantly trying to get his attention on the headsets and when we run down to the studio to see what might be wrong he is talking on the phone or is totally oblivious that he needs to be doing his job. Management seems to allow this to go on because we work at a state institution and everything has to be documented in triplicate and there is always a threat of a wrongful termination lawsuit. He speaks so openly about his other legal controversies as if to say, fire me and I will see you in court. He is a pretty friendly guy for the most part and easy to get along with - as long as you don't have to work with him. He approaches each project with great trepidation as if to say, that he is going to need help doing this and when we step in to show him something (that he should already know) he is perfectly happy to allow us to do most or all of the work. I have begun a "Pearl Harbor File" to CYA. These kinds of things have a way of blame being misdirected at the wrong person.like me. Thank you for your time regarding this matter."

01:04 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 15, 2005

>> You are Trained???

[ Boss ]

ibecile hater writes...

"Hello, i work for an outsourced call centre that deals with a large international client and their call centres. Im studying at uni and am amazed at how many ibeciles surround me.

1. In my office: In my office i have my boss who has no idea how to spell, construct an effective sentence or lie straight in bed. I asked him three weeks ago about a number of issues relating to my contract and i have only recieved a reply TONIGHT!! But then what can i say when the company decides to employ an ex-cop as the area head and a swedish masseuse as our learning and development leader. . . and to all of my other superiors i say "INVEST IN A DICTIONARY", hey i know that im not perfect- but yyoud assume that when you get a payrise the letter doesnt have 20 spelling mistakes- including the street address!!

2. AND NOW TO THE OTHERS, on a daily basis i have to deal with and fix all of the screw ups that 'the client' (i.e. the people who the outsourced centre works for) that 'the client's own staff manage to do...i asked one of them the other night whether they recorded or measured their performance in any way- OF COURSE NOT! so on a daily basis i deal with customers and the screw ups that the other office (in the south) have managed to create to amuse my day... argh- i mean to say that it is a pretty simple job, HOW CAN THEY F**K UP SO OFTEN???

Just think of this- record for the week- 3 hours of an eight hour shift fixing up a customer's account after a southern screw-up. . .and they get better benefits for th crap that they produce"

01:05 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 14, 2005

>> Buzzword Bingo

[ Boss ]

Chunder writes...

"I always thought that "Buzzword Bingo" was just a joke... but no.

One of the project managers for whom I currently work has an obsession with the word "opportunity""; it has got to the point where it gets used for absolutely *anything* :-

Some system changes cannot be implemented within the timescale that was arbitarily decided months ago; hey, that'll be an opportunity then.

We need to convince senior management (i.e. project sponsor, etc.) that a change is worth making - yep, another opportunity.

I reckon that if the World was going to end, he'd be able to spin it into an opportunity :-)

Everyone who works with him rolls their eyes in an exaggerated, exasperated manner whenever he says it. We've started saying it ourselves when he's around in a mocking, sarcastic tone, for the most mundane things ("I'm going to the drinks machine. You have the opportunity to request a coffee.") - but it doesn't work; he *still* says it.

Perhaps he thinks that we think that it's funny, and that we like his quirks - rather than thinking that he's a total gimboid.

I'm tempted to put something like a swear-box on his desk, and make him drop 50p in it every time he uses the "O" word!

Does anyone have any suggestions how we can stop him being so annoying? Physical violence has been mooted, but I don't think that it would go down too well..."

01:06 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 13, 2005

>> Born again hypocrites

[ Work ]

Anonymous writes...

"I'm a guy who use to work as an executive assistant for a prestigious mall, in the management office for the Facilities Director who claimed to be born again Christian but a very power hungry and nasty man to deal with. I later was demoted to receptionist, for political reasons with mall management.

This man has hired a lot of his church friends to work under him as facility engineers for the mall and they could never do any wrong even when they messed up many a times. The Facilities Director and his head maintenance chief (from his church as well) claimed themselves to be the office's computer techs. (Note they have no certifications and no real schooling). According to company policy the computers in the office are only to be used for company use only. As the two idiots had reminded the office personnel many times that absolutely no one is to have any personal screen savers, wallpaper, add icons to the desktop or to serf on the internet for any reason. At no surprise I have seen the so call computer techs use the internet for personal reasons.

The Facilities Director got a nice new desk top computer with a flat screen. Who do you think got his hand me down? Yup you guessed it, I did. Well of course as the receptionist I did not have any access to surf on the internet and why would I want to, I had enough BS to deal with everyday. People use to ask me basic questions on the Microsoft office suite programs, as it is not hard to figure the programs out. At the time I was going to school for computer networking and everyone knew it. The Facilities Director saw this and must have gotten jealous because he scolded me many times for answering any type of computer related questions. He said if anyone has any type of computer questions no matter what it is has to ask him or his head engineer. This is where it gets interesting.. As he told me that everything was wiped and reloaded from his old computer that was handed down to me, had struck my curiosity and I later went digging in the hard drive and found many interesting things that haven't been erased. There was a bible screen saver, and a file with a huge list of internet address, (internet explorer favorite's list file) as well as some personal documents. A few weeks later I was called into the General Mangers office to have a private talk with the Facilities Director and the General Manager. They presented me with a 40 page document/report of dates, times and websites that I have visited from my computer but it was under the Facilities Director's ID, and all those dates were fairly recent at various times mostly during my lunch break (I log out of my computer when I go on lunch). Knowing I don't have access to the internet and have a better understanding of how networking security works I knew they were bluffing. They both told me that somehow I hacked the Facilities Directors Network ID to serf the internet. I was more in shock that I was having this conversation from a bunch of idiots who were being serious. Needless to say that day I was let go.

As Ironic as it may seem I can honestly say that was the best thing that has ever happened to me, because I was able to milk unemployment as long as I could (the company tried to fight me to not get it). Just before my unemployment had run out, I landed a great job working for a very big company as a database manager where my career is only getting better. I look back and see the only way for me to get out of the mall was to get fired, or I would still be there miserable as all hell."

01:09 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 12, 2005

>> WTF as well

[ Rant ]

Lucy from the Plains writes...

"Mine is a story about a college senior, myself, who has recently been fired from a stupid job, but still a little angry about the situaltion. I have been working minimum wage jobs my entire school career, and when a telemarketing company was paying 9 big dollars an hour to call my fellow Americans I, of course, was thrilled to do the job. To be honest it is not an easy job, most people, may I say intellegent people, do not do business over the phone that they do not initiate. Of course there are the random few who can't wait to tell the mysterious voice on the other end of the phone their social security number (it's weird). So my job preformance was mediocre. I wasn't as persuasive as some of my co-workers and I made about 1/2 of goal. However, within my first 2 weeks there was a meeting over some rumor that they were going to fire some low preformers and the head telemarketing manager told us that if we were "doing our jobs" he would fight for our jobs and that our supervisors were going to be held accountable for us "doing our jobs"; he was not talking about making sales he was talking about all of the formalities of most telemarketing calls, which I can't discuss because they are deep dark secrets of the telemarketing world and they make telemarketers sign a paper saying that they will not disclose them!!!! Anyway the other day, after working for almost 2 months and being told by my sups that I was "sounding GREAT!" and being recorded for the client as an example of the excellent calls that were being made, I was called into the office. The two (evil) managers made some idle chit chat and then told my they had to let me go because of preformance and that it wasn't the only center affected and I brought up the whole "doing your job" thing and one of the beevils said "alot of people were suprised".

Anyway for those of you who hate telemarketers, you should know that they typically hate their jobs too AND that you should NEVER GIVE YOUR SS NUMBER OVER THE PHONE!!!! unless you have bad credit then who cares, right by the way just so you know I did not cry :)"

01:10 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 11, 2005

>> A Lying Sack of S---

[ Boss ]

ubertemp writes...

"I am a middle-aged woman but nevertheless pursued my college education while raising a child and working temp when needed. I recently received my BA in an Asian language, but due to illness right after graduation and the sucky economy all I could get was a temp job at a bank. Due to the "confidential" nature of the position (an admin in commercial loans) it had to be filled by a regular bank employee and not a temp. Well, my stupidvisor, "Yvette", encouraged me to apply, buttered me up at every opportunity by telling me she perceived me as an intelligent, competent woman and urged me to "take ownership" of the job, (which I did, I absolutely kicked ass and the whole department knew it,) put me through not one but two rigorous panel interviews and during the process, would tell me things to encourage my hope of being hired, like "it's looking good" and "believe in yourself" (visualize conspiratorial wink here) she even coached me for the 2nd interview. This is a woman who goes to every smoke break with the office creep, a guy I'll call "Bob" with a mullet and tattooed forearms, whose idea of "teasing" is to throw things at me and he whines if I put daily reports in his inbox instead of on his keyboard(what the f*ck does he have an inbox for then?) and if I have the audacity to leave my desk to use the restroom ("I called your desk twice and you weren't there!") It's called voice mail, butthead. I almost asked him if he needed me to follow him to the men's room and wipe his widdle bum for him. When Yvette was out sick I was subjected to daily abuse from Bob, and knew that since those two are practically doing the nasty I didn't dare report him, I would just have to put up with his crap or risk not getting a badly needed full time job. But I am digressing from this toxic woman who is best described by every synonym for "vagina" you've ever heard. Because yesterday, she told me the hiring decision that she made me wait 3 weeks for: she did not choose me, (there were 2 or 3 other managers involved in the decision but somehow, her being lowest rank gave her the deciding vote) but an internal candidate, (of course,) a "stellar" young man and she went on at some length singing his praises and revealed that the decision had been made several days before I was told (obviously so she could get as much work out of me as possible.) Well since there had been so much buildup and she'd made me feel that my being hired would be a sure thing, I couldn't conceal my disappointment. She then became thoroughly smarmy, assumed I would stay two more weeks to help her with a project but she understood if I chose not to stay two weeks beyond that to train Mr. Stellar. This all happened Friday afternoon, I said nothing but do not plan to return except to gather the rest of my personal belongings which I was too distraught to collect before I left for the day, and to gladly surrender the temp badge I was compelled to wear. I'm perfectly happy to let Bright Boy figure out everything on that desk that no one else but me knows how to do. That is, after he serves out his 2 week notice from his current position, in the meantime, lying sack of shit, douchebag Yvette can certainly handle it! (cackle)"

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 10, 2005

>> When One Door Closes

[ Work ]

Anonymous writes...

"I finally quit a job I've had for 25 years and life could not be better!

I realized for a long time that I should quit and go on to something more fulfilling, but I just couldn't seem to bring myself to quit. I kept thinking that "things would get better".

After putting in so many years, I was reluctant to start over somewhere else. (I guess it was just easier to stay and complain about the problems, than to leap into the unknown.) I was willing to be unhappy as long as I could just have something "familiar". In doing this, I almost made myself into a martyr!

Then a couple of weeks ago after a nasty, unprovoked exchange with a toxic co-worker, instead of being defended by my supervisor - I was bawled out for "not getting along".

A light bulb FINALLY went off in my head. I realized that it did not matter to management who was right and who was wrong, it did not matter what the conflict was about, it did not matter about justice or injustice, it did not matter who started the argument either. It only mattered that they didn't have to deal with it. I was on my own.

It suddenly hit me that my 25 years did not matter to them either. And if THAT didn't matter to them, then why should it matter to me? Nothing was ever going to "get better" there by me staying. So, I decided to leave.

(Not, of course, until I had another job lined up! I was unhappy,not stupid.)

My point is - that people shouldn't be afraid of change. Change is scary, but change is good. When you are afraid of change, you do not grow as a person. No one should allow themselves to become trapped into patterns that are self-destructive, simply because those patterns have become familiar.

I have now been working for one month at my "dream job" - and my only regret is that I did not have the courage to do it years ago.

To all of you who are feeling "stuck" in an unpleasant situation I say don't procratinate any longer - plan your escape and follow through with it!

Don't be afraid of change. Embrace change, because NOTHING ever truly remains the same. Not even yourself. Life is still good and you deserve to be happy."

01:06 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 09, 2005

>> Just Ask Nanna

[ Fools ]

ru kidding writes...

"I work for a wonderful company, but I have a thorn in my side that sometimes threatens to cut me in half!

When my company opened my branch in my city they informed me how lucky I was as they were sending me one of their most seasoned employees to make sure that things went well, and help train the rest of us new-bies. When I met employees from other branches, they said things like "oh, you have THE EXPERT working with you."

I soon found out that they meant that this person has worked for the company for 12 years and remembers all the old policies and proceedures like they were inscribed in stone, but the new ones are beyond comprehension. When the two regional managers came to visit us they continually said things like how lucky we were to have this spectacular sales person working for us, even though they always were last or next to last in sales. In training this person said they would "take it easy" on us when it came to sales for a while so that we wouldn't hate them. It has been 9 months now, and we are in trouble with this person because we are "stealing all the sales". It took me just a few weeks to figure out not to listen to this person since they will be sure to instruct me in all areas of the transaction, and yell "NO NO NO"! if I try to do it the way my boss has told me to do it. Then when home office calls to find out why we did it "Nanna's" way, it is suddenly nothing to do with her, she knows how to do it right and we somehow didn't listen to her.

Yesterday she was standing behind me during a transaction and telling me step by step how to do the simplest transaction that I have done a thousand times, and I finally turned and said "What else, Mom"? and she got the message to leave me alone for thirty seconds.

Now our company is building a second branch and wonderful Nanna is thinking that she is going to jump over me (the assistant manager) and go from supervisor to manager for the new branch. I want to apply for the manager's job but Nanna has already said she will work in that branch one way or the other since it will be a shorter drive for her every day.

Guess I will stay assistant here so I can get the wonderful productive perfect Nanna sent away. Curses!"

01:08 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 08, 2005

>> Fools Are Everywhere

[ Rant ]

Sympathy Rant writes...

"I am writing this on behalf of my sister because she is too busy to submit a story herself. My sister job requires her to work international travelers. Fun and exciting, right? Nope. She has told my hundreds of stories that have left crying I was laughing so hard and I finally and to submit some of the highlights.

1. The Bosses- Yup, many of them, all of which want my sister and her co-workers to do 8 different things at one time. But then most everyone has had to deal with this. But to the actual story, when work is deviated from the normal, all workers have to fill out a form stating why they deviated from the norm. An example of this is international traveler tried to bring in a dead cow head- not normal right? Well one of the supervisors is an anal bitch. My sister had to fill out a form why she was 5 minutes late getting back from lunch. The reason, the sandwich shop did not put the onions on the sandwich and she had to go back and get them added. Hey, way to stay on top things because getting onions added is about as important and bringing in a dead carcass that could be carrying the hoof and mouth disease. The higher up people also don't believe in highering more employees, even though people like my sister work off 3 hours of sleep. You know that story "When i was your age I had to walk up hill, buck naked both ways in the snow..."? Yeah that's what they have to deal with.

2. The Dress Code- This is can be found at any place of employment, but really, do we need to state that shoes must be worn on the feet? Oh thank goodness someone mentioned this. My sister would have looked stupid and felt foolish when she came in with 8 inch heels dangling from her ears. Oh wait, heels aren't allowed.

3. The passengers- This is the best. Hey guess what, this is America, we speak English here! The chance of walking up to someone and start babbling questions to them in your native tongue and have them answer back in your language is slim to none. But lets try just in case. When told (in English of course) I'm sorry I don't understand you. Try one more time, maybe they weren't paying attention. Foreigners aren't the only problem though. Middle aged business men seem to get incredibly stupid when they step off a long plane ride and seem to forget that they have a PhD from an Ivy League school (which means they must have gotten through kindergarten). When trying to funnel a large amount of people through a screening process and someone cuts in line what do you think the appropriate action to this should be? Of course, find a uniformed agent and inform them of the travesty that has just occurred. Middle Aged Business Men are too important to tap the person on the shoulder and point to the end of the line. And really, playing line police is more important than trying to protect our borders right?

This is just a highlight of what my sister deals with on a daily basis."

01:04 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 07, 2005

>> The Absurdness of Non Profit Hierarchy!

[ Work ]

Anonymous writes...

"After graduation I soon began working for a small non profit to get my feet wet. I soon learned the the non profit power structure is even more fucked up and the people seem even less motivated than in the real corporate world.

Our President is a Republican asshole who comes in every so often to disrupt work and rant about whatever he feels is important on that particular day. Since he runs other organizations and is based on the other coast he feels they all should be the same and so our name is commonly associated with much more partisaned and much less cause related organizations which makes people hate us! He lets things sit on his desk so that nothing important can get done because he seems content with status quo (sometimes) and then complains about how nothing ever gets done.

My boss has worked here for over a year and from what I can tell works 2 hour days. He claims to come in around 5 or 6 every morning, but usually is not to be seen in the office until around 9. Breakfast then follows for him at 9:02 until around 10:00. Gym at 10:15 until 12 or so (unless talking with coworkers takes precedence), lunch until 1 and then the afternoon we have concluded is dedicated to sneaking out or hiding under his desk. Great job if you can get it I suppose!

A colleague of mine has worked here about two and a half years and seems to have a similar schedule. She, however, comes in around 8:30 or 9 and usually leaves around 3:30 due to "important appointments". Her and my boss spend more time in eachother's offices talking than is humanly possible for two people who are not having an affair with each other. She does nothing, brings little money in and complains about how her hard work is not paying off. On top of it, she thinks she is a psycho analyst even though I think she is likely one of the most fucked up and pretencious people I have ever met. Most discussions entail her saying "You just don't understand" and blowing you off with "just believe what the media tells you then".

These people do nothing and make money because I do work that makes them look good. They can skate because our office is split on coasts and our Executive Director is usually out of town or too occupied to notice thier absence. A lack of checks and balances and responsibility has created a shitty ass power structure where few work and another few receive all the credit.

I often feel like I am the only person working in my department (and at times my office as a whole). So, question of the day: 'Where the hell did work ethic go?'"

01:10 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 06, 2005

>> Working with a MeMe

[ Boss ]

Anonymous writes...

"So, my manager has some narcissism issues that provide me with some of the best cocktail hour stories around. It's also really sad, though, so during the times when I am not frustrated with her, I do have some sympathy for her. An example:

One of my manager's favorite things to do is to come into my cube and talk for a half hour about herself, regardless of what I'm doing or how busy I look. One day, just to get a respite from her nonstop chattering, I decided to interrupt her to get her out of my cube. So, randomly I said, "Have you seen my new wallet?" She looked at me, blinked a couple of times and said, "Have you seen mine?"

When I said no, she ran into her office (literally ran), brought the wallet out and showed it to me. I said, "Is that a new wallet?" She said, "No, it's two years old."

Whaaa?

More that that, though, to make sure I didn't try to get any attention with my wallet, she went to everyone's cube in the department, showing them her two-year-old wallet.

She's seriously mental. I realize it could be worse, though, so as long as I nod and smile, I can get through most days. I'm sure a lot of people out there can relate to the MeMe's."

01:12 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 05, 2005

>> Excuse me, waiter? There's a manager in my soy burger.

[ Work ]

Annie Mommus writes...

"I work [in an industry I choose not to reveal, due to paranoia]. I am a vegan and my boss is a vegetarian. I don't go around advertising my not eating meat or dairy. Nobody knew I didn't eat meat until a few weeks into my working there. Someone offered me a piece of pizza and I said, "No, thank you. I don't eat meat or dairy."

I don't go around preaching, I don't lecture. It is a huge part of my life and it means a lot to me, but I don't force the issue. Everyone else brings it up. And if a co-worker asks me something about veganism, I answer them.

Lately, one of the girls at work (who is a republican born-again-christian with a huge chip on her shoulder) has been getting really snide about my "lifestyle." I was eating a sandwich with some Tofurkey slices on it and she jumped on me about how it's hypocritical to be disgusted with meat but feel the need to eat meat substitutes. I told her I didn't sotp eating meat because I hated the taste, but because it was against my morals. She's brought this up several times, and then another non-vegan co-worker stepped in and backed me up.

Then a few weeks ago the manager started attacking the vegan thing just out of the blue. I can't remember how it came up. Oh, we were talking about "The Village" and I mentioned how the Phoenix children were all vegan since birth, and the manager told me a kid isn't vegan if he or she is breast fed. I explained to her that all animals need their mother's milk after birth. She gleefully told me that it's animal milk and therefor not vegan, said, "YOur whole argument is BLOWN out of the water!"

First if all, it's not MY argument. I didn't bring it up except to mention that an actor was vegan. Then the republican girl and another girl started getting on my case about how milk is milk and it's not vegan for vegan children if it breastfeeds and that I'm hypocritical. I was so frustrated,I just walked away.

Yesterday I was reading the paper with another gal at work who is a vegetarian. The manager walked out and said to me, "You CAN'T tell me you get enough protein."

Excuse me?

I'm thirty years old and I've been a vegetarian for over fifteen years (vegetarian at 16, vegan at 20), and I don't know where to get protein? Then she says to the other girl, "You're the only vegetarian I know who eats properly."

EXCUSE ME?? How the frig does she know what I eat every day? Was she implying I was a sickly, decrepit waif who could barely lift her head from lack of protein?

The day before that she asked me why I didn't eat honey. I told her and she exclaimed that that was a lie, and that honey is not harvested in a way to damage/kill the bees. I had to wonder how she found time to tour every bee-ery? in the States to back up this statement. She just would not let it drop. I finally had to say, "Look,I don't really care how many of them DON'T kill the bees. I never liked honey and it's no big deal to not eat it. It's bee vomit and I just don't care."

I honestly don't know why these people keep interogating me over the way I eat. I never bring it up, and I'm at the point where I want to write an office-wide memo telling everyone I refuse to discuss veganism anymore. I'm sick of being attacked all the time. Why does it bother them so much what I do or don't eat?? Especially coming from someone (when told [not by me] about the slave labor behind some shoe companies) said, "I just go to the rack at Nordstrom's and don't think about it!"

I just don't understand. It's really stressing me out and pissing me off."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 04, 2005

>> Nepotism gets younger and younger these days.

[ Boss ]

Dr. Madd writes...

"First off, I listed under the Category, "Fool superior to you". This is of course a nomenclatural error. He is a fool, he is my boss (for now), but he is not for a moment, despite his egotistical thinking "Superior" to me. That said, We can move on to the story....

Today, I was helping a co-worker stack parts into boxes at the plastics plant where I work. These are flat, round-topped parts that do NOT stack well vertically. The poor guy who was doing them was told to stack these things eighteen high in a large box (normally they use a shallower box and pack them sideways in stacks of twenty-seven, with three rows of eight on the side. This was vertical stacking mind you, something akin to the stacking, unaided of bowling balls. It couldn't be done. Elmer (my nickname for the boss) comes over and says "Tomorrow, I'll have my grandson come in and do them". His grandson is five. I have never wanted to lay angry hands onto someone more than I did at that moment, but I kept my composure, knowing I'd get to rant here later. Finally, they realize it won't work and get us the correct boxes. In moments we are caught up. Only later did I find out that Elmer grabbed the wrong boxes and was too stupid to admit his error."

01:09 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 03, 2005

>> People can be SO Disgusting!

[ Rant ]

Toilet Monitor writes...

"Hello everyone! I only found this site a few days ago and I'm having endless fun reading about all the nutjobs that take up space in offices around the world. Me, I'm in Australia.

I have a small beef about the way some women use the toilets (that's 'restroom' to you guys in the North) in the office. In public, women endlessly complain about how men never replace the toilet paper when the roll is finished, never put the seat down after using the toilet etc. In my experience, it's WOMEN who do the most disgusting things in public bathrooms - not men! My friend, a fast food restaurant manager, always says that the female bathrooms are always WAY more filthy than the male ones.

At my office, there's a phantom girly who never replaces the loo paper, pees on the seat and doesn't wipe it off, leaves skid marks in the bowl when there's clearly a toilet brush sitting right beside the toilet, doesn't use the air freshener (located right on top of the cistern) after a particularly offensive deposit etc. etc.

This, to me, is 'male' behaviour. And I hereby apologise to all men who are courteous in the bathroom, because it's clear that there's a very inconsiderate girl in this office!

I've even gone so far as to raise the subject with a group of my female colleagues, in a joking manner, of course. They all vehemently agree with me and we wonder who the phantom messy girly is! Naturally, I'm pretty sure that this girl is probably part of the conversation and is agreeing because she doesn't want to 'out' herself. That's the reason I raised the subject - I wanted to let the person know how annoying all the other girls find these habits and to possibly correct them without making a major deal out of it.

There's nothing more annoying than being desperate to use the loo, only to find that you have to wipe off the seat first, then you find there's no loo paper to do that with, then ... etc. etc. *aaarrrgghhhh*

Anyone else have this problem?

Actually, one more funny bathroom story. At my last job, the men's toilet had something that they called "The Booger Wall". They were very proud of and simultaneously very disgusted by this phenomenon. Turns out that the wall above the urinal was absolutely caked in boogers that the guys had smeared on there from picking their noses while they were standing at the urinal having a pee!! How disgusting is that???? I never saw it (because I don't make a habit of going into the office mensroom!), but all the guys (and some of the girls who couldn't help themselves and had to take a look) assured me it was true.

The worst part about it is that this particular mensroom was the ONLY mensroom available for use by our clients!!!!

Anyhoo, enjoying your stories, people. Keep 'em coming!"

01:10 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 02, 2005

>> Captain Halitosis

[ Boss ]

Anonymous writes...

"I work for a state organization, so there are plenty of fools to pick from. Tonite I will focus on the fool I report to.

Daily the man is a "space invader", he stands way to close and has this phony-as-hell good ole boy laugh, (the kind where you expell a lot of air - HAR HAR HAR, etc.) and he likes to get close and laugh his ass off in your face over jokes that only an immature 7th grader would find amusing. To add to this, the man has absolutely horrible breath. It is noxious to the point that you must hold your hand over your nose if you are in a meeting in a small office with him, otherwise you could smell the shit rotting in his stomach.

Offers of gum or mints are totally lost on him, and to add insult to injury, we have a fabulous dental plan.

There are days where he will have a hunk of stuff stuck in his teeth from the minute he arrives until he departs. He has to use the mens room, doesn't he even take inventory? My guess is the pig doesn't wash his hands afterwards, therefore, doesn't catch site of his reflection in the mirror above the sink.

All of us keep lysol sanitizing wipes in our desks in case he uses the phone in our office. It has become commonplace in our office to mock the person who had to let the Captain use their desk phone.

I KNOW that I cannot be the only person dealing with this situation. Anyone have any ideas for purifying the air in an office? No candles, sprays or anything that would offend others is allowed. As it is I sneak Febreeze in and do the carpet in my office prior to a meeting with him. I have also taken to wearing Burts Bees lipbalm as it has a strong fresh mint scent and does help to a small degree. We joke about needing that ointment that Jodi Foster uses in Silence of the Lambs to cover the stench of a rotting body. Remember, she rubs it on the skin under her nose? Where can you get that stuff?"

01:02 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

March 01, 2005

>> "SUPERVISOR" doesnt mean god!

[ Fools ]

Angry Worker writes...

"I work at a coffee pub, i've been there for about a year now. Of all the job's i've had, i would have to say the stupidest supervisors and managers i've ever seen work in this one place. It's like the bermuda triangle of idiot supervisors!

Here's the scene: It's a busy day, lots of work to be done, here i am running around workin my ass off trying to get everything done. I see superiors walking around, talking, leaning. I shrug it off, thinking 'hey i need to get this stuff done otherwise IM screwed', and one of them walks into the office during the middle of a rush, okay maybe she's getting some money or paper work from the office. I open the door to question why she's not out working. I look at the computer, IT HAS A CAR DEALERSHIP SITE UP!! WHAT KIND OF STUPID PERSON STOPS WORKING TO GO LOOK AT CARS! HOLY CRAP THESE PEOPLE MAKE ME ANGRY!!!!!!

But it gets better... my KITCHEN MANAGER, a level down from my GM. You'd think would be mature, level headed, trained in all areas. But no, i know more than he does, and he still bosses me around like i've been there for a month. I dont think he realizes i could run circles around him in this resturant! I do favours for this guy like it's my job, and this is how im repaid: A couple weeks ago i get a call at 630AM! "Hey Marty...I busted my car when i got into work and now im in a pissed off mood, i need you to come in and work for me otherwise im gonna throw something at someone, or yell at someone for no reason. I'll owe you huge" and i take it for some retarded reason, i dont think i was quite awake yet. So i come in, theres tire marks 30 feet going into the curb from him racing towards the store and hitting the curb...first stupid move. I come in he thanks me, and leaves. I walk into the back, he leaves a $3000 order (Which is A LOT!) just laying out for ME TO PUT AWAY! WHYYYYY IM THINKIGN!! But then i look over and theres a huge prep list, and catering orders, and retarded staff. WHOO DE DOO! it's been 3 weeks...how has he repaid me? "Hey Marty...im not doing the inventory alone, come in and help. Otherwise im gonna write you up or worse" Well hell...

THANKS ALOT COFFEE PUB!"

01:00 AM - Posted by Disgruntled