August 30, 2005

>> Work Order grammatical hijinx

[ Boss ]

A. Doode writes...

"The following is an excerpt copied from an actual work order, describing the nature of the problem that the work order was assigned for. This was written by the Dept. Head (a.k.a. supreme being). And I quote; .....

"Yor timeclock come aloose from the side, and I be a catchen my close on it. If I tear my close on it yor departmet paying - I aint."

Might I add that the prerequisite for attaining this geniouses position is a B.S. in biomedical engineering, A Med. tech. analysis degree & 4 years managerial experience?

God, give me strength......"

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 29, 2005

>> Testing...1...2...3...

[ Boss ]

d0lphin13 writes...

"Some background for the story...

I work in the IT department for a public library in Suffolk, NY. I also maintain the website for the Library. In order to be a Librarian in the county, believe it or not, you need a Master's Degree.

One day I got a request from one of the librarians asking me to add some fields to an online book reserve form we have on the homepage. The way the form is set up, the contents of the web form get emailed to the librarian that actually made this request of me. I made the changes and posted the form to our website. In order to 'test' the form, I had to fill it out and actually click the submit button to ensure that the contents were getting delivered.

I filled out the form like this:
Name : (my real name)
Address: (the library name)
Book Title: TEST
Book Author : TEST
Book Published: TEST

Click submit... No errors... The revised form works good.

Several hours later I get a call from the Librarian...

Her: "What TEST book did you want?"
Me: "Huh?"
Her: "I see that you updated the web form for me, thanks."
Me: "It was no trouble at all. It only took me a few minutes."
Her: "Great job! But you still didn't tell me though... What TEST book did you want?"
(The other phone line rings.)
Me: "I gotta go... Another call..."

I work with a FOOL WITH A MASTER'S DEGREE !"

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 28, 2005

>> Religiously crazy coworker

[ Work ]

Pompoms writes...

"I began working in a small town law firm a few years back. The woman who was replacing me warned me that one of the girls was seriously mentally disturbed. It really didn't occur to me to think much of it, really - how bad could it be right? Little did I know.

This woman doesn't even have the mental capacity to find her way out of a paper bag. She has been working in the office for close 7 years now and still hasn't figured out how to use the email or computer systems (in fact she complained that I was changing the email passwords on her - they have been the same for 10 years). She in turn felt that she was the 'most observant and intelligent' person in the office and provided her version of 'help' whenever she felt necessary. Usually at the most inconvenient times possible. As well as regalling us with long lectures of religious babble (the woman is a fanatical catholic).

After taking 2 years of this I finally told her to back off, I had not even the slightest remote interest in her and her religion. She took great offense to this (how dare someone not like her and don't we know that her religion is the RULE to live by) and proceeded to stalk me.

The space of 4 years she attempted to sabatoge my files (her attempts to help, she felt that I was incapable, my boss told me she was insane and to ignore her), called me over 30 times at home, proceeded to write down every private conversation I have with people in order to analize it for hidden 'satanic messages' and meanings, called my friends at their homes, attacked clients that I was friends with and then told me that God had advised her about what my friends private conversations and what we had 'really' said and that she had to rectify the lies.....the stories go on and on it is more than bizarre.

I am ashamed to admit that became very angry with her and lost it - but after my bosses described her mental state (or lack thereof) she has proceeded to become a rather large community joke.

The most fascinating part is that she firmly believes that the lawyers have told me I am stupid and should follow her lead in a private conversation (they actually told me I'm the best secretary to hit their office in 20 years and that she is crazier than a bowl of fruit loops) because God has told her so. And continues to threaten me with this 'doom' whenever I do something she doesn't like or finds offensive (which is often).

Ah well, if only we could all live in such a fascinating fantasy world eh?"

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 27, 2005

>> Steal a Little? Yer FIRED! Steal a LOT? OK!

[ Rant ]

TheRon writes...

"It wasn't literally stealing on my part that got me canned, but if you want to get technical....

My employer was a non-profit organization that provided in-home care for many disabled and developmentally challenged (mental retardation, physical disabled, etc) clients. Among the things we did for these individuals was anything and everything that you now do to live your life, like shop for groceries, make dinner, (okay, maybe you don't spoon-feed your housemates like we did), clean-up, vacuum, laundry, give showers, dress the clients, and also goodies like take a client to see a movie, drive them to doctor's appointments, go walk through a quiet park. And, one of the employees would need to sleep over at the house each night, in case a client had some problem during the night that needed tending. On the night shift sleep-over, the employee got paid just minimum wage instead of the standard pay. Wake-up time was 6:30 am. At this time it was expected that I wake up and start getting the clients ready for their day. The next morning employee arrived at 7am. Well, this one morning I overslept and didn't get up on time, and was seen by the 7am employee still laying on the couch. This co-worker, I'm sure, told my boss about that. Hence, we all were told to "make sure you put down the proper work hours and rate of pay for those hours" before we signed our time sheets at the end of the week. But, after getting up all the clients on that day, I totally forgot about correcting the hours to accomodate a 45-minute discrepancy in my start time, and put it down as the usual 6:30 am time.

Okay, so two days later, once the timesheets were counted for the past week, I get called into the office and (you guessed it) got CANNED. The supervisor of my boss let me know that they have "strict rules" and that they must show an accounting of their expenditures to state and federal agencies and must be very accurate in their finances. This was March 8, 2004.

But that's only half the story. Just 2 months ago I read a front page newspaper story about this very same employer. It seems that their finance manager has been indicted. She has been charged with embezzling $400,000 over the past 10 years! Ha! Serves them right, I say! To be worried about a little 45-minute error from a paeon like me (that translates into a dollar amount of about $6.00) and all this time a manager in their headquarters was embezzling about 40 GRAND a YEAR for 10 YEARS! The auditing company that this organization has used is also being sued. What dolts these people must be to not catch this HUGE mistake, unless she was dealing them some dough in order to keep it under wraps."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 26, 2005

>> Favoritism for boss's mistress

[ Boss ]

Annoyed writes...

"My boss and his assistant, who are both married to other people, have been acting like they're having an affair ever since he got her transferred over here from the Legal Department about a year and a half ago (he's an attorney, she's a secretary). She used to be a cheerleader in high school and is annoyingly loud and chirpy, not just to me but also to my co-worker in the office. She's 46 but she giggles loudly on the phone all the time when my boss's boss is away in meetings and acts like a complete ditz half the time.

Now she's told my co-worker that my boss and his boss are sending her to a resort in June where they send employees for management training. We can't believe that they're sending her since she doesn't even have a college degree (we do) and hasn't worked here nearly as long as we have. She has no apparent qualifications for management and has told my co-worker that they're sending her so she can learn more about our business.

In the meantime, when he's not flirting with his mistress or taking her to lunch, my boss has told me that he "intends" to give me a raise, but I'm losing faith in what he says because he told me the same thing more than a year ago, only to tell me months later that it wasn't in the budget after all.

A couple of months ago he told me he was also recommending me for a promotion but yesterday, when I asked him about it, he said he looked into it and decided that it would be too much to ask for now after all.

All of this together is demoralizing and makes me want to start looking for a better paying job. On the other hand, if I can stand to stay here another six years, I'll be eligible to "retire" early. That is, I'd receive more of a pension than I probably would anywhere else. I wouldn't really be able to retire because I haven't received a raise in years and am underpaid compared to people with similar jobs in the city where I work."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 25, 2005

>> You see........I work with a bunch of monkeys

[ Boss ]

0tolerance40intelligence writes...

"Last week, my boss read me the riot act because she "lost" her email. She insisted that her emails were being "stolen" from her computer. I suggested that perhaps she had deleted them and that she should check her deleted file...not there. I went over to her desk and magically, witout actually touching the mouse or keyboard, I found it. She had apparently just forgotten who the email was from and therefore could not find it among the three emails she had received."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 24, 2005

>> Shut up!

[ Work ]

Anonymous writes...

"I've been at a conference recently mainly attended by teachers about some really very important new education legislation. You'd think that this would mean you'd want to listen, wouldn't you? Wrong. No, it's far more important to make sarcastic comments to the person next to you; to discuss an anecdote about a pupil; or even to catch up on your sleep (I'd like to emphasise that the person presenting this was a very good, interesting speaker).

Oh, yes, and I work for a voluntary organisation that provides information on this very subject. So guess who is going to have to answer the questions that they would know the answer to if they'd just bloody listened? Us. And would they tolerate that sort of behaviour in their own pupils? No way. They expect respect but won't give it.

The best performance though, was a one-man show. The headteacher of a large secondary school turned up over half an hour into the first presentation. At the door of the conference room he was pointed to the few free seats that were left. He turned on his heel and left, saying that he wasn't prepared to put up with this. Apparently he continued down the corridor (with the conference organiser in pursuit), telling her that she was very lucky that she was very lucky that he wasn't going to charge her expenses; he then went on to say in front of the manager of the venue what a terrible place it was, and how the parking was awful (poor bloke would have had to park his car almost a two minute walk from the door!). You wonder why some schools have problems, then you see that there are people with the emotional maturity of three year olds in charge of them.

*Disclaimer: I know lots of good teachers. It's just that the bad ones can really screw up some kids lives, and that makes me really angry."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 23, 2005

>> Crazy Bird

[ Boss ]

Kelly writes...

"I work at a cosmetic counter in a department store, and for the past year I have had a counter manager who I swear is an alien on crack. We started off OK, but I did notice that she was a little....off. Just little things, like pronouncing words incorrectly even after being corrected many times, making inappropriate comments to customers, failing to understand the simplest of concepts, talking excessively about church/religion.

Over time, things just got worse. Now I leave every day wanting to throw her out the window. She freaks out about the most minute things, such as running out of tissues or somebody borrowing her "Goo-Gone" and not returning it immediately. She also is very self-righteous and overly religious to the point that I'm wondering what she's trying to make up for with all that talk. She always thinks she knows what she's talking about, no matter what the subject, from politics to education to social issues, and you can't make her understand another point of view. There are lots of hilarious and not-so-hilarious stories that I could tell here about her antics, but I will probably have to save those for another time, seeing as the generalities of the situation are enough to write a novel.

Needless to say, everybody in the department hates her. She makes inappropriate comments, is terribly and very vocally pessimistic, and completely hypocritical in terms of her religion and moral code. And on top of everything else, she always complains about how she doesn't make enough money to make ends meet, but won't go get another job. Instead she comes in every day with crazy-looking hair because she "can't afford to get a haircut" and bloodshot eyes because "she's allergic to the dyes in the clothing" (or some such nonsense), and she's always "sick". I think she's covering for a drug habit. :oP She can't even do her makeup properly so usually she looks quite frightening and I'm surprised that customers even dare approach her.

Of course, I have to get along with her because she's my boss. I can't confront her about anything without a manager's help because she spazzes out and vehemently denies any sort of challenge of her moral fiber. And I can't seem to get her fired, no matter how many things I report her on. I guess management doesn't care as long as they have their numbers. I have even had customers complain about her, saying that she said something inappropriate, or that she's just plain "kooky".

There are things that she is good for, like helping my co-worker and I get the days off that we want, being lenient about certain rules, etc. But overall, she's a loon. A woman at one of the other counters dubbed her "Crazy Bird", and the term stuck. My only solace is that we can all talk and laugh about her after she leaves. It's really sad, because I love the line I work for and I love my customers. If she would just leave already, I would be just fine."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 22, 2005

>> Lawyers on lunch break at my office, uggh

[ Boss ]

LawyersSuck writes...

"I currently joined a firm that has forty-two workers, we have twenty-one attorneys (public defenders office) and ten legal assistant (I'm one).

We have a lunchroom where we all eat. If you think it is a fun atmosphere where the egos are dropped at the door think again.

I've never felt lacking (as I have a bachelor degree), but you could have a PhD and if you don't have a law degree, you won't be allowed in the inner sanctum that is the conversations in the lunchroom. Not all of the attorney's are like this, but there are a lot, and they form off into cliques.

For example, we have the "I just bought a house/looking for a house" crowd. All of them are attorneys. They all either want a house, or have purchased a house. And that is all they talk about, house this, and house that. "Did you see the killer sale on lawn supplies at Lowe's in the Sunday paper?" "I sure did, I stocked up, and even though I don't have a house, and my apartment is overloaded with lawn crap and I have to tunnel a path to the bathroom from my bedroom, it is so worth it!" Or, "I am such a picky B**** that the houses that are priced 300,000 to 500,000 aren't good enough. My lawyer husband, who I annoyingly refer to using his full name, and I cannot live in a hovel that is not at least 750,000! And it will take fourteen months to find a house, and every painful step of the way I will reveal to everyone in the lunchroom my annoying, pain in the a** personality that thinks I'm better then everyone else because i have a juris doctor. And when I finally do get a house that will house my ugly circus freak husband (who I introduce to people and then ask them in front of him if he is handsome)and my self (who, of course I think I am hot, even though my ass is pushed through pants that are a size too small and I flash everybody my thong when I bend over to play with a co-workers dog, and no, it is not the good kind of girls gone wild flash but the bad, fata** pasty, pale, pimply flesh) I'll then have to announce how my new house won't fit my huge refrigerator I just bought for 3,000 but I'm willing to sell it for 2,800 because I only left stale food in there once!

Or then, there is the "I just had a baby/going to have a baby/can't have a baby but still trying in hopes that there is a god, and he might love me even though i'm a b****" crowd. These are the attorneys who bring their brats in to disrupt the LA's trains of thought in order to allow their s**tty diaper brats to scream and whine. Or there are the attorney's who just keep talking about kids, kids this, kids that, until everyone feels like they went through labor with the d*** woman.

But the best, the best crowd is the, "lawyer jock gang." Just because they have a law degree they think they gave up the chance to play professional basketball. Yeah right, your fat lazy white ass is really going to be able to compete with the professional athletes. Of course then they have the pools, the football fantasy crap, and everything, which of course, if you are an LA you have to hear, and can participate, but really, it's just a lawyer thing and you should really let the smart people handle it, after all they were almost professional athletes.

What really gets me, in a public defender's office, is the fact that legal questions from the dumb attorneys to the smart attorneys are asked, in the presence of all, but the only want the smart attorneys to answer. God forbid that the actually ask us LA's, who are not dumb, and more likely to think like potential jurors then their out of sync with reality and the real non-legal world co-workers, but no, again, just attorneys ma'am.

Not all of the attorney's are like this, but a majority of them are, but if we LA's were ever to be all gone at one time, they would be f**cked, guess they did not teach English grammar or MS Word skills at law school."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 21, 2005

>> Here Today, Gone Today

[ Boss ]

Anonymous writes...

"Ok, so I'm temping in an east coast city. Stop right there, I'm sure you're saying to yourself...

I get a decent temp job that starts March 1st. Decent because the people who are there are friendly and intelligent. On Mar 2, I hear from another temp agency, they have an opportunity that sounds like it might be better that starts immediately. So I have to quit from the job I liked and took a chance on the other opportunity.

The new job is slightly better ... in stead of the mailroom I'm in the file room, and someone there says that he advanced after a month in the same position. So ok, the fit isn't perfect but I'm making the best of it. The project, when I'm not filing, is re-shelving. I must have re-shelved about 120 *rows* of files in about 20 shelves (6 rows per shelf). My arms, legs and back *hurt* when I got home each night.

On Friday, they upgrade my position from re-shelver to photocopy jockey. They give me 20 boxes of files and tell me to photocopy each of the "references" in each file. It took me an extra second to figure out that this woman meant that "references" are "journal articles," or "articles." The person explaining to me the assignment talked about a mile a minute and then asked, "this is so simple, why don't you understand what I'm telling you?" I was just asking questions to clarify the sequence etc. The person says, "oh that's good, ask me all the questions you want to get it completely right." But apparently, she meant "never ask me any more questions" and just didn't bother to say this.

Some time after, I see this person again in the copy room and mention to her that it took me an hour to copy an file, since she wanted to know how long it took to give their clients a time frame to complete the job. The one file took an hour partly because it had at least 200 pages to copy and partly because the feeder tray of the photocopier broke down more than once.

As I come back from lunch, I'm told that I no longer have to do the photocopying anymore, I figured fine, I'll just start in again on Monday. Then when I get back to W. Roxbury, I'm told I've been fired, and their reasoning is because I'm too god damn D-U-M dumb to work their photocopier.

That came, evidentally, the day after the same firm told my temping agency that I was a great assett. It came as quite a shock to me. In fact, I had left my shoes and my lunch bag at the office because I planned to return the next week."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 20, 2005

>> Queen of all sick time...

[ Fools ]

Tired of the BS writes...

"I work with a woman who has numerous issues, but the worst of all is her utterly ridiculous abuse of sick time.

She claims to have a whole laundry list of afflictions, yet has been spotted out on the town DRINKING several times by other co-workers the same days she was too sick to drag her lazy ass into work.

I'm not going to act like I've never played hooky before, but this person takes it to an extreme I've never before witnessed in my 15 years of work experience.

Part of my salary depends on this person being here to do her job, so with that being said this is an especially aggravating situation.

I'm sure by now you're asking why she has not already been fired...Well that's the problem here folks, she's found a way to beat the system and there is nothing that can be done about it.

She has been diagnosed with "depression" and has been granted an extra 400 hours of sick time ON TOP OF the 160 she has already used. I'm not sure if she's getting paid or not, but either way she's currently enjoying a month and a half vacation while my fellow co-workers and I are desperately trying to get her job done as well as our own.

The last straw (and the reason this story is being written) was a couple weeks ago.

Little Miss Depression decided to waltz into the workplace while on her "depression leave" to PICK UP HER GIRL SCOUT COOKIES. She had ordered these from another co-worker on one of the rare days she was actually here before said "depression leave" began...

This woman has the audacity to stroll in here during working hours while everyone is doing HER job to pick up some cookies but she's too "depressed" to be here doing her job?!?! What a slap in the face! None of us could believe it...

The best part was the fact that the co-worker who had the cookies told Little Miss Depression she didn't have to pick them up since she was on "depression leave". Little Miss Depression replied that it was no problem to come pick them up because she was "GOING TO COME VISIT ONE OF HER FRIENDS HERE ANYWAY".

My co-workers and I decided to inform our manager about this, and he agreed to tell our Human Resources Department about the Girl Scout Cookies stunt. He was basically told there is nothing that can be done about it due to the fact that it is approved by the state. EVERYONE knows it is a complete scam and nothing at all can be done about it.

Probably the most appalling part of this whole situation is the fact that any of us who use more than 32 hours of sick time WITHIN A 12 MONTH PERIOD get put on a written warning. Yes that's right, we are warned if we use 32 hours of sick time in a year, but this person who is NOT even sick has found a way to use 550 in three months and will still have a job whenever she feels like coming back.

I think it's absolutely disgusting that people like this woman are able to get away with abuse like this, but I do have to say that I feel better that I found a site to rant about it on. Thanks guys!"

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 19, 2005

>> My Birthday

[ Work ]

Birthday Day writes...

"There's nothing worse than birthdays at the office. Unless you're friends with people who decide to take you out to lunch, it's really uncomfortable.

The other day, during one of the businest and most frustrating weeks in our IT department, our wormy manager, who doesn't give a sh*t about deadlines, decided to "celebrate" my birthday. He bought a cake and plates and gathered everyone together for an impromptu meeting, and wouldn't begin until everyone had arrived.

I felt so guilty. We were all practically in tears because the software wasn't working, the QA team had practically thrown our requirements back in our faces, and the technical writers were pulling their hair out.

In the middle of all this chaos and frustration, with people snapping at each other and threatening to quit, our ass-h*le manager insists we all attend a mandatory meeting or threatens to dock our pay!

He then demanded that everyone sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY while he handed out the pieces of cake. Everyone glared at me -- the culprit -- while they mumbled/hummed out-of-key.

Remember the movie, "Office Space," and how everyone half-heartedly sang to Bill Lumberg?

That's how they sounded.

Then everyone scarfed their cake and practically ran from the room. No, it wasn't a nice break. It would have been more appropriate to celebrate after the project went through. Because of that 45 minute break, everyone blames ME for the project not having gone out on time that day.

"You had to go ahead and have a birthday, didn't you?"

Our ignorance-is-bliss "manager" was "disappointed" but added more over-time to our schedule. Then he slithered off home at 5:00 sharp while we continued to work another 12-hour day.

Forget the stupid cake! Comp time, after the project was done, would have been preferable."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 18, 2005

>> Something foul this way wafts

[ Fools ]

Asphyxiated writes...

"I work in a call center for a certain city's 311 center, on the overnight shift. I spend 10 hours a night sitting at a desk playing webgames and reading e-mail and maybe fielding 9 calls a night... One of my co-workers whom we shall name "Mudbutt" has a little problem... At this point we haven't established whether it is a femenine or flatulent odor, but it is foul beyond comparison.

Every night she goes to lunch at about 2:30am, and comes back at 3:30am. usually around 3:45 there is a strange stench spreading throughout the office... Now, I can understand a little fart cutting loose every once and a while, but the reek we experience is unholy beyond belief... think of a rotten egg/baby diaper scent... sulphrous and strong, and it doesn't go away. Basically every ten minutes we get a strong whiff, and this goes on for a few minutes.

We have hinted at the problem, brought out candles (but we can't burn them) and aerosol scents, etc. Nothing is strong enough to cover it up except perhaps lysol.

The worst part of it is that she laughs at us when we complain. One night she complained of "stomach pains" and we heard a loud noise that sounded like a soft burp, and this fish scent started getting stronger and stronger. I don't even want to guess what it was, but I did submit a bid for a new shift..."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 17, 2005

>> Grumpy old man

[ Work ]

fed up writes...

"I'm just finishing my fourth year teaching 6th grade at a small school. For those of you who aren't familiar with education, our school has about 450 elementary (kindergarten to sixth grade) students. The primary grades (1st - 3rd) at our school have approximately 3 teachers per grade because they are at 20 to 1. There are about 2 teachers per each upper grade (4th - 6th) because our numbers can go up to 36 or more per teacher.

When I first started teaching, as with any job, I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings because I was so focused on trying to do my job correctly. In addition, I got pneumonia that year and my dad passed away. So, I thought my partner (other 6th grade teacher) was being nice when he offened to take a couple of classes for me so I could rest. (I should give you some info on my partner here. He's about 50 and has been teaching for about 20 years. I'm in my mid-20's and have just been teaching for 4 years. He's white and I'm Asian.) Anyway, during a fire drill that year, he and a couple of his buddies "rearranged" my room to look like an earthquake happened. I took it in stride and laughed. Some days or weeks later, I'm in the middle of teaching a lesson and he brings his class over. I didn't know what to expect so I sat there and looked at him. Then, his class starts throwing wadded up paper at my class. We laughed and had a good time. My class wanted revenge so I tried to plan something. A couple of days later, we returned the gesture. Throughout the year, he would do little things like that. You are probably thinking "What's the point?" One day, my class is making masks for a social studies project. Some of the kids wanted to put their white masks on and put their faces against the windows of the classroom. (The masks look like that of the horror character with the hockey sticks - Jason, I think.) I thought it would be funny so I let them do it. Well, what do you think happened? Did he laugh, did just let it slide like I did for him? Nooooo! He opened his door and screamed at my students. He told them that they were being immature and that he was teaching a very important lesson. He didn't have to be like that. He could just have opened his door and explained it professionally and calmly. I should have spoken up, but it was only my second year and I was not tenured (permanent) yet. Also, I was taught to respect my elders. That incident passed and I forgot about it. Some time later, my kids are out back doing something and his kids come at us with water balloons. When my kids did it back to his class, he became upset. He told his class that they couldn't play with water balloons anymore because my class was being childish. The nerve of that man! The straw that broke the camel's back was this next occurence. My class was getting ready for PE. We had just decided to play nationball. A student of his came in and I gave hime a questioningly look. He asked me if our class wanted to play his class. I said that we had already decided on nationball. The student called our class chicken and proceeded to tell my class that his teacher said that their class was going out for PE and that anyone from my class could go outside and join them. Some of my students got up to leave and I made them sit down. How can he send a student in to say such things and tell my class what they could do with total disregard for me. I was furious. I explained to my students why I was upset. I told them that it was like me going to their house and, without asking their parents, I told them they could go to their friend's house. The students could sense how upset I was and most of them seemed to understand my anger. The next day I spoke to my coworker and he blamed the kid and said the kid was being rude. The student later apologized to me.

You would probably think that it might have been the kid being insensitive and rude, but I have my suspicions. We have spirit day contests, and if my coworker's class doesn't win, he becomes upset. At the end of the year, the upper graders have a track and field day. He tells his class that if my class gets more ribbons than his class, his class would have to run a mile the next day. One year, he asked me when I wanted to hand the yearbooks. I thought it would be best to wait until our sixth grade party to hand it out. When he handed it out, he told the students that he would have handed it out earlier but that I wanted to wait. How childish can he be? I thought that when I joined the workforce, I wouldn't have to deal with the popularity contest. This year, I found out that he makes fun of me in front of the kids saying implying that I'm a freak because I like to plan the year out so I know what I need to teach and when and how much time I have to teach it. The funny thing is that he comes to me to borrow things I've created to put up on our walls. For example, our writing wall has to have the genre, prompt, model papers, rubrics (grading sheet), and some other stuff. He does none of that; he comes to my room to get it. The first one I made, I only copied the main items for him. The next day, he came in during class time to take the other stuff off my wall to copy and put on his wall.

This year was pretty bearable; he didn't pull any of his antics, until today. I'm in the middle of my science lesson. He came in and yelled at his students (we switch for math and science - so he teaches math to both classes and I teach science to both classes) for going back to class to get their supplies. I had no problem with that, except that he said he would charge them my classroom money (fake money I made to reward students). About ten minutes later my cell phone rings. No one ever calls me during class because they know I have to teach. I look and the caller ID box has his name on it. I thought he was calling to complain about one of my students. Boy, was I wrong. I said hello and heard a jumbo of noise. I knew that he was up to his old tricks. I tried to play it off and said that I would like to order a pepperoni pizza. The other person made some kind of clucking noise. I said, "I love you, too," and hung up. When the students switched later, the student that had called me told me that he was making noised like a Chinese person. I was rather offended because I had schoolmates in high school that made those "noises" that sounds nothing like Chinese. I couldn't believe that a teacher would allow it. I forgot about as the rest of the day progressed. I went home and told my husband the story and he told me that I should have said something to my coworker instead of brushing it off because my coworker will just keep doing those things if I don't say something. I thought that our last talk would be enough, but I guess not. I've decided to talk to him tomorrow and to talk to the students and to my principal, because I am FED UP."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 16, 2005

>> The Incompetent Fat Man

[ Boss ]

GMan writes...

"This story was contained in a document that was found in an employees Projects folder shortly after he'd resigned. He resigned because he could no longer deal with the high level of incompetence displayed by the Project Manager.

Background: I work at a small software develoment company. The software department comprises of two developers, and oddly enough, two managers to manager the two developers. The Project Manager also holds the position of Vice President in the organization that defines software standards in the province in which this business exists.

Here's the contents of the word document I found...

What are the stages of grief?
Adapted for working at ABC technologies
March 4, 2005

If you've discovered this document on my hard drive, you were most likely sent on a goose chase to fix some problem about a system the corner office doesn't know any details about. Either you know or will shortly realize that you work for complete incompetents.

Welcome to The Stages of Grief. You're most likely in stage 1.

Stage 1: Denial (This isn't happening to me!)
- I.e. New grad working on a $40k project with hardware/handheld stuff with absolutely no idea or help on what to do.
Stage 2: Anger (Why is this happening to me?)
- I.e. Does the corner office do ANYTHING? Why do I have to do EVERYTHING?
Stage 3: Bargaining (I promise I'll be a better person if.)
- At ABC, this is very closely linked to Stage 4: Depression.
- I.e. I'll kill myself if only to make this stupidity end.
Stage 4: Depression (I don't care anymore)
- I.e. You start working on the spec exactly to tee, even if it requires a full month to hack together what should be a three-day app if properly designed (e.g. ProjectS, ProjectC, ProjectD well, pretty much EVERYTHING).
- E.g. PMan (if he's still currently working here)
- E.g. GMan before his mental collapse.
Stage 5: Acceptance (I'm ready for whatever comes)
- I.e. Leaving for a better job, aka. switching careers, finding a real programming position, becoming a sandwich artist, etc.
Stage 6 [Very Rare]: Returning (I wonder if I made the right choice)
- Leads almost directly back to Stage 5: Acceptance.
- i.e. Come back to ABC, stay half a week, and realize that the place is even more f*cked up then when you originally left."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 15, 2005

>> A dream turned nightmare

[ Boss ]

Anonymous writes...

"This is a story happening over a few days in the last week.


A Developers Dream
------------------

Manager - "We need an app."

Me - "That does what?"

Manager - "One that does nothing, just used as a place holder."

Me - "I'll need a requirements document."

Manager - "How about this sheet of paper?"

Me - "Looks good to me, what should I charge my time as?"

Manager - "Doing nothing."

-Later

Manager - "Are you doing nothing?"

Me - "Err, yes."

- even later

Manager "Have you done nothing?"

Me - "Well... yes."

I could go on.

So why is it turning into a nightmare? Follow the story here: A developers dream"

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 14, 2005

>> What Boss?

[ Rant ]

Cindy writes...

"I work for a non-profit agency that has been around for 18 years. Our Director has been with the agency the entire time. Her life is so full of drama that she rarely makes it to work. Seriously, I've tracked it for a week now just to determine if I was crazy.
Monday in at 9:30 AM (1 hour late)
Tuesday - out all day, her son had his 3 year check up
Wednesday - in at 9:10 AM
Thursday - out
Friday - out
Monday - can't come in, her son is sick
Tuesday - refer to Monday
Wednesday - finally in! Arrived by 8:40 AM. Receives call at 10:30 AM, her daughter is sick and she needs to pick her up from school

Our board has no clue that there is a problem. We have decent people working for the agency who believe in the mission and strive to support our clients. The lack of leadership is frustrating. I love my job as do most of the other staff. We are all so frustrated as we do her work for her. Any ideas/suggestions?"

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 13, 2005

>> Just thought this was appropriate for my work place

[ Rant ]

Redmouse writes...

"Differences Between You and Your Boss...

When you take a long time, you're slow.
When your boss takes a long time, he's thorough.

When you don't do it, you're lazy.
When your boss doesn't do it, he's too busy.

When you make a mistake, you're an idiot.
When your boss makes a mistake, he's only human.

When doing something without being told, you're overstepping your authority.
When your boss does the same thing, that's initiative.

When you take a stand, you're being bull-headed.
When your boss does it, he's being firm.

When you overlooked a rule of etiquette, you're being rude.
When your boss skips a few rules, he's being original.

When you please your boss, you're apple polishing.
When your boss pleases his boss, he's being co-operative.

When you're out of the office, you're wandering around.
When your boss is out of the office, he's on business.

When you're on a day off sick, "you're always sick".
When your boss is a day off sick, "he must be very ill".

When you apply for leave, you must be going for an interview.
When your boss applies for leave, it's because he's overworked."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 12, 2005

>> Garbage Man

[ Rant ]

Chip Giblet writes...

"Okay, this shouldn't be titled "Garbage Man", it should be titled "Who Me? Take Out the Garbage? Why The Frick Would you Expect Me to do THAT?" but that just wouldn't fit. Please, let this be a lesson to any among you gentle readers who use "shared" services but don't chip in from time to time.

I run a small business that is in a building with two other offices. We're all small -- there are two people in my office, 4 in another, and the Anti-Garbage Man is by himself. We all get along pretty well, but the AGM just hasn't figured out the concept of "shared responsibility."

Between the three offices we share two garbage cans and they have to be rolled out to the curb once a week. In the two years he's been here, he has filled BOTH trashcans to the brim with his heavy crap (boxes, wood, LOTS of books) and yet has never ONCE taken the cans to the street. Not once. And it's not because of some infirmity -- he's in fine shape and the damn cans have wheels on them. He doesn't even bring them back when they are empty.

The dude wears his religion on his sleeve, has all sorts of religious stuff in his office, and yet he hasn't yet figured out "The Golden Rule". WTF?

This past week was the last straw. I got in early and found that the cans that I rolled out the night before had blown open due to all the crap he put in, and now his empty boxes are blowing around the parking lot. I cleaned up the mess (HIS mess) for what I decided would be the last time. I called our city trash department and paid to have them deliver a new can to our building, went to Home Depot and bought some nice lettering and put "Suite XXX Only" on the top of the can. And now I have a can all to myself, can fill it up (or not) as I wish, and roll it out only when necessary.

BTW, as I write this, the "shared" cans are still sitting by the curb, a day after they were emptied, on their sides looking really bad (this is a nice area we are in, not some dump). AGM was in earlier than everyone else this morning, drove right by them, and didn't bother to pick them up. He can wait all week for them to be brought back, because I'm not doing it! I suspect the guys across the hall will bring them in, but now they can deal with the problem -- I'm done!"

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 11, 2005

>> Insecure fools are DANGEROUS

[ Fools ]

ExConsultant writes...

"My co-worker has half a brain, but it's totally obscured by his desperate need to make himself indispensable as well as his paranoia that his termination is imminent. He can't even ask a simple question without trying to be the smartest guy in the room. Maybe it's just me, but I thought that the purpose of asking a question was to gain some kind of information. If you needed to know what time it was and didn't have a watch, you would ask someone and they would tell you, right? This fool believes that asking questions requires him to communicate first how knowledgeable he is on the subject and that he is either asking me to confirm what he already knows is true or that the information I contribute is only a small cog in his giant wheel of knowledge. If he were asking me the time, he'd phrase the question as "So isn't the sun in the 33rd latitude shining at an angle that casts 49 degree shadows on the composite granite pavement outside?" huh? I used to try to figure out what the hell he was talking about, but now I just stare at him until he rephrases it in a less confusing way: "The sun shines on the earth and we measure its progression across the earth in time zones. Ours is central, so isn't it sometime in the afternoon?"

my reply: Are you asking if it's 2pm?
his response: yes, that's what I'm asking.
my reply: Your computer has a clock in the lower right hand corner, it will tell you the time at any point during the day.
him: ok, thanks, that's what I needed to know.

Huh? Why don't you just ask me the f'n question? We all know you're smart, OK. Asking someone something does not mean you're seconds away from being laid off. It means you're smart enough to know what you don't know.

He does this all the time. His other favorite habit is interruption during conference calls. I'll be walking a non-technical person through a complicated technical process (not easy for those of you who haven't tried), and he pipes up with some long litany and talks over me and I lose the non-technical person's train of thought and I have to start over. He is very concerned that people know how smart he is in these situations, and has decided that manners are secondary. I actually had to shush him twice yesterday because he kept talking over me and our manager when I was trying to help her understand a complicated point.

He's said he's planning to quit in about 2 months. I can only dream..."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 10, 2005

>> Who has the info???? The CEO isn't detail oriented

[ Boss ]

Anonymous writes...

"Here's a wonderful e-mail exchange between the hospital CEO and myself(lowly clerk) I never recieved another reply. **best if read from bottom to top**
---------------------------------------------

Their pictures and titles are on the wall outside of your office, the information just isn't current.

-----Original Message-----
From: ***** John
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2005 4:30 PM
To: ***** Ryan
Subject: RE: Board Members/Med staff leadership

I understand, however, I've never worked in a hospital where that type of information was handed out. The Supervisor should opt for calling the On-call Administrator sooner, and getting you out of the middle.

Thanks for contacting me.

John ********
President & CEO
**********Medical Center

---- Original Message ----
From: Ryan
Date: 3/5/05 4:25 pm
To: John
Subj: RE: Board Members/Med staff leadership
I guess she talked to Carla the house sup who advised her to call Dr.Frank **** , and she didn't want to talk to him. I would have eventually called Dave(on call admin), I generally try resolve problems at our level if possible. I don't want or need contact information for any board members, but it would be nice to have list in case someone asks. It's pretty difficult to project an image of confidence and professionalism if the best answer I can give someone is "I don't know".

-----Original Message-----
From: John
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2005 4:16 PM
To: Ryan
Subject: RE: Board Members/Med staff leadership

Ryan: Someone should have contacted the Administrator on Call. If a Board Member or Chief of Staff needed to be contacted, that's the person that should do it.

Tom

John
President & CEO
******* Medical Center


---- Original Message ----
From: Ryan
Date: 3/5/05 4:11 pm
To: John

Subj: Board Members/Med staff leadership
Would it be possible for us to get a current list of board members and medical staff leadership? I had situation today where one of our MD's needed to get a hold of the President of Medical staff. We don't have a list, luckily I knew that Dr M*** was here and I was able to contact him. This is another example of what we're talking about when we say that we don't have resources to do our jobs. Thankfully it was Dr ****, and not one of the more demanding doctors like K**** or D***."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 09, 2005

>> The customer is always............

[ Rant ]

A. Nonny Mouse writes...

"If I had to fill in the blank I'd have to use words like 'stupid', 'needy', 'should be locked up'and 'who the hell sold this fool a computer'. I once worked as a help dest technician for a large computer company. Remember all those 'tech tales' that get passed around the internet and you have to wonder if they're urban legands because people can't possilby be that stupid? They're not legands.

What makes this story funny is my sister and I worked in the office two cubuicles away from eacho other. One day I get this call from a guy with a very very noticable speach defect trying to do voice chat who's complaint was, and I am not making this up "ewwybody says I sown funny in da chat woom" We're talking Elemer Fudd here. Elmer Fudd with major brain damage. I did the basic trouble shooting, everything was working properly, except he still 'sownded funny'. I suggested he call his ISP just to get the damned fool off the phone before I needed Zanex. Apparently he did call his ISP, who referred him right back to us, only this time it was my sister who got the call. I walked past her cubicle on my way to a break and noticed that she looked like she wanted to strangle someone. I glanced at her computer screen and who's name should appear but our boy ELmer. I nearly choked trying not to laugh. About five minutes later she's out for a smoke break and we start comparing notes on Elmer. After we'd both returned returned from break one of the male techs sitting across the aisle from us stood up and shouted to the world in general "That has got to be the dumbest mother fucker who ever bought a computer!" My sister and I turned around at the same time and said "Was it Elmer Fudd?". To this day he still has no idea how we knew.

And then there was the guy who's cd rom wouldn't work because he kept putting the cd's in upside down. And the women who threated to sue the company because no one would tell her how to burn dvd's from copywrited discs. Or the idiot who went into his Windows directory and deleted 'stuff I don't use' and couldn't understand why this computer wouldn't work. Or the lady who said her modem was working fine 'until after the lightening hit the house' and got all upset when we wouldn't replace it. Or the old dude who know's both 'John McCain and Jimmy Carter' and threated us with the FBI because we refused to tell him how to install third party proprietary software on a computer from another company.

But my favorites would be the old guys, and I mean really old guys who'd call up because they kept getting 'pop ups' that they couldn't get rid of and would be very hesitant to describe said popups. Thirty seconds into the call and you'd know it was porno but getting these old guys to admit it took a bit of tact, then we had to explain that porn pop ups were not covered under his warrenty or tech support contract and it was going to coast $1.98 a minute to get it removed. Most of them were more than willing to pay the buck ninty eight a minute to get rid of the things, mostly because they didn't want their 'grandbabies' to find out grandpa was a dirty old man.

And the worse calls were the ones coming from either Kentucky or West Virginia. It should be illegal to sell computers in either state. Every one of them's still running Window's 95 or 98 and can't understand why their Nascar racing game won't work on their system with it's big old 60 megs of RAM. Or you get a whole family of tweakers, each of whom has a previous service request in, but none of them can tell you exactly what the others have done to the system. That's when you want to say stuff like 'tell Uncle Daddy he's just gonna have to take it in for service'.

My sister worked there for two years and is now taking prozac. I lasted six months and quit before I ended up in one of those nice rooms with the padded walls. If you ever wonder why tech support people are so strange, it's because of the loonies on the other end of the phone...."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 08, 2005

>> Of Documentation and Managers

[ Boss ]

Casper Vidor writes...

"The folks here at Hamer are professional idiots.

Here is just one recent example:

Phone rings. CASPER answers it.

CASPER: Hello.

BOSS: Casper? I need you to write a program that takes images off of an optical drive and stores them on the AS/400. IBM has API's to do this, but they don't support the hardware or the software anymore so the API's might not work.

CASPER: Ok, well if everything works, and there is documentation on the API's, I can slap something together. But I need more detail on the interface and everything. When do you need it?

BOSS: In one week. What is doc...docu...documenta....

CASPER: Documentation. And one week is a little too tight.

BOSS: Ok. Start working on it and I will find you some dobumenbation.

CASPER: Documentation.

BOSS: Whatever.

Click. The phone goes dead.

Three weeks later.

Phone rings. CASPER answers.

CASPER: Hello.

BOSS: Hey! How's that project coming...what was it? Double-mint-nation or something?

CASPER: You mean documentation?

BOSS: Yeah! That's it! How's that doo...er...stuff coming?

CASPER: Well you were supposed to get me some more info on what the client needs--interface-wise--and scare up some documentation on the API's.

BOSS: You have to think outside the box; work smarter not harder. You need some synergy, blah, blah, blah.

CASPER: No, just some documentation.

BOSS: Jeez! What is it with you and doctor-menstruation?

CASPER: Documentation.

BOSS: Whatever.

Click.

[Not The End]"

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 07, 2005

>> Coworker with personality disorder

[ Fools ]

Magoo writes...

"I work in a standard cubicle environment. My office is 3 cubicles away from a guy that has some serious personality disorders. Now, I am not making that assessment alone. The managing partners have admitted this to me, and expressed that they are aware of the problem. The nutbar has been with the company for 12 years, and has verbally abused practically everyone in the office, including the partners. The guy is your stereotypical abuser. He has told me that his father abused him, and I have heard him abuse his family on the telephone. Its very sad.

I happen to be 6'-7" and 255 pounds and not fat. The guy is smart, so he wont assault me directly. Instead, he assaults me to others and tries to politick. Obviously, others in the office are aware of his issues and Ive been told about this by coworkers who he has tried to rope in.

Unfortunately, the partners dont want to fire this guy because he has alot of experience and gets his job done. They have tolerated it for 12 years and are not about to take a strong position on it.

Last week, the shit came to a head and I lost my cool after hearing him saying some negative crap about me. I told him "You can keep abusing your family all you want, but if you continue to sling your abusive bullshit at me from arround the corner, Im gonna rip your fucking head off!" Thankfully, I didn't get fired for that statement.

But the situation forced a "Big sitdown with all the partners." At which point all the crap hes done since Ive been there was coroborated by others, and admitted to by him. Then we get the, "Ive come a long way, I am seeking counseling and taking medication for my problem" thing from him.

The partners asked me to try and bring any instance of abuse to their attention immediately. If it continues they will act upon it. Which I believe is a whole lot of BS.

Ive given thought to leaving. Given thought to killing the psycho and even to torturing him prior to his execution. Obviously, I cant do this (not a big fan of prison - seen too many Ozz episodes). So, I have decided to battle the nut another way.

Im going to write up everytime he abuses me, another employee, a client, whoever. I want it documented. I will make it known to him as well. He will know that I am watching, and that I am eavesdropping on every damn thing he says. He will feel like a caged animal not being able 'be himself' and sling his shit at people. Eventually he will snap, and I will have a long list of documented instances with which to demand that he is fired. I believe I have legal recourse if he is not, but Im not sure about that.

Anyway, feels good to rant. I am very angry about this. We spend more time at work then anywhere else and it fires me up that I have had to deal with this guy for 5 years. Its like I am forced to live with an abusive person.

Ive done alot of research on abusive coworkers, and I was surprised to find that this kind of shit is the norm rather then the exception. Peoples psychological BS spills out into the workplace, and others suffer for it.

If you have something like this going on. Dont tolerate it! It will drag you down.

Best wishes all"

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 06, 2005

>> Being a wise ass

[ Fools ]

TooSmartForMyOwnGood writes...

"Well, i am doing well in a big MNC with a huge IT divison. Was promoted to a senior in 2 yrs and am currently positioned to cover deputy manager, until i decided to ask for a transfer!!

The actual reason was i hated a co-worker. She made life hell for everyone else on the team. She behaved like a queen, with a severe attitude problem. Everyday was PMS for her, i supposed.

Being a politically correct person, i refused to reveal the reason behind my request.( cos i hate back stabbers)

I gave excuses like i needed a change and i wanted to pick up a new skill set. My bosses wanted to keep me, gave me a lot of pep talks and asked me to reconsider. I gave working in the dept another go, until they announced that i was supposed to cover project leader for the project and she, the assistant. ( She is one yr senior to me and had been following thru the project. But the project has been in shambles as a lot of team members resigned or transfered. My guess is that they couldnt stand working with her as well and fundamentally, there were problems )

She gave me major problems. She dun talk to u properly. Tries to sabotage you. Throws u difficult situations to handle , especially in front of bosses and most importantly bitches behind your back amongst co-workers (like spreading rumours) . Everyday was a living hell.

I couldn't take it. I asked for a transfer, and i was determined. In so doing, i offended my current bosses. Cos it seems im biting the hand that feeds me. :(

Man. I will likely to suffer in terms of performance due to the new domain area. Some high ranking folks inthe organisation thinks im disloyal ( aka my current bosses ) and the bitch is happy abt im out of the way. She is bleaming with glee. That irritates the hell out of me. What the hell did i do that? I am such a big fool!"

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 05, 2005

>> My Boss is Unprofessional Ass

[ Boss ]

BigRed writes...

"So ... I'm the sole IS person for our company since the senior IS guy quit. I was told at the outset that no one would be hired to help and I'd get a small raise. I was told by this guy that he didn't think I was worth a larger raise to compensate for all the extra workload and stress. Since that time though, I have proven myself to be a very hard worker who was willing to take on the extra responsibilities.

The bad part comes when I'm working on something I've never done before. It has to do with accounting and I know little about this stuff. I'm working my darndest to do the job correctly but I do make c few mistakes (ones that don't cost the company money). Funny thing about me is I have a great deal of integrity and believe in pointing out my own mistakes and fixing them. I did so and was promptly berated for it.

I get that this lil man might be under stresses of his own, but I feel he desperately needs some management training. You certainly don't inspire people to work harder or do a better job by smacking them when they've made a couple of mistakes. Its a shame that some companies promote inexperienced people into positions of power just because they have a college degree, rather than promoting up thru the ranks.

I'm sure there are millions of stories like this one... but I had to write my own as it keeps me from picking up a monitor and crashing it down on his puny little head and thick neck."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 04, 2005

>> Witchy Ex-Boss From Hell

[ Boss ]

Kristin writes...

"I used to work for a state department about 6 years ago, but I still have nightmares that I'm dragged back to that place and forced to work with this horrible woman.

I'll call my former co-workers by nicknames suiting their personality or station.

Ex-boss (I'll call her Boss) was my immediate supervisor, young, blonde, and beautiful. She had all her superiors charmed, especially the men. Very sweet to your face, but she loved to gossip. We're talking high-school "mean girls burn-book" type gossip. I didn't fit in from the start, because I'm shy and I'm not two-faced. One of her favorite phrases was, "I'm your boss, but I'm also your friend. You can tell me anything, I'm here for you." What she was really saying was, "Tell me all the juicy details of your life so I can tell everyone else and stab you in the back with it later."

So I started out working directly with Boss, Boss's Friend (who was nice but into the gossiping to fit in with Boss), and Sweet girl #1. I got along great with Sweet girl #1, she was funny and friendly. Boss always had to have a "punching bag" for her frustrations. She was viscious to Sweet girl #1, to the point that SG #1 would call in sick sometimes just to avoid having to work with Boss. During the first few months of my employ, Boss would tell me repeatedly that I was doing such a great job, they were all so happy that I'd transferred from the other department I was previously in, I was learning my job much faster than the norm, etc. etc. I was thrilled because she seemed so nice, and the job was challenging and fun.

Soon though, I started to notice Boss's attitude towards SG #1. She'd frequently be in tears. I felt so bad for her, yet at the same time was very relieved that I wasn't the object of her rage. Pretty soon, SG #1 transferred to another department where she ended up being extremely happy in.

So Sweet Girl #2 transferred in from the front desk to fill SG #1's vacancy. Again, I got along great with this person. However, she knew absolutely nothing about computers. We had to use your basic word-processing programs and operating systems like Word Perfect and Windows. SG #2, who was in her 40s and was never trained in computers, couldn't even grasp the concept of how files and folders were stored in her computer. Boss would get frustrated and say mean things about SG #2's intelligence behind her back, and get in subtle jabs to her face, but never really tried to help her. I tried helping her understand by explaining how files and folders worked just like actual file cabinets in an office. Finally she started to understand it. I remember once she was fighting back tears and thanking me, saying that she thought I was saving her job and all. I'm not bragging, it was just so stressful working with Boss and worrying about what she was going to say to you next, and nobody would help her.

So when Boss found me helping SG #2, she threw a fit. Called me into her office. She was shaking with rage as she told me in a humiliatingly loud voice (SG #2's desk was just behind Boss's cubicle wall) that I was NEVER to help anyone in the office again because I didn't know enough to help and was only going to make someone screw up. Then she went on to loudly tell everyone else in the office that nobody was to accept help from me.

I might point out that Boss was a huge know-it-all. She took many hours of classes to learn how to run the basic computer software that we had in the office, and she was proud of her knowledge. However, I hadn't taken any classes at all, but I knew just about as much as she did, I learned it all from experience and picked it up rather quickly. Boss was insanely jealous of anyone under her who didn't have to come to her every once in a while to ask for help on how to run a certain program.

So much for me doing everything right and them loving that I was working there and glad to have me aboard. I was now Punching Bag #2. Boss never missed a chance to humiliate me. She'd point out the tiniest of my errors with undisguised delight, and rant about my stupidity to Boss's Friend when they didn't know I was around to hear. Or maybe they did know. I frequently went home in tears, and often thought about calling in sick so I didn't have to work with her. The times when she was gone for meetings or conferences were wonderful! SG #2 and I had a blast doing our work, and Boss's Friend was cool to work with too, when she wasn't busy kissing Boss's butt.

I'm happy to say that I was able to quit after having a baby, but last I heard, Boss was still in her miserable existence at the same office. My mom, who worked across the hall in the personnel department, told me that Boss had many complaints against her over the years from her previous victims. I just hope that the ones working for her now are able to get away from her quickly. She's a legend in that building amongst her underlings, but her superiors are so charmed by her sickening schmoozing that they think she's the best."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 03, 2005

>> Extremely annoying co-workers

[ Work ]

bakersoft writes...

"Has it ever seemed like some fellow co-workers have ganged up on you and continue to exploit a known weakness of yours? I'm in a similar situation.

Some girl at work, whom which for a short period of time I had some involvement with outside of work, has become a nightmare for me. At work, I'm the guy who doesn't talk unless asked a question or invited into a conversation. I'm never the guy to really start conversations - I'm the guy quietly jammin' to my headphones trying to get my work done.

Apparently the girl I mentioned above and some of her friends (also co-workers) decided that my happiness and comfort at work should be limited. Chop sticks! You know, it's annoying enough to hear people tapping pens against their keyboards or whatever, but to hear multiple people clicking chop sticks together is just annoying as all hell! I know that she's the one who started all of it b/c when a new manager started within our department, she was clicking the damn sticks one day. He asked why she was clicking them and she told him she does it b/c she knows it annoys me!

You would think a manager of all people would like to keep a non-confrontational work environment... not in this place! He just let it slide. I feel the need for some sort of retaliation in this matter, but I don't know if my case is strong enough. It seems like such a little thing to complain about, but enough of those little things add up. I want to go to the VP of our department, or even HR, but I don't think either will take me seriously. This is really starting to get old. I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!

I'm open to suggestions on how to solve this problem."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 02, 2005

>> Gotta Love it

[ Work ]

Anonymous writes...

"I have worked in an office for almost 6 years. About 2 years ago another person "Diane" was hired. At first she was great our boss even had to remind her to take breaks. Now it's impossible to get her off the phone from her husband long enough to get her to do anything. She spends about 2-3 hours a day on personal calls. She is also famous for bringing her kids to work. Normally we do not mind if someone has need to bring their children, but these two are not well behaved and she has to chase them all over the office. Our phone lines open at 8:30 a.m. and we are lucky if she comes in before 9:30 a.m. It gets better!

I had to have major surgery. I had to take 4-6 weeks off to recover. While I was gone she called me more tha once at home to find out how to do things. There are 3 of us total in our section of the office. I was still out, another worker went home sick (was really ill), and then Diane left early because she and her husband were arguing. Wait, it gets better still.

Our boss is a nice man. But he is too nice. He has not fired her because he feels sorry for her. Because of his attitude alot of my coworkers come to me with complaints. I'm kind of a fixer-upper person. I have taken her aside and discussed these problems. We have had meettings to address her. we have gone over our boss's head about her. It's not getting better and to be frank, she does not care.

Any advice? Believe it or not I love my job, but I am going crazy trying to not strangle her."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled

August 01, 2005

>> Tourette's Syndrome

[ Fools ]

Anonymous writes...

"I got to share a cubicle in a law firm for about two years with a ditzy woman who I think MUST have had Tourette's. Her speaking voice was this whisperly little overtly sexy "Marilyn Monroe" thing and then out of the blue would come these loud SHRIEKS! It would happen periodically and you would never know when it was coming. For instance, she would make a typo and then go EEEEEEK as loud as she could. I would drop things when this happened especially in the early days with her. Finally, one day, I said "do you have any IDEA how irritating it is when you SHRIEK like that?" She just started crying and that was that.

Now mind you, she was hired to replace a really super competent person and she was BARELY capable of anything. All the prior tasks that her predecessor had done were reassigned because Miss Priss couldn't BEGIN to do them! She had been an usher at the Symphony prior to this and had solely been hired because her boss liked her looks and her social connections. Miss Priss thought she was overworked if she had ANYthing to do. I remember coming back from Thanksgiving break and finding 9 tapes from my 1 boss with 2-3 foot stacks of files attached to each (a good 2-3 days work), bills to do for both bosses (a full day job), a set of 2 double-sided tapes of a legal brief from the more demanding of the two bosses (another full day job) and about 10 pages of letters in shorthand from the Wednesday before. I looked at my desk in astonishment and said "oh good grief, I will NEVER get caught up!" and in this whispery little voice like Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday Mr. President she goes "Oh I KNOW! I'm swamped too!" and I looked at her desk. Completely clean EXCEPT for 3 new file folders that needed to have labels typed and stuck on them and a three-page fax to send. Immediately, she got on the phone and called upstairs to get help. I could NEVER get help when I asked but for Miss Priss it was instantly available. When the floater showed up to help her she was STUNNED and AMAZED!

Oh and the other irritating thing was that she suffered from the "Everyone I know, you know syndrome" so she would always talk about people she knew and assume that everyone else knew them too. She'd start conversations with "That's what I said to her last night." I would say "What? What did you say last night and who did you say it to?" And she'd look at me, stunned, as if I were insulting her and say "Why Evelyn of course" and I would have to say "But I have NO IDEA who Evelyn is and you still didn't say what you said to her, whoever she is."

Before she came, I had a system I'd worked with for years where I would take an early bus in, stop and get a muffin or something and then sit in the lunch room and read my paper and eat my muffin before starting work. Then Miss Priss showed up and started following me around chattering at me. "I know you don't like mornings, but I really like mornings, mornings are so great, isn't a beautiful morning? I just don't know why you don't talk to me in the morning, I just LOVE morning" and on and on she would drone. I tried talking to her "I really need to be left alone early in the morning, I just want to read my paper in peace and then I will talk to you later in the day to make up for it." And the next day it was "I know you hate to talk in the mornings so you just read your paper and I'll do all the talking, it's just like I was telling her last night about mornings and how nice mornings are and you don't like mornings but I really like them." Finally, I stopped coming in early but then I got in trouble for eating my muffin at my desk."

01:01 AM - Posted by Disgruntled