A Case Of The Mondays: Vent Your Work Spleen Here

[DeLurker]

nosleepforme - I'm sure it went fne.  Depending on how far they traveled, excitement over the trip/new city, upcoming semester, their own nerves and tiredness, they probably did not notice anything.  I've always been socially awkward - have no problem interacting with people when it is work related though.  Having some open ended questions in mind helps when things start to feel dicey to me in social situations.

[potatoradio]

Oh, the beauty of CYA.

 

It was announced at some important get together that the head honcho did not want any raises given out that weren't merit based (aka, no "cost of living" increase). OK, fine. Then, our second in command tells assorted supervisors different stories about raises. To one person, he says each department gets $X that can be distributed as the supervisor sees fit (so, theoretically, supervisor could give the entire pot to one employee and none to everyone else). Second in command tells my supervisor that there is no money for merit raises, just a flat 2%. 

 

Well, lo and behold, I got a letter from both head honcho and second in command that congratulated me on a merit raise. Huh? Then I did the math and discovered that the "flat 2%" raise had been repackaged as a merit raise all because head honcho demanded that no raises be given that weren't merit based. 

 

Um....seriously, I feel like an idiot because I really felt appreciated for a second there. What was I thinking?? Is it really so hard to agree upon a policy and communicate it consistently? No need for this BS marketing ploy just to make the head honcho meet his promise of "merit raises only." 

 

Now I feel stupid AND cheesed off. Thanks, CYA politics! 

 

 

[bilgistic]

He of the complaint box just happened to let everyone know out in the open yesterday that he was approved to join a country club. My eyes can't roll far enough back in my head.

Meanwhile, I can't get the worker's comp claims adjuster to even look at my claim for my foot, much less pay it. My boss sneezes the amount of money of the bills I'm dealing with, but they're crippling me.

[magicdog]

He of the complaint box just happened to let everyone know out in the open yesterday that he was approved to join a country club

 

 

There must be a special place for guys like your boss.  It's one thing for him to be a member but he shouldn't have to brag about it to those of us who can't afford that.

 

My dad told me about this one guy he was doing business with years ago (back in the 80s) who mentioned he was a country club member (it came up only because they bumped into a fellow member of the club they recognized).  He told my dad it cost him 100k a year back then to be a member!  Yikes!  Makes me wonder what it costs now!

 

bilgistic, if you want, I'll send him the poop gift!!

[bilgistic]

He went to Fort Lauderdale today for spring break a friend's wedding. He and the little missus went without the kids, and that's all he talked about all week. I feel like saying that birth control could've gotten him the same result. I hear the same conversations eleventy billion times because he has these bullshit sessions on the phone with investors.

He said this week, "I think I'm actually going to put my Out of Office notice on my email Friday. Bilgistic, you use yours all the time! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Me: "Um, I use it when I'm out of the office, like the one time in 16 months I went on vacation."

Him: "Oh, I'm just joking! Ha ha ha!"

Me: ::looks up ways to send poop to people anonymously::

His other latest thing is the computer alerts and sounds. I have very good hearing, and of course we sit in loud cubeland, but once in a while, I'll hear someone's computer chiming or dinging as loudly as a phone ringing or a person talking. I'll say, "Who has their computer volume up loud?" and no one will say anything. I'll keep hearing it, and I'll say again, "OK, whose computer is that?" A minute later, he's bent over with laughter. You'd think this "joke" would get old for him.

[magicdog]

Send. The. Poop.

[DeLurker]

Me: ::looks up ways to send poop to people anonymously::

I can help you with that!

 

Don't look up that kind of stuff from your work computer to leave a trail - your kind fellow-PTV'rs will do it for you!

[magicdog]

Give us the work address and we'll be happy to send one! 

 

Ditto on not looking any of this up on your work computer - or any computer that may be issued to you (like a laptop or tablet) from them.  If they get suspicious, you don't want them to order you to turn them over for them to search (which they can legally do since it's their property).  I left a poop link on the previous page.

 

Send. The. Poop.!!

[ABay]

The Middle Finger was my favorite in that article DeLurker linked.Simple, direct, and cheap.

[bilgistic]

I don't actually look up ways to send him poop! I was joking because y'all brought that up! I could never do it because he'd know it was me. Everyone else in his orbit loves him and kisses his rich, white-man ass.

Also, I have plenty of free cat poop I could use.

[BookWoman56]

I’ve felt for the last two years that I was living in some kind of alternate universe at work, but will be returning to the normal universe next week. I’ve been a tech writer for over 15 years, with regular promotions, excellent feedback, etc.  However, a couple of years ago I was ready for a change and so took a contract TW job at a very large company. Another contractor and I started the same day, and we quickly discovered we were in bizarro land. The lead TW had essentially no writing experience other than one-page reports and no knowledge whatsoever of basic grammar. He literally could not tell the difference between a complete sentence and a fragment.

Over the next several months, I documented our internal processes. I got put in charge of revising a few 200-300 page publications because none of the other TWs felt comfortable doing that, and got rave reviews from the business for my work. Twice during my first few months there, the manager posted a regular full-time TW position, and neither the other contractor nor I applied for it. Manager (aka asshat) called me to ask why I wasn’t applying. I hedged, because there is no polite way to tell someone, two people on your team and a VP from a different area have all advised me that you suck as a manager. He finally posted a TW position one level up from the previous postings and dropped hints that if I didn’t apply for it, my contract might come to an abrupt end. I applied, only to be told that he had decided to go with a “stronger” candidate. By “stronger,” he meant someone who had been out of college for less than two years, had less than a year of any kind of writing experience, but who attended the same church he did. Note: the manager called me during the week he was making his hiring decision, and questioned me extensively about my religious beliefs, or in my case, the lack thereof.

Despite being seriously pissed off, I felt I needed to stick out the contract for at least the full year. A few months later, we were in the middle of a huge project, which had pulled the lead TW into a separate role, so I was running the tech writing/publishing end of things. Manager decided to hire me full-time because he was afraid the publishing part of the project would crash and burn if I left. (Unsurprisingly, his last hiring decision did not end well; the guy from church left after nine months.) The manager also needed additional TWs for this project and so was contemplating hiring a former TW who was now in another department. Lead TW told the manager, if you do hire former TW, he needs to stay at the same level he currently is (one level below me and lead TW), because the quality of his work does not merit him being bumped up to the next level. Manager hired him anyway at the higher level. For the next year, I continued to run the tech writing/publishing end of things because the lead TW kept getting pulled onto other projects.

The former TW had major quality issues; I kept getting vitriolic emails from people because he had screwed up their stuff when he published it. On a regular basis, I found mistakes in his work and had to IM him to fix them or fix them myself. Lead TW complained to manager about the quality of this TW’s work. Manager responded by pointing out that the other TW had the fastest turn time of any TW in our area. Manager: If you’re the fastest, that means you are the best. Lead TW: He’s going so fast he is making serious mistakes that we then have to go in and fix. Manager: But I don’t have any metrics for quality, so the only thing I have to go by is the speed report, and judging by that, his quality is fine. In the meantime, I had taken the initiative on several projects, my performance appraisal was very high, and in our required survey of feedback from our colleagues, my rating was a 4.9 out of 5. Other TW continued with sloppy work; if a revision came in to change word A to word B, he would make that change and ignore the huge glaring error (missing text, etc.) one paragraph below.

Manager decided he was going to post two TW positions at an even higher level. I figured the lead TW would get one, and the manager called me to tell me that he was posting the position the following day, and for me to apply quickly. Now, maybe it’s just me, but when your manager calls you and tells you to apply for a position, instead of just announcing at a team meeting that a position has been posted, I take that as a sign that the manager probably has you in mind for that position. So once again, I applied, only to be told that he decided on a different candidate. Lead TW and half of the team IMd me to ask, WTF. The person who got the slot? Yes, the TW whose work is crap but who is faster than everybody else and is also yet another white Christian male. (As a white atheist bisexual female, I made manager asshat a little uncomfortable. There are NO people of color on his team, no other LGBT people, no other atheists. Coincidence? I think not.) I found out that a freaking month before he posted the position, manager asshat was already having discussions with other TW about his “new role.” And on top of that, I would now be reporting to this other TW, who a year ago was not considered by the former lead TW to be worthy to be at the same level the lead TW and I were, and whose work I have had to correct for over a year. Just … no.

It was about two months ago that the hiring decision was made, but I have now had the enormous satisfaction of being able to tell manager asshat that I have accepted an offer at a higher level in a completely different part of the company. I start the new position next week. And yes, in a few weeks I will file a formal complaint with HR about manager asshat’s behavior. From what my colleagues have told me, I will not be the first person to do so and unfortunately will probably not be the last.

[bilgistic]

UGH! Should we get together and talk about religious conservative white males and how badly they are threatened when we scary non-religious liberal women speak up? It's like my boss never thought he'd come across one of me! Surprise, asshole! I don't want to eat meat when we eat out as a team! It's not okay to say "Have a blessed day" in an email closer! Not much of what you say is funny, and in fact, it's mostly offensive! Shut up!

[bilgistic]

My boss just said he wants a map that shows the neighborhoods around this asset we're selling. I ask him what kind of map and I tell him it will take a couple days (on something that's due today). He says he knows we've done it before, but can't show me any examples, and he doesn't want an aerial map from Google, which is what he's going to get in-house. Sorry, asshole, my ESP is on the fritz. Be more specific. I'm in line for Starbucks because I just had to get up and walk away.

[33kaitykaity]

There are some super cool revenge ideas in "The I-Hate-My-Job Handbook."  I didn't use the one about putting cat litter around the walls of the office of a person allergic to cats or covering a bunch of rabbit turds with chocolate and giving them as a gift to a particular asshat, but I did use the tactic of document, document, document on a server accessible by the supervisor to get laid off from my last bricks-and-mortar job in 2003.  I figured out how to use my typing/Internet/research skills to work from home.  

Edited September 10, 2015 by 33kaitykaity

[potatoradio]

 

It's not okay to say "Have a blessed day" in an email closer!

 

Holy crap. I've been in the godless public sector too long. He DOES that?? Sooo much WTF. You don't work for Hobby Lobby or Chik Fil A, do you? 

 

 

He says he knows we've done it before, but can't show me any examples,

 

These are my favorite types of requirements. "I think I thought there was something we might have done before that was possibly similar to what I'm asking for now, but a little different." Uh...OK, I'll go drink some coffee and pull some fairy dust and unicorns out of my ass because you are incapable of telling me anything concrete until you have something specific in front of you. And, in that case, it will be wrong anyway. But no worries, I'll just use my imagination and luck. I'm a team player like that.

 

My blabbering coworker is on a roll today. Everytime someone else walks into the office, he says good morning and then proceeds to follow them into their office to start conversation. He has had our team lead monopolized for a full hour, going on and on and on with his perspective on the latest bigwig resignation - as if someone asked him to give a full report. Or cares about his opinion. I just heard him say he wouldn't want to be a CEO because "they're all politics and don't reward hardworking, competent people. They just give speeches and talking points. I just couldn't do that. I can't stand to hear myself talk." 

 

No, he was not being ironic. Here we go, cranking up the music in my office and shutting the door for just one f*cking moment of not having to listen to he who doesn't like to hear himself talk. Well, buddy, for once, I agree with you. 

[BookWoman56]

Sorry, asshole, my ESP is on the fritz. Be more specific.

Wait, you mean having ESP is not in your official job description? Seriously, though, the former lead TW in my soon-to-be-former group is essentially being demoted because manager asshat assigned him to a high-profile project in which manager asshat and manager's boss would give him vague direction to produce XYZ, decline every meeting he tried to set up to gather requirements for XYZ, and then bitch and moan that the XYZ he came up with was not what they wanted. And of course it's his fault for not being able to intuit what they want instead of their fault for not making their specifications clear.

 

Is there a Bad Manager school somewhere that is producing these idiots?

 

I have apparently been extremely lucky for most of my career to have very good managers who quickly discerned what I could do and then left me the hell alone to do it, and who were always thrilled with my work. That's part of why this past job has been so frustrating. Most places I've worked, if you demonstrate initiative, take on extra responsibilities, and perform at a much higher level than your peers, you are rewarded for those accomplishments. OTOH, with this manager, he consistently rewards mediocrity and has a well-deserved reputation for dangling job offers/promotions in front of people while they are working on some special project for him, only to yank the offer away at the last minute. This year the scores on the stupid Gallup employee engagement poll went up across the board for the company as a whole. For this manager, the scores on all 12 items went down, many of them significantly. I like the company as a whole, because they are very big LGBT supporters and support eco-friendly businesses, but this particular manager is the antithesis of the corporate values. His ongoing mantra at nearly every team meeting was don't do anything that would make him look bad, and to please do things that would make him look good. He is clueless that it's difficult to inspire your team to perform their best when you make it clear you care only about your own reputation..He's had an extremely high turnover rate in the last six months, and is trying to spin that as oh, these people just wanted to advance their careers a little more quickly than they could by staying put. Yet fully half of the people he has left are currently looking for other jobs and would be willing to settle for a lateral move instead of a promotion just to get away from him. I can only hope that someone higher up the corporate food chain eventually notices all this crap.

[bilgistic]

Holy crap. I've been in the godless public sector too long. He DOES that?? Sooo much WTF. You don't work for Hobby Lobby or Chik Fil A, do you?

I work in a worldwide public sector company so I don't know how this guy (he's not my boss) is getting away with "Have a blessed day" in his email signature. I kind of want to call the "ethics hotline", but nothing's anonymous, and I already get in enough trouble. I don't for one second believe that my company's supposed "no retaliation" for turning someone in is actually real because HUMAN BEINGS! I'll get a box of poop on my desk. The food that it used to be will have been blessed, at least.

Is there a Bad Manager school somewhere that is producing these idiots?

It's the Peter Principle.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/peter-principle.asp

[magicdog]

 

I don't know how this guy (he's not my boss) is getting away with "Have a blessed day" in his email signature.

 

Seriously, why sweat something so small?  I'd rather have blessings from someone than a curse any day.  Pretend it came from whatever deity you prefer, but I don't get offended when people say it to me. 

[bilgistic]

Because as someone else mentioned, if someone put "Praise Allah" in their email, that wouldn't be tolerated. Because it's "Have a blessed day", which is a Christian colloquialism in my experience, it's somehow okay because America has a large Christian population. Bottom line: public sector WORK email is not the place for religion. My company has guidelines against it, but no one's called the guy on it.

Edited September 12, 2015 by bilgistic

[auntlada]

Because as someone else mentioned, if someone put "Praise Allah" in their email, that wouldn't be tolerated. Because it's "Have a blessed day", which is a Christian colloquialism in my experience, it's somehow okay because America has a large Christian population. Bottom line: public sector WORK email is not the place for religion. My company has guidelines against it, but no one's called the guy on it.

 

I'm a little surprised there's not a set email signature that everyone is supposed to use. Of course, my government agency does, but people still add a quote after it. It's generally an quote related to what we do, but it still bugs me because it's not part of the approved brand signature.

[bilgistic]

There is a standardized email signature block for branding. This guy puts his "blessed" signoff and his first name in a bold, dark-blue italic font above his signature block. Since I'm making enemies, I should mention that our branding doesn't include blue or italic font.

Another woman puts some "inspirational" quote from Steve Jobs (we don't work in IT). Save it for your Facebook page where the rest of us don't have to see it...and aren't supposed to because it shouldn't be there!

[Maharincess]

If I knew the person sending the email was of a religion that says Praise Allah, I would not be offended as a christian. I would just end my emails with Yours in Christ or something. Ha. No biggie. For what it's worth, I don't end my correspondence with anything religious. I usually just sign off with Smiles, stewedsquash.

As an atheist it wouldn't offend me but I don't think anything even remotely religious belongs in a professional/school environment.

[DeLurker]

I think I would start responding with emails that have quotes of my own.  Find quotes from famous people and insert them once in awhile.  I'd probably start with:

 

• No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. ~ Buddha
• We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~ Albert Einstein
• Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. ~ Albert Einstein

 

You'll probably find some that are a bit biting in light of a particular work situation, but it'll be impossible to prove it was public commentary on a particular policy or person.  As an added bonus, you have a precedence of someone including a personal greeting before you start, chances are others will eventually follow with their own once they see yours and hopefully HR will eventually shut the whole thing down.

[BookWoman56]

It's the Peter Principle.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/peter-principle.asp

I'm familiar with the Peter Principle, but with my former manager, he didn't get promoted to the level where he reached incompetence. I don't think this guy was every competent in even an entry-level job. I firmly believe his manager keeps him around because he's generally not going to screw things up so much that he makes her look bad, but he's never going to be good enough to climb past her on the corporate ladder.

 

Because as someone else mentioned, if someone put "Praise Allah" in their email, that wouldn't be tolerated. Because it's "Have a blessed day", which is a Christian colloquialism in my experience, it's somehow okay because America has a large Christian population. Bottom line: public sector WORK email is not the place for religion. My company has guidelines against it, but no one's called the guy on it.

I agree with this completely. As an atheist, it doesn't offend me if someone blesses me or whatever; I just regard it as silly, the same way I would if someone said that Zeus or Thor was blessing me. What does offend me is the double standard. Let's say I was a Satanist, and included the tagline "Hail Satan" in my email signature block. I can guarantee you the same people who would be saying, oh, what does it matter if someone tells you to have a blessed day, would be throwing all kinds of hissy fits that someone was bringing religion into the workplace. I'm not so extreme as to say religion should never be discussed at work; if you ask someone what their religious beliefs are or someone asks you and you feel comfortable expressing them, fine. But this reminds me of those ads I've seen mocking the parents who want to bring prayer back into schools. Okay, let's do that, and see how you like it when your kids are watching other kids drawing pentagrams. In the workplace, if you want to use religious sayings in your emails, then be prepared to receive sayings that don't reflect your own brand of religion. Bottom line for me is that I don't think it's professional. And don't even get me started on the people who somehow believe it's okay to proselytize at work.

[backformore]

Because as someone else mentioned, if someone put "Praise Allah" in their email, that wouldn't be tolerated. Because it's "Have a blessed day", which is a Christian colloquialism in my experience, it's somehow okay because America has a large Christian population. Bottom line: public sector WORK email is not the place for religion. My company has guidelines against it, but no one's called the guy on it.

I JUST ran into a situation like this.  At my workplace, which is a publically-funded organization, I had to use someone else's office for a couple hours for paperwork.   I could not believe what I saw.  In an office where clients are seen for counseling, she had holy card displayed, a crucifix, AND a picture of Jesus hanging on her wall.   Under previous management, this would not have been allowed.  I have no idea if current  management knows about it, but I found it upsetting.  We serve clients from all different backgrounds, it is not a religious organization, and frankly, it is against the rules for an organization getting government funding. 

Of course, I can't do anything about it.  I don't even know the person whose office I was using, it's just where the secretary there was space available. 

 

Former management would not let people have Christmas decorations in the lobby, we could have snowmen and snowflakes, but nothing that had to do with any religious holiday.  And it wasn't nit-picking -  there was concern that agencies could lose funding if they didn't abide by strict guidelines.  I have no idea why people new to the workplace would not know that you don't put religious stuff on your office wall.

Edited September 14, 2015 by backformore

[tribeca]

Here is a "nice" work story for you.  Our assistant manager who always had a bad temper was having a bad day.  A 68 year old co-worker asked him a question about the clock we needed to time our assignments (it was not working properly).  Assistant manager started screaming at co-worker then ripped the clock off the wall and threw it at her!  Co-worker left work in tears.  Called HR.  HR "investigated" asked co-worker "haven't you ever had a bad day?"   Nothing happened to assistant manager. He never even apologized.  He did however wait a few weeks and then wrote that co-worker up for being late from break.  She has worked there for 13 years and has never been written up before and has never been late from break.

[blueray]

Tomorrow and this rest of this week, I get to go to orientation for a job that I have been working for almost a month already. I get to miss actually doing my job because of "training" and will probably fall behind. Which to me seems counterproductive since I'm going to spend it doing things like "fire safety" and "sexual harassment", instead of doing my job. I know it's protocol, but I wish I could have done it before I started instead of now.

Edited September 14, 2015 by blueray

[potatoradio]

 

Seriously, why sweat something so small?  I'd rather have blessings from someone than a curse any day.  Pretend it came from whatever deity you prefer, but I don't get offended when people say it to me

 

in my experience, it's the "small stuff" that really adds up to a completely toxic work environment. I'm not advocating a completely sterile, robotic work environment with zero room for "character and atmosphere," but work isn't the place for people to let their [whatever] personal flag fly, either. It's like the rule for polite company - don't bring politics, religion or abortion into the arena and things stand a better chance of remaining somewhat more civil for everyone.

 

One of my coworkers picked up a bunch of Bibles that were being given out on the street corner and jokingly distributed them to us, saying "well, you'd better get right with God," or "pray the problem away." Well, he didn't mean anything malicious, and I"m sure he thought it was a "small thing," but one of my coworkers is a Christian and another one grew up Catholic and, while they're both fairly liberal, I don't think what my coworker did was cool, either.

 

As much as I hate how mismanaged and pointless our sensitivity/diversity seminars have become (here at my workplace), the point underneath all those dreaded powerpoints remains true: really, nobody WANTS to be at work, so try to focus on making it a supportive, fun atmosphere instead of your personal pulpit or playground.

 

Because small stuff can lead up to this b*llshit:

 

 

Here is a "nice" work story for you.  Our assistant manager who always had a bad temper was having a bad day.  A 68 year old co-worker asked him a question about the clock we needed to time our assignments (it was not working properly).  Assistant manager started screaming at co-worker then ripped the clock off the wall and threw it at her!  Co-worker left work in tears.  Called HR.  HR "investigated" asked co-worker "haven't you ever had a bad day?"   Nothing happened to assistant manager. He never even apologized.  He did however wait a few weeks and then wrote that co-worker up for being late from break.  She has worked there for 13 years and has never been written up before and has never been late from break.

 

*facepalm*

 

Yeah, I've had a bad day. I don't resort to violence in the workplace.

 

I once called an "employee assistance hotline," which was supposed to be for anonymous complaints and support. A coworker was being bullied and I'd never witnessed anything, so there was little I could do, but I wanted to know what my options were. The woman on the other end of the line said,

 

"Oh, potatoradio...I think you should keep a jar of candy on your desk. When someone complains, figure they're having a bad hair day and give them a treat. It'll make you both feel better."

 

"Uh....she's not complaining. She's being forced out of her job. Is there anything I can do?"

 

"If only we had a crystal ball and really could see what was going on, right? Everyone has bad days; just smile and maybe do something fun, like decorate the break room. That would lift everyone's spirits!"

 

Yes, well, I can see why this "benefit" was completely free to employees....

 

 

 

 

 

[ABay]

In my experience, Human Resources is only there to cover corporate ass and not actually, you know, help humans. Complaints about managers go nowhere. Managers are never sacked for being batshit crazy and/or flaming assholes, which most of them are, so I guess if they were fired there would only be the people who really do the work left. And we can't have that. Apparently.

[auntlada]

Here is a "nice" work story for you.  Our assistant manager who always had a bad temper was having a bad day.  A 68 year old co-worker asked him a question about the clock we needed to time our assignments (it was not working properly).  Assistant manager started screaming at co-worker then ripped the clock off the wall and threw it at her!  Co-worker left work in tears.  Called HR.  HR "investigated" asked co-worker "haven't you ever had a bad day?"   Nothing happened to assistant manager. He never even apologized.  He did however wait a few weeks and then wrote that co-worker up for being late from break.  She has worked there for 13 years and has never been written up before and has never been late from break.

In my experience, Human Resources is only there to cover corporate ass and not actually, you know, help humans. Complaints about managers go nowhere. Managers are never sacked for being batshit crazy and/or flaming assholes, which most of them are, so I guess if they were fired there would only be the people who really do the work left. And we can't have that. Apparently.

The thing to do is manage to get hit by the clock next time (but not too hard), report it, then if (when) it is ignored, get lawyers or the state labor board involved.

[janestclair]

Tomorrow and this rest of this week, I get to go to orientation for a job that I have been working for almost a month already. I get to miss actually doing my job because of "training" and will probably fall behind. Which to me seems counterproductive since I'm going to spend it doing things like "fire safety" and "sexual harassment", instead of doing my job. I know it's protocol, but I wish I could have done it before I started instead of now.

 

The district where I work has outsourced all of the training on sexual harassment, substance abuse, etc, and put them all online. We are expected to complete them on our own time.  Without pay. It's ridiculous, and they're the same every year.  Although they finally fixed the bit in the blood borne pathogens one that used to say you could get HIV from saliva.   How about no?

[magicdog]

Our assistant manager who always had a bad temper was having a bad day.  A 68 year old co-worker asked him a question about the clock we needed to time our assignments (it was not working properly).  Assistant manager started screaming at co-worker then ripped the clock off the wall and threw it at her!

 

 

That's assault!  I'd call the cops and have it written up as a criminal complaint.  Stuff like this can't be rationalized away as a "bad day".  Perhaps also consider a lawsuit against the guy and/or the company.  Chat with a lawyer ASAP!  This kind of behavior will only continue otherwise.

[bilgistic]

Boss, who is out of town today, read a booklet I wrote and sent back to the designer with edits. Our email exchanges follow.

Boss:

I’m fairly sure proper grammer is:

Within a half mile of the buildings
is [NAME OF] Mall

mall is singular.

Me:

Read the whole sentence.

[This is the sentence:

Within a half mile of the buildings are [NAME OF] Mall—the largest mall in the [AREA] area and the most upscale mall between [CITY] and [CITY]; more than 50 dining establishments; innumerable shopping venues; seven fitness facilities; 11 bank branches; and six hotels with another two under construction.]

 

Boss:

I’ve been drinking on a boat all day.

But I see what you mean.  It is an awkward sentence.

 

How about, if you can't SPELL "grammar", don't question me about mine! Let me do my job and you do yours, which today is apparently drinking on a boat with a "client". It's never, "Oh, you're right. Pardon me for questioning your education and experience." Do I EVER question him about pricing an office building?? Fuck off, seriously!

Edited September 14, 2015 by bilgistic

[auntlada]

If you hadn't called him "him," I'd swear I knew what happened to my previous boss after she (finally) got fired. My proudest moment in almost 20 years at that company was that I outlasted her. I was one of only four or five people out of 40-50 who didn't leave in the three years she was there.

[bilgistic]

He's been our department leader (loose definition of the word) since last May, right before I started at the company. His former "partner" (co-broker) was "fired" (I don't know the story behind that), and my two predecessors (my job was done by two people) left within several months of each other. One is still at the company in a different role and another went to another office in another city. I'm not sure when the analyst left, but her replacement started only two months before I did. The common denominator in all of this is him.

He'll never get fired or get in trouble. He's the director's golden boy. Director came by today and Boss is out of the office, as I mentioned. Director (his boss) asked us where he was. Analyst told him, and he was just, like, "Oh." and walks away practically whistling. I wondered aloud how Boss doesn't have to let HIS boss know when he's not going to be in the office!

Meanwhile, Boss texts me ON MY PHONE THAT IS NOT PAID FOR BY THE COMPANY if I'm not in my seat at precisely 9:00 a.m., despite working 10-plus-days. So...he can be treated like a grownup but I can't? (And I'm older than him!)

Edited September 15, 2015 by bilgistic

[jenh526]

It occurred to me last night that with all the manager abuse being heaped upon employees, there should be (much) more recourse for employees than going to useless/not-on-your-side HR or phoning a hotline to be condescended to, or having to go through an expensive, time-consuming legal battle. I think we should bring unions back. Not just for line workers, but also for average everyday office workers.

[ABay]

All nonmanagerial workers should have unions. They're the only way to guarantee a modicum of protection aginst the idiots in charge.

[potatoradio]

 

 

 

All nonmanagerial workers should have unions. They're the only way to guarantee a modicum of protection aginst the idiots in charge.

Completely agree. As someone who's trying to get a union organized here, though, I can tell you it's a very unpopular stance. White collar workers tend to be quite cynical and, when pressed, don't really want to rock the boat. That's a gross generalization, but I do realize that unionizing around white collar/office issues is very different from unionizing around the physically unsafe conditions that rallied steel workers, auto workers, etc. We don't have a great deal in common with teachers, either, so we're in a bit of unchartered territory.

 

I am so tired of the rhetoric, "Well, you should be glad you have a job. Lots of people will take your job if you hate it so much. Why don't you just take your concerns to your manager and work to fix your problems from within?"  Holy smokes, where to even START with that shite...

 

 

 

[potatoradio]

 

The unions of today are not the unions from the beginning. Totally different mind set.

 

Absolutely - it's why I think it's critical to discuss options for evolving or reinventing new unions. Workplaces and workers have changed a lot since unions were first formed. It gets difficult, because reinventing the wheel takes a lot of open discussions and listening and you generally don't walk away from those conversations with a neat list of action items.

 

Yesterday, we had our big "retreat," where we were slide whipped and talked at for hours and hours about the Strategic Plan. Because it's important to "have a voice" in this behemoth. Voice, my arse. Groupthink and "I'll say anything to just get the hell outta here" mentality was more like it. And then, the Big Cheese announced that "we seem to be running ahead of schedule. Well, I'll just fill in with a bit here." And proceeded to yammer on about god knows what for half an hour because gawd forbid we should get out EARLY. And no, the ice cream bar did not make up for that crap. I don't even like ice cream all that much and, even if it had been a Ben and Jerry's dipped in edible gold, I would rather have had the extra half hour.

 

 

 

 

[ABay]

I have experience with unions and if you want to get the bad apples out of management by having the managers be part of a union, the opposite will happen.

That isn't what I said.  I said: All nonmanagerial workers should have unions.They're the only way to guarantee a modicum of protection aginst the idiots in charge. Quite clearly excluding managers from my wish, I thought, although they might be in their own. They should certainly not be in the same one as the people they supervise. 

 

I also have experience with unions, and in my experience, a collective bargaining agreement is the only way to ensure any amount of due process for nonmanagerial employees. 

[jenh526]

I am so tired of the rhetoric, "Well, you should be glad you have a job. Lots of people will take your job if you hate it so much. Why don't you just take your concerns to your manager and work to fix your problems from within?"  Holy smokes, where to even START with that shite...

 

Many people have drunk the Kool-Aid...

[potatoradio]

Thanks, StewedSquash - it's helpful to hear another perspective. 

 

I don't think anyone believes unions can magically resolve workplace conflicts or that they prevent employees from standing up for themselves and using other resources to manage conflict. I think, though, that without the actual legally binding power to *negotiate* working conditions (not dictate), workers remain in a very disadvantaged position, regardless of how well they may get on with management or enjoy their job.

 

But, like I said, I'm sort of looking at this from ground zero, so I have a lot to learn.

 

Cheers -

[bilgistic]

Absolutely - it's why I think it's critical to discuss options for evolving or reinventing new unions. Workplaces and workers have changed a lot since unions were first formed. It gets difficult, because reinventing the wheel takes a lot of open discussions and listening and you generally don't walk away from those conversations with a neat list of action items.

Yesterday, we had our big "retreat," where we were slide whipped and talked at for hours and hours about the Strategic Plan. Because it's important to "have a voice" in this behemoth. Voice, my arse. Groupthink and "I'll say anything to just get the hell outta here" mentality was more like it. And then, the Big Cheese announced that "we seem to be running ahead of schedule. Well, I'll just fill in with a bit here." And proceeded to yammer on about god knows what for half an hour because gawd forbid we should get out EARLY. And no, the ice cream bar did not make up for that crap. I don't even like ice cream all that much and, even if it had been a Ben and Jerry's dipped in edible gold, I would rather have had the extra half hour.

I'm laughing, because my boss wanted us (our team of three) to have a "team building-slash-reward day", and I was asked what I wanted to do. I said, "If it's a reward, give me the day off." He wanted to spend the day at his in-laws' house on the lake. Me plus your whole family of rich people who I've never met and will think I'm fat white trash who is stuck up because I'm quiet? And scary because of my tattoos? And a pain in the ass because I'm a vegetarian? Sign me up!!

I feel like I've maybe told this story before.

Since I hurt my foot, I'm hoping I won't be forced to go on some stupid retreat. Knock wood, I've not heard anything about it since then. I'm still in the boot for another three weeks. The weather is starting to get chilly, so at least swimming is out. THANK GOD.

Edited September 16, 2015 by bilgistic

[bubbls]

 

I'm laughing, because my boss wanted us (our team of three) to have a "team building-slash-reward day", and I was asked what I wanted to do. I said, "If it's a reward, give me the day off." He wanted to spend the day at his in-laws' house on the lake. Me plus your whole family of rich people who I've never met and will think I'm fat white trash who is stuck up because I'm quiet? And scary because of my tattoos? And a pain in the ass because I'm a vegetarian? Sign me up!!

 

I'd love to be a fly on the potato salad should that day ever arrive, lol.

[DeLurker]

If I were the type, I'd manage to do a slip-n-fall at the folks' lake house.  I imagine that the prospects of a lawsuit/insurance claim while attending company function at a private residence owned by his in-laws would cause a great deal of discomfort and fun family get togethers for him.

[potatoradio]

Not even Marilyn Manson can drown out the politics today. Gah. Coworker asked me a week or so ago if I could get something done on his project. I said, sure, I could do part of it; the other part would require more development. Pointed out a few things that might need tweaking. Meanwhile, get a few "emergency" projects piled on by Fearless Leader, so attend to those and Mr. Special's Project sits. Now, suddenly, Mr. Special has scheduled a weekly "stand up" meeting to check in, "just to see how things are going, see if we're waiting on anything," and I just overheard him say, "well, the project is ready to go, it's the most amazing thing ever, but we're waiting on Potatoradio's deliverables."

 

Dear Your Specialness of Amazingness - if you're waiting on something from me, friggin' ask me. You can stand outside my door and jabber small talk all day long, you can passive-aggressively schedule weekly "check in" meetings, you can try to throw me under the bus...you're free to do all of those, but it would be so much better if you just asked me the f*cking question!!

 

But I guess I'll just wait until our stand up meeting to tell you that you need to learn to listen and be direct with people if you want their help. 

 

Game face - activate!

[Sandman87]

I'm laughing, because my boss wanted us (our team of three) to have a "team building-slash-reward day", and I was asked what I wanted to do. I said, "If it's a reward, give me the day off." He wanted to spend the day at his in-laws' house on the lake. Me plus your whole family of rich people who I've never met and will think I'm fat white trash who is stuck up because I'm quiet? And scary because of my tattoos? And a pain in the ass because I'm a vegetarian? Sign me up!!

 

Twice during my life I've had managers try to "reward" me by sticking me on a bus with my coworkers and take us to eat lunch at a restaurant that's at least a two hour drive from the office. Yeah, that's just what I want, to spend all day with a bunch of people that I spend all day every day with.

 

The first time I talked my boss into letting me just go to work that day and do my job while everyone else took Hell's Own Road Trip. Many of them ended up drinking too much, making for a somewhat messy and smelly trip back).

 

The second time (at a different company) I got the day off. Afterward a couple of the coworkers told me that I didn't miss much.

[bilgistic]

I heard on the radio once years ago that for what used to be called "Secretary's Day" (*bristles fur, hisses*), the survey sample majority said they'd RATHER EAT DIRT (literal dirt) than be "treated to lunch" with their boss. I think about that EVERY TIME I "get" to go to lunch with my boss. AND ALSO HOW I SPRAINED EVERYTHING IN MY FOOT THAT ONE TIME. And how I'm still wearing a boot on said foot. Yeah, that's been super.

[magicdog]

I've had managers try to "reward" me by sticking me on a bus with my coworkers and take us to eat lunch at a restaurant that's at least a two hour drive from the office. Yeah, that's just what I want, to spend all day with a bunch of people that I spend all day every day with.

 

I had that happen years ago when I worked in medical billing.  I worked "soft collections".  That means I was the one who gently would call and persuade patients to send a little something to pay their bills - or at the very least straighten things out with the insurance companies.  I was quite good at it too!  Even if the patient could pay 5-10 bucks a week was fine - they were paying down their debt and it didn't have to be anything unreasonable for their modest budgets.  Our supervisors bragged that if we brought in "X" amount of money at the end of the month we'd get a reward.  Sure enough I was rewarded - with a 10 dollar gift card at the local grocery store.  They also promised that if everyone at the office brought in "XX" amount of money that month, we'd all have dinner at Lawry's. 

 

Yay? 

 

I'm all for steak but prefer to eat with friends and family, not most co-workers.

 

This is also the place in which we were spied upon by the supervisor's toadie (since both were female - toad-ette would be more appropriate).  She used to hover around our break room hoping for some dirt.  We all knew she was there - and began having our breaks in the break room downstairs. 

Edited September 18, 2015 by magicdog

[backformore]

This is also the place in which we were spied upon by the supervisor's toadie (since both were female - toad-ette would be more appropriate).  She used to hover around our break room hoping for some dirt.  We all knew she was there - and began having our breaks in the break room downstairs.

What?  magicdog, that's no way to act!   When someone is spying, looking for gossip, you just make shit up!   Affairs, drinking on the job, sex tapes, make stuff up, only use nicknames, to confuse her about exactly WHO you're talking about.   Give just enough details to drive her crazy.