Posted on 08/31/2006 by the cynic
Viewed: 278 times
This didn't happen today or anything, but I have a lot of stories about it and it's a big pet peeve of mine. Coworkers and/or bosses who are normally "snippy" are annoying, but it's 10 times worse if you are trying to do something NICE for them, and they still snip.
Example:
--Working in a group home: I found what I thought was a suicide note in a kid's bag (Not "I'm going to shoot myself," but "This life isn't worth it and I think about death a lot"). We were MANDATED reporters, meaning any suicide had to be reported immediately to the child's primary counselor. So I pulled the note from the kid's bag to show to her, as per protocol (better safe than sorry). The woman REAMED me for HALF AN HOUR about "stealing things from children, especially their means of expressing themselves," and when a coworker stepped in and said, "Cool it, maybe she just interpreted it differently," the woman looked at him with fire in her eyes and said ?WHAT????? and continued reaming me.
--Working as a social work intern: We were trying to plan a party for a kid leaving (wrote about this before). Snippy coworker snapped at me and REPORTED me for "approaching her" to ask if I could help buy supplies for the party or prepare for it. How dare I approach her highness? When the boss called me in, I told her I was trying to do the woman a favor, and heard about how "It's not your place as a student to approach someone with your ideas. You take her ideas."
--Working my current job: My desk is kept locked because I keep confidential stuff in it. I offered to give the spare key to my boss, so he could get to his files if I'm ever sick, on vacation, etc. He gives me this Look, glances at his buddy like, "What is this girl smoking?" and says? "Umm, WHAT KEY?" I say, "the key to the drawer." he says, "Uhh, no....I don't need it, thanks. Why would I need it?" then glances back at his buddy in an "Ohhh-kay, psycho talk" sort of way.
Actually my least "snippy' work experience was when I worked with the Europeans and the British. They seem much less prone to bring emotion to work than we are for some reason. Also, this mostly happens with females, the exception being my boss in the third story who is male.
Enough me--anyone else had experiences where you got spanked for trying to do someone a favor?
POST A COMMENTthe confessor(08/31/2006)
Social service work is amongst the worst as far as attracting bullies and control freaks. For them it's irresistable-the opportunity to control and jerk around not only clients, but front-line support staff as well. They are easy to pick out. Quick to criticize almost any action, and quick to punish as well. They often take the fast-track to case manager or program head to avoid contact with the clients. In fact they really don't care for the clients at all. I worked briefly in a foster program for youth-at-risk. One of my staff placed a kid on restrictions for eavesdropping on her supposedly talking in private. I found out that the child had accidentally overheard her having phone sex with the program director while the kid was trying tpo get into the bathroom. These folks are sick...you are not.
the cynic(08/31/2006)
Funny you mention that. When I was working at that same group home, the same woman who yelled at me about the suicide note smoked a cigarette outside, then came back in and tried to frame one of the kids for smoking in the bathroom (the smell wafted inside). Tore apart his whole room for a "search" and everything. Currently I'm in "for profit" not social services anymore, but dealing with my new boss remains to be seen.
the confessor(08/31/2006)
When I first discovered bullyonline.org, I was shocked to find an ENTIRE SECTION on social service abuse and workers. These folks need more help than the clients we were trying to serve! I used to joke that the guys would do better if allowed to run the place themselves....
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