Stress at Work
By maturestudent
Last week I had coffee with an ex colleague who is still working for the large global organisation I worked at for 5 years. She is returning to work after maternity leave and already her anxiety levels are high. I left the same company in June 2012 and can honestly say I think it was the best decision I ever made. I'm now a mature student (hence the handle), taking the time to reconsider my options while I expand my mind. I question why it took me so long to leave a situation that made me so unhappy and destroyed my confidence? Money etc. aside, it was more than that, what stopped me? And also, why do people stay in organisations that make them so unhappy?
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By tired of jerks at work:i agree this is the reason unions were founded so workplace would be equal from the top down and not get mistreated by the owners or leaders..
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By John Ptacek
In search of inner peace some of us head off to an ashram, a spiritual retreat center where a teacher facilitates physical and emotional healing. Within the serene confines of an ashram, visitors gain deeper insights into their existence and learn to live in harmony with their fellow human beings.
When an ashram stay ends, the real challenge begins. Putting newly discovered insights into practice within the realm of day-to-day living is easier said than done. The chasm between theory and practice is immense. It's like the difference between practicing telling your boss off in front of your bathroom mirror and actually doing it in your boss's office. It is only in the mirror of our relationships with others that we get a true picture of who we are, as opposed to who we imagine ourselves to be.
If your schedule or bank account prevents you from booking a stay at an ashram, there's another place you can go to find inner peace. Here, spiritual teachers abound and learning sessions fit in nicely with your work schedule.
Actually, they exactly match your work schedule.
I'm talking about your 9 to 5 ashram: your workplace.
It might not have the mystical aura of a formal ashram, but it has all the elements you'll need to put you in touch with your inner self.
Who are your spiritual teachers? The people who drive you nuts every day. The people whose behavior is so offensive that you think about them long after you leave work each day. The people you blame for your rising anxiety, your foul moods and your broken sleep patterns. These are the teachers who can point you toward the root of your suffering, the teachers whose lessons you must ultimately absorb if you want to find inner peace.
To convert your workplace into an ashram, you simply need to come to work every day with a new focus. You need to develop what a spiritual teacher might refer to as a third eye. Instead of focusing on how others act, you develop an awareness of how you react.
Rather than contemplate what a lazy slob your coworker is, what a dictator your boss is, or what an empty suit your president is, you contemplate how your personal judgments of those sharing your work space are the real reasons behind your emotional meltdowns. Instead of shaking your fist at their behavior, imagine your hand clutching a mirror that reflects an image of your angry face. It is the expression of a person who has yet to look inside and observe that unhappiness is completely self-inflicted.
Until you grasp this truth, your workplace will continue to be a combat zone. You will continue to think that the behavior of your colleagues must change in order for you to be happy, and there's no chance of that happening. None. They are who they are, and their personalities aren't going to change just because you want them to. Making your happiness conditional on the behavior of others is a doomed strategy. But then, you know this better than anyone.
So what can you do? How can you step out of this pattern of judgment that sends your blood pressure soaring every day and creates a toxic atmosphere for those unlucky enough to work anywhere near you? The mechanics behind the meditation process offer a way out.
At its base, meditation is simply developing an awareness of your thoughts, which are the real culprits behind your unhappiness. By watching your thoughts, you detach yourself from them. You watch them pass by as you would a stream of cars from the side of a highway. Whereas before it felt as if you were stuck in traffic, now you are removed from the action. Another part of you has come into play, a dimension of awareness that is just as much a part of you as your thoughts. Your thoughts continue to move under their own power, but you remain still. It is in this stillness that you will experience inner peace.
At an ashram they might give a name to this witnessing dimension, but you don't have to call it anything. Simply to understand that there is more to you than the endless stream of thoughts parading through your mind is a subtle but game-changing insight. Why? Because you are no longer relying on thought as an antidote to your anxiety. Thinking is what got you into this mess, and more thinking isn't going to get you out of it – not for long, anyway.
The stress-reduction strategies you conceived at 3:00 AM while you stared at the cracks in your bedroom ceiling haven't worked because you were seeking answers in the same dimension that created them – thought. But by stepping out of thought into a dimension of awareness, by becoming a studious observer of your thoughts, you will have the means to find the peace that has so far eluded you.
Changing the way you think will not lead you to inner peace; instead, you must change your relationship with thought. As you come to know yourself as thought's witness, the sliver of space separating you and your thoughts will grow into a gap, and eventually it will seem as if you are watching them from across a football field. In this state you may leave work pondering what's for dinner rather than what's wrong with the boneheads you are forced to work with every day. This will be a good day for you. And it will be an especially good day for the boneheads who've had to put up with you.
John Ptacek's essays explore the unquestioned assumptions that limit our capacity for happiness. They appear on his website, On Second Thought, www.johnptacek.com.
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By Tiredofit:Great essay. I want to learn more!
By Sphincter detector:Although I would like to subscribe to these existential principals of thought, I can't help 'thinking', that by removing myself from my thoughts that I would be passively absolving the offender from being accountable for their behaviors and ultimately enabling them to continue. In fact, I believe we CAN change peoples' behaviors by abandoning the distorted notions of political correctness and concepts of social politeness that we've been brainwashed to accept. I have found that people will only continue to act in a certain way so long as other people allow for it, so long as we continue to accommodate or ignore those behaviors in the name of propriety. The first time you effectively address bad behavior by firmly calling out the obnoxious act, articulate the negative impact it has on you, and issue a stern 'cease and desist' with or without an ultimatum as appropriate, they do tend to stop-just like any school yard bully, or at least stop doing it to you anyway! Command your respect, make your silent “statement of authority “ known by setting boundaries. Find your inner power and do not fear consequence. Weigh your options, sometimes you're better off temporarily unemployed or single, than to be under someone's thumb, enslaved and perpetually disgruntled.
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By I've Finally Had Enough
I have been working at my current job for over three years now and things have gotten to the point that I've just had enough. I really don't know how I've lasted this long. I guess collecting a pay check was enough and now I don't think it's worth putting up with for what I make. It literally gets worse and worse.
So let's start at the beginning. March 2008 I was took the job under a normal 90 day probational period for a Monday - Friday 40 hour per week position after which I was supposed to get a dollar raise and was told that there was definitely room for advancement.
My third day on the job I was told I was going to be but on a Saturday rotation having to work every forth Saturday for four to six hours in addition to the other forty hours. I went to the office and complained to the man who hired me who then got me taken off the rotation, because they started me in a position that was meant for someone else and they got the position that was offered to me.
My probation period was up for several weeks and I did not get the hourly rate I was promised when I took the position. During that time the man who hired me was let go. The company was under new leadership (This man had worked for the company for many years and was a tyrant. He lied, manipulated employees, pitted employees against others, was not clear with goals, set employees up for failure, the list goes on and on). I go back to the to the HR office to complain after a total of one month. We get paid every two weeks and I waited to check the rate on my pay stubs. I was told my raise would have to be approved. Approved? I thought. It was what was offered to me to take the job. The raise was on my next check. I was not compensated for the previous months lack of raise, however.
I continued to work for months upon months doing what ever was ask of me and more just to make sure deadlines were met. Many times being the first to arrive and the last to leave. Many times 7:00 am. to 7:00 pm. By the way this department is completely unsupervised. It is not located in the main building of the company.
Eventually the tyrant quit and left for a new job. So we were under new leadership yet again. However, this time things seemed to be going in a better direction. Policies and procedures were reviewed with the help of the current staff and changes were made to correct the problems created by the old leadership.
I ask to move to another department only to have them move someone that did not work there as long as I had.
Several positions open and are filled with people who have not worked there as long as me. The company even paid for some to take classes to make them more qualified.
I continue to work very hard. Taking on extra responsibilities. Rewriting SOP's, making sure everything in my department would pass an audit. There were a lot of things uncovered after the tyrant left. I came in on the weekends for extra projects. Came up with solutions on how to do all by responsibilities when overtime was cut off. Was appointed to the safety committee, i.e. more responsibilities. During this time I inquired about moving to a higher position. I was turned down. I also mentioned that my position was getting too big for one person.
During this time a friend of our director was hired in my department. She was told that I was to help with some of her responsibilities. This message was not conveyed to me. So I continued on with my responsibilities, which took around 45-50 hours per week. She complained I didn't do enough work, even though she was only working 40 hours. Anyway since she was the boss's friend I get stuck with more work.
All of this takes us to The fall of 2010. I use my vacation days to get married and have a honeymoon. So, a couple weeks before I train someone to do the main part of my job which no one else in the company knew how to do.
When I get back. They decided to do some restructuring to fill a vacancy left by the 2nd in command. They turned her position into two positions. They decided to move up a person who regularly missed work and did a tremendous amount on online shopping at work and a person with absolutely no leadership abilities to these positions. I was accepting of this only, because they had worked there longer.
I was offered a lateral move to another department instead of the move I wanted in a slightly higher department [the move I wanted was offered to the same person who was moved before me the first time I wanted to move-she was shafted also, she was told she would be have certain responsibilities and after her training would get a raise, they hired an outside person to do that part of the job and didn't give her the raise]. The department I was moved to was behind. I liked this department and liked learning new things. It was a slight transition to go from unsupervised to supervised. The supervisor of this department was told they were putting her in charge of the department I just left in a management meeting. I volunteered to work extra to catch up. I worked Saturdays before they made them mandatory. I worked every Saturday as a newly wed for months to reach the end of the year goals. I sacrificed the first few months of my marriage, my husband works second shift, I only got to see him on the weekends. I was also, still covering some of my old departments responsibilities, because while I was on my honey moon, my replacement got behind and refused to learn some of the responsibilities. In late January I finally complain and request that I only work in the new department and it is agreed I should not have to so both. They split my old position to two positions. At this point we are getting huge projects and are way under staffed to do them. All of us in the department are working 50-60 hours a week. During this time I came to work and worked in the dark one day because I had a migraine, but I went in because stuff was due that day. And the next week I had another migraine that came on while I was there, I left work, drove home, took a nap, got a prescription for migraines, went back to worked and finished working my hours for the day. Turns out I had a sinus infection that I didn't get checked out because I was spending too much time at work. I ended up going to a walk in clinic over lunch the next week. Everyone was just becoming burned out. In April one person quits telling them it is just to much. They told her they were going to hire more help. In May we get the new hire, however the person that quit was not replaced. So we are in the same boat. I have only called off twice in the over three years that I have worked here. Once the day after my best friend since I was five years old died in a car accident and the other we had a bad snow storm and my road was not plowed so I couldn't get there.
Let's get to the icing on the cake.
It was a Tuesday a couple of weeks ago. A Sunday rotation is put out. It is for 12:30p.m.-1:30p.m. I do not work on Sundays. The one day I never volunteered to work and would not. I tell the manager the hands me the notice that I do not work Sundays. He tells me to talk to the manager. So I tell my supervisor my concerns. It interferes, with church, I live almost an hour away, It would cost more in gas then I would make. She goes to the director. The director says it is not too much to ask and there is no added compensation. I'm sorry but it is too much to require me to work my Sabbath. The same Tuesday they announce that they are promoting a girl that has worked there since January of this year to be the supervisor of the department I used to work in. This girl has been working for the company for less than a year doing half of my old responsibilities and only knows one part of the department that I know every part of. They want me to help her learn the responsibilities of that department. They already promised that position to someone else anyway.
I am so tired of working for a company that has no integrity and does not respect religious beliefs and family values. Did I fail to mention that all the people who have been moved up go out to happy hour on a regular basis with the owner of the company. The fun buddies move up while hard working loyal employees just become work horses.
I put in for the five vacation days I have earned for the week after next. Next week I am turning in my two weeks notice.
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By anonymous:do not,
repeat:
do not turn in your notice unless you have found another job. if you have not another job offer yet keep looking during vacation time. it's very difficult to look for a job while working as much as you do but it has to be done. in today's job market it is next to impossible to be offered another job due to resigning and being unemployed. find another job - then leave this ungrateful place and see it go down the tubes. drinking buddies are terrible workers. we've all seen departments fail when bosses hire and promote drinking buddies,@sskissers and their sex bimbos. you deserve better.
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By Printing Fool
I have been in a Printer for a number of years (and years). I have had to work overtime at the drop of a hat because A: Customers do not plan well and haven't a clue how a print gets on a page, and B: Print Shop owners are greedy and it's against their religion to tell a customer that they'll have to wait till next week. I have had to work many weekends because someone will be fired or will die without the printing job being done on Monday first thing, only to see it still sitting all packaged up on the floor the coming Wednesday!!!!! Another oldie but goodie is when a holiday is pending, no one in the business world seems to have their mind on their job and just didn't get around to the print shop, but guess what, in they come 10 minutes to closing time and has to have it first thing after the holidays. You guessed it, it's always a working slob like myself who doesn't get a holiday because this nit wit of an office worker didn't plan well. I have forgone so many vacations, haven't had one in 14 years, finally took a whole week off several months ago.I have had to work through the flu, bad colds, and one time I was having chest pains and my boss still made me come in. You office workers are going to put me in my grave someday, so I am asking you real nice, please, PLEASE, plan your printing projects with some forethought and leave enough time so I can do an excellent job for you. Just remember that when you pull antics like that a poor working slob like myself, who is almost burned out has to toil late into the night, on weekends, through holidays just to get your crap out. I'm sick of it. I am saying no for now on, and have already told my boss no several times. I'm going to put in 40 hours like a normal working drone and I'm going home!!!!
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By printing fool:I know why no one has left a comment is because what I say can't be refuted in any way, shape or form. Just wanted to state further that since I have taken a stand against doing excessive overtime my employer has had to break the sad news to some customers that they will have to wait till next week. Guess what, all of the customers who had to wait didn't die are still alive and well to this day. Don't wait till you have that next to last invoice, or last envelope, or that last menu, because I am determined to always say NO! You are going to have to wait. Or you can go to another shop and be charged for double the money for a rush charge. Of course I blame the printing industry for some of the illusion that we printers all have magic wands that we can wave and we have instant printing. There is nothing instant about it. A file has to be put on a plate, if it's a special PMS color the ink has to be mixed, if it's two color that increased the "set up" time by at least an half hour. Depending on the job it could take me an hour to an hour and a half to finally engage the press to print. So fair warning, there are not alot of us old printers around anymore, most products are done on digital printers, which is fine in smaller batches, but the type of jobs I do number into 20 to 100000 thousand impressions. So if I'm upset about missing a day off or a holiday, it's no small thing. What I do takes hours, and hours. Just thought I would enlighten you to the realities of what it's like to do this kind of work. It's very detail oriented, very precise work, and you are expected to turn out a perfect product in the fasted time possible. So, have a heart, plan well for your next printing project and know that printers every where only want to do their best and give you the best for your money. I love my job, and I love being a printer but I don't want to do it 70 hours a week! Thankyou for listening to my rant.
By CubicleMouse:I couldn't tell if your boss was paying overtime or not, but if he isn't, then shame on him. This is all on your boss, who should be charging rush fees to discourage this kind of thing. Yeah, some hard case might object that doing so could lose customers. But a business can only thrive if the amount of work put in produces a profit. If you find yourself doing twice the work for the same fee, it's time to rethink your business strategy.
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By missmyoldjob
I work in a huge fileroom. We receive and transfer files out to other offices. The work is easy, the pay is good, my job is stable, my sanity... not so much!
Sure, I have had my fair share of incompetent workers... the ones that were always late, the ones that could never say anything nice, the ones that could never finish their work so the supervisor would give you some of their work to do. I could deal with these people individually but now I have to deal with one person who encompasses all the traits listed above.
He's been with the organization for 18 years and has the most experience than anyone else in the office. The only problem is, he has some sort of social anxiety disorder so going to him for help doesn't work. He doesn't say much and I was very put off by him when I first came on board because he always sighed when I asked him for help.
He doesn't like to drive when it's raining out. I do not lie. If it's pouring he won't be in. This is really weird to me considering we live in one of the rainiest cities in the US. You'd think he'd learn how to drive in the rain or at least be comfortable when the weather presents such a situation.
He asks for vacation days on the day of scheduled vacation time. Meaning, he will call on Friday morning to say he won't be coming in today because he wants the day off. This is perfectly okay with our manager. This happens every other week.
As far as workload goes, we have different piles of files that gradually get bigger and bigger if you don't work on them. I like to grab a stack of files whereas he will grab one off the top and work on it for about 30 minutes. I think he sees my eagerness to get things done as a way of slacking off.
30 minutes before his shift is over, he turns off his computer. We actually need the computer to do data entry on files and transfer them to other departments. That's how the fileroom works! For some reason he'd rather sit around doing nothing, which I think causes the last 30 minutes of the day to go by slower!
I've never had to deal with a person like this. I don't feel right discussing the situation with our manager because of his disorder. I really looked forward to a future with this office but after finding out how this one coworker is, I don't think I could be here for much longer.
Anyone else have to deal with a situation like this? Please help.
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By Wage Slave:Sorry but your manager is probably already aware of everything you wrote. Managers ignore driftwood because they know they can't get any work out of them. I have noticed managers will ignore the lazy old timers and ride the newbies. I have been at my job for 12 years so I am in the middle, not a newbie not yet an old timer.
A friend of mine is a surgical nurse. She said a doctor berated her for preparation work that wasn't done by a lazy old-timer nurse. She called the doctor aside and said, "What gives, that preparation was the old timers responsibility." The doctor said, "I know but if you have 2 horses and 1 is lame and 1 runs which one would you whip to go faster?"
It is little comfort but I remind myself as long as the old timers are useless those of us who do work are more valuable. I have been told, in this economy those of us with jobs have to make ourselves indispensable. This slug has made you indispensable.
By econobiker:"he has some sort of social anxiety disorder so going to him for help doesn't work."
Hey, his social anxiety disorder is probably that he knows you are whipping his tail on productivity. You should begin to challenge him to little races to process files like "I wonder who could do this faster than me?" If he turns off his pc 1/2 before stop time document it and you might pull the line about "not stealing company time" around him. Let your boss know about your productivity gains so you can be considered for raises or moving up. It is possible that the guy is making, after 18 years, what you are making entry level.
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By former_ER_slave
For all of 2007 I worked in a psychiatric ER as a screener. Sure it by nature can be a somewhat stressful job but I have been in a mental health field for a while and I'm not a particularly easily stressed out person. What made this job horrible and unbearable were the supervisors and for some reason I had 3 of them! Each of them was more evil and useless than the next. One was an alcoholic with unpredictable mood swings. She would yell at everyone all day for every minor thing, and then expect people to accept her invitations to go out for drinks after work. The one above her was even worse. She was mean spirited and would yell at people on the phone all day..sometimes it was her husband, sometimes it was people who called the crisis hotline expecting help. I'm still not exactly sure what her job was, other than hanging around the unit all day infuriating me or picking on me for not doing things EXACTLY the way she wanted, whether it made any sense or not. The boss the next level up was a condensending douchbag. He acted like we should be grateful for the opportunity to be treated like shit. We weren't paid for our half hour lunch break but we weren't allowed to take it either. We were paid by the hour so they just cheated us out of 30 minutes pay per day. The place was awful. I dreaded being there and started a habit of grinding my teeth. Its two years later and I still have pain in my jaw pretty much all the time. However, I guess I was luckier than some...there was an employee who stayed longer and ended up having to spend some time at a psychiatric hospital herself!
Anyway..back to the main point. I'm in a much more pleasant job now. The co-workers are nice people. The supervisor is pretty hands off and lets us get things done the way we want. The problem is, I'm so burned out from the past terrible experience that I feel really lazy and I'm not very motivated to get much done. I realize that I should be doing more to move my career forward. I should probably be looking for other jobs because although I don't mind this one it is kind of dead end. Theres no position to move up to and everyone gets the same 2.5% annual raise regardless of performance. I now have my license to practice as a therapist, so I had planned to get into a private practice situation or at least try to find a better paying job that requires the license (my current one doesn't) but for some reason I just can't get started. I think I was in such a terrible situation before, that I am afraid to make any changes. I think I'm afraid that I might get a new job and get stuck in a bad situation like that again. Also, I guess in a way after all that torture back then, I'm enjoying having an easy job and can't imagine having to do real work again. Even thinking about it makes me tired.
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By chubby girl:I think your mind and body are taking time to heal. Take time to relax and repair yourself. It sounds like this office is laid back and exactly what you need right now. When you feel better then move forward. It took me 1 and 1/2 years to recover from 1 Toxic She-Devil of a Boss. I can only imagine what 3 losers did to you. Stay strong.
By labtech:CG is right - it takes time to recover from a bad experience. You'll get your energy back and you'll be fine.
By the confessor:Yes, it will take time for you to heal, yet you made it out and appear to be moving forward! Toxic co-workers can poison a business environment for years, even when they are removed from it. Go to bullyonline.org to get a clear understanding of what happened and all the best to you and your future!
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By Mandy Mae
I'm having trouble figuring out who to talk to about my boss. My boss. Or His Boss.
I love my Job. It's great. The people I work with are fine.
But my boss...
I have a very technical job. There are three daily deadlines each an hour apart starting an hour after I get there. My boss only talks to me when I come in. He leaves an hour or two after I get there. He never really realizes that I'm busy and can't pay attention to him RIGHT NOW. He could come back in a while, or write it down for me, but he never does. And if any response from me (Or anyone else) is not 100% what he wants to hear he says "We're doing it anyway" and leaves the room. Before any sort of expiation or discussion can happen. We try not to tell him that something can't be done. But if you even say something like his idea is way too complicated and prone to causing problems with our product he doesn't listen at all. If he would talk to us when we weren't so busy he might actually hear something closer to what he wants to hear,
He does not know how the equipment we use every day works. He knows just enough to make me nervous. He breaks one of our computers every time he touches it. But he refuses to accept "The computers won't do that." as an answer to some new thing he wants them to do, like he thinks that we don't know what's possible despite several weeks of training and nearly two years actually working with the computers and learning their quirks and capabilities.
It comes down to communication. He doesn't listen. He doesn't encourage discussion that may possibly end in him getting something better than what he wants.
I and a co-worker of mine made an appointment to talk to him a few months ago to see if we could let him know that he's not communicating well with us and we're getting burned out because of it. He decided to take the time to separate us, bring in the manager of another department and “talk” at us. It felt like an ambush. We went to try to communicate and it felt like he was yelling at us for not having sunny dispositions. We knew that we didn't, this was our attempt to fix the source of our problems.
I don't know if I should try talking to my boss again or if I should talk to his boss about him and explain that I'm really not comfortable talking to him because of his past ambush.
I'm to the point where I could start the conversation with the line: "If I left this meeting without a job, I would be truly happy for the first time in a year." I'm not going to, but I could.
By SouthernProgrammer:Questions:
#1: How long has your boss been with the company?
If he has been there a long time, he has friends in high places.
#2: How did your boss get his position?
If he was hired by a friend, this could be problems.
#3: How long have you been with the company?
You may be missing some vital information.
By Mandy Mae:He's been there at least twice my five years.
As far as I can tell he got the job because he was the oldest person in the department when his predecessor left.
And I'm not sure how much water the 'friends in high places' idea goes since all the higher up people got shifted up and sideways with a few retirements a few months ago. His old boss had him on a very tight leash and I don't think his new boss is aware of what he does or does not do.
By HaveADamnNiceDay:He's been there twice? Not sure what that means.
However, you might want to have his old boss talk to his new boss to fill him in on your idiot-in-charge. Explain what's going on and he may help you out by giving his new boss the lowdown. If he kept him on a tight leash, he will probably advise the newer guy to do the same.
By SouthernProgrammer:Ok, so we have this:
You and a co-worker attempted to have a meeting with him and the two of you basically wound up getting reprimanded by another boss.
Your bosses boss is new and doesn't really understand what he does.
Your boss appears to have seniority so he is probably seen as being a valued employee regardless of reality.
I am not sure what going to his boss would accomplish other than putting you in more hot water.
The only thing I could recommend is this: Have him DOCUMENT what he wants done and do the tasks according to his documentation and just wait for the fall out. If what you stated is correct, something will happen sooner or later.
Your boss obviously wants you to know HE is in charge and the way your company appears to be setup if you try to bypass him it will be bad for you.
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By T
So this guy, "M", is actually the guy who got me my job. He used to be my next door neighbour. He basically got me my job and then would not leave me alone for like a month. He'd listen for me to open my door and make sure he came out at the same time so we could go to work together and would annoy me all the way to work(on the subway in front of other people!) with his annoying Borat immpression. Likely he was eventually moved to another site so I've only seen him on and off for the last year and a half and we both moved so he's no longer my neighbour.
He's completely socially-retarded. In a way I feel really bad for the guy. He'll do anything to keep a convo going because he's so lonely. He's not malicious in any way but he's super clingy and if you ask him a simple question he'll drag out the answer 'til you want to take you're scissors and either end your life our his. Not only that but he constantly calls one of our co-workers on her days off to ask for price lists and floorplans that she's sent to him a million times and asks her to be ready to write a deal at 9pm on her days off which is past our working hours.
So lets fast forward to last Thursday when he was filling in for the idiot who steals food and like Plenty of Fish. My friend "R" was filling in for our admin like she usually does on thursdays and we usually spend the day chit-chatting in the back while we work. At one point I was in the front checking my email and could hear "M" and "R" talking in the back. All of a sudden "R" pops her head out and says to me "We have a tanning appointment at 6:30, right??" with a look on her face indicating to me that I need to say yes and possibly elaborate on that. So I go into the back where they both are and say "Yeah we have to be there at 6:30 sharp or they'll give our beds to someone else and we'll have to wait." Basically what was happening was "R" usually brings "M" lunch on tuesdays(my day off) and "M" drives "R" home. So on this day she didn't bring him food and he was telling her to BUY him lunch and in exchange he'll drive her home...UM??? Why would you offer someone a ride and expect something in return like food? LAME. Buy your own friggin' food and don't offer people shit, you dumbass. So then he says "OK well since I'm driving you to our meeting tomorrow at head office, you can buy me breakfast." She was like "uh well no, I'm going in with "K"."
Flash forward to the end of the day. "R" takes meds for anxiety and she was about ready to have a shit fit around the time we were about to close up. She takes he pill around the same time so she go it ready and started packing up. So then "M" starts asking he about how strong the dose is etc etc.. THEN he takes the pills out of her hand and starts googling the ingredients and the dosage on his blackberry....UM...again...WTF?? She takes off to the washrrom and when she comes back he proceeds to tell her that her dosage is too strong...Luckily I didn't hear this.( she told me after and she's to nice to put him in his place) Who is anyone, besides the doctor who prescribed the medication, to tell you that your meds are too strong???? So ya like I said totally socially retarded....The only reason these two idiots, the one who steals food and the one who doesn't know when to shut up, still have their jobs is because they rent condos from the manager and she wants to make sure she gets her money.
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By SouthernProgrammer:Whipped out a blackberry and started checking the dosage? Did he think he was starring in "House?"
Many years ago I worked with someone who was socially impaired. We had to travel for an offsite meeting with other programmers to discuss a large project.
In the middle of the meeting, while the boss was talking, my socially impaired co-worker suddenly pulled his briefcase on the table and pulled out a large handheld CB radio (for those of us who remember these things), turned it on and began fiddling with it.
The boss stared open mouthed for a few seconds and then said "[co workers name], WTH are you doing!?!?"
My co-worker replied "Trying to listen to truckers!"
This was one of the oddest things I had ever seen, except for a co-worker who went mental and put another co-worker in a headlock and tried to light his beard on fire while laughing hysterically...
By HaveADamnNiceDay:Thanks to Wikipedia everyone thinks they're an expert ^_^.
This guy's a real nutjob!
By HaveADamnNiceDay:SP-- Did your radio guy also say, "oh look, a chicken!"?
He sounds like the wierdo mental multitasker (read: Scatterbrain).
By HaveADamnNiceDay:Oh, SP--
Also, did that 'light the guy's beard' thing really happen? That's truly odd ^_^
By SouthernProgrammer:HAD - Guy #1 really wasn't a scatterbrain, he was usually quite thorough though odd. He carried handcuffs with him in his briefcase in case he needed to do a citizens arrest.
Yes, the beard thing really did happen! I worked at a warehouse and one of the employees slowly began sliding into the crazy zone. He would go sit in his car during lunch and just gun the engine over and over and over. One day, he was walking by another employee who had a beard when he whipped around and put him in a headlock and held a lit lighter near the guys beard while laughing hysterically.
It took two men to pull him off while the others guy beard was indeed singed.
At that point, the pyromaniac was sent to a mental hospital.
100% true.
By HaveADamnNiceDay:Gosh. Remind me to never grow a beard!
I don't think I've ever met anyone that loony!
By SouthernProgrammer:Had, if you like I can introduce you to him!
The loony guy was eventually released from the hospital and went to live with his elderly mom. I had to pass by the road where his moms house was located on my way to work. I would see him walking down the road smoking a cigarette and looking very disheveled with one shoe on and one shoe off...
My Grandparents actually knew his family, they used to own a LOT of land in the area and sold it to developers so the family was well off financially.
The 'loony guy' was an ordained minister at one time but then he found his dad under the porch....after his dad took his life. He had barely recovered from that when his brother repeated the act and 'LG' had a breakdown.
Mental illness ran in his family and it was truly sad, yet scary to see because he could get quite violent.
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By worker 13
There I was , in a supposed fact gathering meet with my lead and manager about the job I do and it turned out to be more of a this is how it's going to be done meeting.
I was very frustrated with the changes because they are going to cause a lot of pain and anxiety for my particular position.
every response from me came out as snide and sarcastic and the manager got so pissed off he threatened me with termination. I almost ALMOST told him to buck off. he is one of those gung ho , everything is possible super motivated Wal-Mart greeter, the world might end tomorrow with a mistake .don't screw up and we'll all be out of a job kind of people.
This guy thinks we are working at mcdonalds and can all be replaced with temporary workers.
Perhaps he is right and with the LEAN program of simplification it's almost a reality.
I suppose this gives the company an upper hand a big upper hand . just hire temps ........
I work hard and fast and do a lot , know a lot and carry the load( 21 years of service). Yet they want to make it over complicated . They talk a good line about giving help but if it costs anything they aren't willing to JUSTIFY IT..
they always have an out. They say it without writing it down that way they can deny it later . I always ask for what changes they want in writing and it totally gets under their skin.
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By BonusOnus:Dude,
If managers won't put things in writing, that's a red flag. That means that they are trying to set you up for failure or they will try to deny things in the future.Ask, no demand, that they put their requests to you in writing (email would be fine). Tell them that you are seeing too many changes and want things to be clear and thus want it in writing.
Any manager/lead who refuses to put things in writing/email is someone trying to hide things.
By HaveADamnNiceDay:My boss seems to have a similar problem. I've sent her emails asking her questions and she responds with "Don't waste time with email! Just ask me instead!" I can't remember stuff she says because she fires off at 40 rounds a second. I have to have it in writing. Otherwise, I forget stuff, and I don't have any reference material. She doesn't seem to understand this very well. I'll have to just TELL her.
She claims also that she doesn't "know how to be in email". What the hell???
By CK:Doesn't know how to use e-mail?!? Your boss isn't McCain is it? Does he have a Selectric typewriter? Has a rotory phone? And drive a Studebaker? Or is he still riding a horse and buggy?
By BonusOnus:That John McCain. Doesn't use email because he has injuries from being tortured by the North Vietnamese while being a POW for many years and these injuries prevent him from typing. Shows you how stupid he is.
By Bookwoman:Bonus, I'm with you.
I have to ask how old your boss is, HAD. If she's in her late 40s, early 50s, she came to email and the whole computer thing late in her business, probably, and it's not second nature. I started using computers and a version of email when I was 18, fresh into the Navy, and when I came out, NO one had email, alot of businesses I temped in didn't even have computers. It's crazy when I think about it now. I found a lot of the people I worked with in a variety of industries were very leery of computers, almost afraid of them. I've always felt lucky to have had the job I did in the Navy, which relied heavily on very high tech (for back then) computers, as it provided experience for me which I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I really do think the amount of time a person has spent in their business life, using computers and email, and what age they came to it, has a tremendous impact on their comfort level. Hard to believe, but email is a relatively young phenomenon.
By BonusOnus:Technology changes. Some older people don't embrace it.
How many of us have grandparents who can't program a VCR?
How many of our children will even know what a VCR is now that they are obsolete?
By HaveADamnNiceDay:I get the impression she's in her 50's. She has a daughter close to my age. She considers herself a technopath/phile (not sure what the right word is for this). Yet, she doesn't use outlook. Outlook isn't hard to use, and it isn't hard to learn. It's a memory pig, but it's still a fairly user-friendly program. She corresponds with her clients in email, so I don't know what the problem is. She's also told me on a few occasions that I need a client list, and then forgets to give it to me. When I ask for it, she tells me "later". It makes me feel like she's trying to trap me with my weaknesses, one of which is a poor short-term memory--and THAT'S WHY I WRITE STUFF DOWN--SO I DON'T FORGET ANYTHING.
I'm still searching for a new place to plant my bottom.
By SouthernProgrammer:If you can't get things in writing then you can be sure it will come back to haunt you.
I once worked on a project where the Project Manager made requests which I was SURE was different than what the customer wanted so I told him he needed to send me the information in an email.
Weeks later, the customer was not happy with the system and the Project Manager sent me an email with the boss on CC asking why was the customer not happy.
I simply replied back with his OWN EMAIL (CC'ing the boss) showing the changes he had asked for.
The project manager left the company shortly after that.
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By freeridenot
The backstory: I'm in outside sales in an industry that is taking a major hit in this economy. No one is this company is making great money and we are ALL under an immensive amount of pressure from management, not to mention daily abuse from our customers and prospects. Consequently, we often call each other with a quick vent.
The story: I call LL (for Low Life) with a vent and she tells me that I should see a therapist for my work related anxiety issues and go out on disability while I look for another job. I pretend it was never said. Minutes later, she says, "Hey, didn't you tell me that your feet bother you? You should have foot surgery, go out on disability and collect and paycheck while you look for another job." I told her that I would not consider such a thing and she said, "Well, you're a better person than me."
The next Monday, she stands up in the middle of a meeting, bursts into tears and is carried out of the office. Lo and behold, it's a back issue. Comes back to work a week later, is there for maybe two weeks. Then out she goes again and has been out for almost two months. In the meantime, she's gotten married, danced quite vigorously at her wedding (I was there, I know), gone on a honeymoon, all while our company have laid off reps who actually work for their pay. She reportedly told someone that now she's got to have back surgery and who knows when she'll be back. It's interesting that she has not contacted me -- I'm sure she knows I'm onto her and not above calling her out.
Apparently my company does not investigate these things other than reviewing "Doctor" notes. If they did, I'm sure they'd see her driving all over town, running errands, etc. etc.
I'd love to throw her under the bus (and I did comment on all the dancing at the wedding), but I am a believer in karma and so I'll just vent here.
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By CK:Sounds like she would be on Worker's Comp with all that is 'wrong' with her! It also sounds like she was telling you to do the same as a means to 'protect your job.'
The isue here is thst she may be committing fraud which is punishable by law! LL could become a jail-bird and spend some of time honeymoon time with Lana-the-love-starved! Nothing like a little girl-on-girl time!!!
By Figaro:I would totally throw her under the bus. What she is doing is clearly fraud. I'd make a few anonymous calls and report her to the right places. Once she gets investigated, she might have to pay back the money she got pretending to be disabled while dancing around. Dang, I hate people who lie. She deserves to be wacked.
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