Bad Bosses & Co-Workers? 1

[71corvette]

I've seen quite a few postings on this site lately offering some amusing anecdote's at the expense of co-workers, supervisors and bosses. I think the topic could make for a few good laughs and at the very least an interesting read.

I know there are plenty of annoying co-workers, bad supervisors and "quirky" employees out there. I think it will be interesting to hear what experiences others have had. If your office is anything like mine, becoming more and more like the movie "Office Space" with each day, the stories should be plentiful!

 

[JAE]

If I work in a place where everyone around me are great people, with good work habits, etc....can I make up a funny story?

 

[Zapster]

I had an area manager for Dowell Schlumberger tell me, “You have not been working enough on your days off.” After carefully considering what he had said for five seconds, I replied, “We have nothing further to talk about.” My resignation was in his hands within an hour. All this came about because I asked for help defining my work objective.

 

[71corvette]

Either you're delusional or extremely lucky...

My cubicle neighbor spends about an hour a day on the phone with her mother babbling about her two cats. Of course it doesn't help that her voice vaugely resembles that of Fran Drescher. ugggh!

Thankfully we can use Walkmans at work!

 

[ctopher]

I had a co-worker for 11 years and all she did everyday 8 out of 9 hrs a day, was talk on the phone, type email and had a laugh as tinytim22 described. She finally quit because her husband found another job elsewhere. I complained all the time to my boss, but no one cared. All I could do is have earplugs. I didn't go to her going away lunch with the dept or sign her card! Now ... I didn't know cubicles can be so quiet!

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP2.0 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site
FAQ371-376
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-1091
FAQ559-716

 

[metengr]

Dilbert rules!

http://www.dilbert.com/

 

[zdas04]

The lady on the other side of my cube wall (in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A) spend 2-3 hours a day on the phone to her mother--in Moscow, (the one in Russia) in Russian. I couldn't even evesdrop!

It is really annoying to know that (a) she is doing that instead of her part of the project you're working on; (2) she is bullet proof by being a multi-lingual female; and (III) she is eventually going to be the boss (again, being a multi-lingual female engineer). This went on for a year and a couple of us conspired to get he promoted out of our group - Dilbert really does rule.

David

 

[SacreBleu]

I worked at one place where the boss was very quirky, and very intolerant of idle chatter and silliness in the office. The Chief Engineer had an "alert code" worked out with the secretary...the moment the boss entered the office, she would say "good morning Mr. K----e" in a very loud voice, to alert us. We called it the KEWS (K----e Early Warning System).
Whenever he went on an inspection, instead of a hardhat, he would wear a 5-star army general helmet (WW2 style),that he obtained as a gift.
Every Friday, we would not get paid until we did a handwritten "lettering test", in which we had to letter the alphabet and numbers exactly like Mr. K----e's own handwriting. If we did not write to his satifaction, we would have to re-do the test until OK. The idea was to insure uniform appearance of sketches and drawings (this was pre-AutoCAD).

 

[ewh]

Once one of the sales managers was concerned with water drops under the paper towel dispensers in the restrooms and how that would appear to customers (this was a brand new facility). He distributed a memo requesting that we get our paper towels BEFORE we wash our hands. Doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose?

At another company, an engineer wanted the designers to provide accurate hand drawn representations of modifications before they were allowed to proceed with their ideas on cad. They had to go out and buy their own equipment to do this (templates, triangles, etc). This was on a jet project which was supposed to be entirely digital.

"Oh, by the way, have you read that memo yet?"

"That was my stapler!"

 

[ivymike]

I had a boss who would arbitrarily refuse to allow travel expenses for certain individuals in the department. In one case, individuals A, B, C, and D traveled together to a meeting, ate at the same restaurants, stayed at the same hotel, and shared a vehicle. When they returned, A, B, and C submitted their expenses with no problem. The boss would not, however, sign off on D's expenses, and told him that he had chosen restaurants and a hotel which were too expensive for business travel, and that he could only be reimbursed for a fraction of the expenses. When D pointed out that he had been to the same places as the other 3, and that he had actually spent significantly less than they had (D was used to this treatment at this point, had only gotten a $6 salad and water at dinner, and had used his personal cellphone to make business phone calls so that he wouldn't have to try to expense them), the boss became irate and told him that if his attitude didn't improve, he could find someplace else to work. This was D's first job out of college, and he was on the verge of tears at that point (the boss obviously enjoyed it). C had overheard the conversation and butted in to let the boss know that he was way out of line, and both C and D were transferred to another department the next week.

 

[ctopher]

ivymike, I had a job once ay a small company that was similar. But the employees C&D lashed back at him and D grabbed him by his tie over his desk! It was a Friday. The next day the boss was found at home dead of a heart-attack!

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP2.0 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site
FAQ371-376
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-1091
FAQ559-716

 

[JAE]

ctopher .... wow

 

[ivymike]

This was at a Fortune 500 company. The boss in question eventually signed his own walking papers by writing (something along the lines of) "performs very well, for an african american" on a subordinate's performance review.

 

[plasgears]

My brother saw the second plane go into the WTC, and he was visibly shaken. A Russian female co-worker broke out into hysterics. She was soundly reprimanded by the boss.

In another case, a Phd mech engr from Algeria called my boss to say "they did it!" with apparent glee. My boss advised him to buy the biggest Amer flag and fly it from his apartment. He called later to apologize.

 

[haggis]

This is'nt a funny story but it is one that taught me to keep my temper in check. Like ctopher's[/]b story about the guy dying of a heart attack, I seen similar where the guy died about 6 hours later after being grabbed and threatened. The guy that done the grabbing, was actually sentenced to six years for manslaughter after some whiz lawyer said that the confrontation contributed to the death. An appeal ended up with the guy getting two years.

 

[HgTX]

I guess I can tell my boss, "At least I haven't given anyone any heart attacks."

I do contribute to his anxiety disorder, though.

On a lighter note, one of my former co-workers once asked a girder fabricator with a straight face whether they had taken the curvature of the earth into account on a highway overpass. We're all pretty convinced he was serious.

Hg

Eng-Tips guidelines: faq731-376

 

[EngJW]

I saw a guy walk into the men's room holding a cell phone to his ear. A couple minutes later in came out still holding it. I am trying to imagine the kind of gyrations he must have gone through.

 

[ivymike]

if he didn't wash his hands, it would have been fairly easy.
I always get a laugh out of the "no touch" crowd, who cross their arms over their chests while urinating and look up, to the side, or elsewhere...

 

[tygerdawg]

Gawd, and here's silly me thinking that I have suffered while working for some true WACKOs. Thanks y'all for helping me realize it wasn't all that bad after all.

I do remember one episode. My boss the Engineering Mgr had never had the opportunity of going to college and was very insecure about it. It was at my first performance review at this particular company. The first words out of his mouth was "Your memos are too concise." I calmly informed him that my parents were award winning journalists, I had made A's in all of my English coursework, and asked if he would explain himself. It was the last performance review I had in seven years at that company.


TygerDawg

 

[EngJW]

I think it is pretty cool when people use the speaker phone for everything. You get to hear all about their personal and financial problems (which are sometimes worse than your own). Even a fight with ones wife gets broadcast all over the office.

I don't have to gossip as much as I used to.