At the very moment it is all I can do to keep from plucking your eyes out with the chopsticks that came with my tasty gulf roll for lunch.
Earlier this morning you yelled at me for failing to double-check the work of one of the interns, which ultimately caused you to miss an appointment. I admit that this issue was entirely my fault and said as much to you on the phone. Your condescension and overal peevish behavior notwithstanding, I owned up to my failure and did my best to rectify the situation.
That said, you’ll have to forgive my utter and complete incredulity when, not even a few hours later you call back to yell at me again for - get this - double checking on something you had requested of me.
A fax came in for you and I called to see if you needed it brought to you. You said you did indeed need it brought to you, and told me where you were. I hung up the phone and went to find the person who would be running it to you. I told them your location, but as this morning’s prior incident had placed within me the seeds of doubt, I requested the runner call you to double-check that you were, indeed, where you said you would be. As you have a reputation for being as clear as mud, I felt this would both negate any negligence on my part and assure you we here at the office were doing everything possible to ensure smooth operations.
Not five minutes later you call me, the blind rage apparent in your voice despite your attempts to restrain it. How dare I have the runner call to check where you would be. You told me where you were, didn’t you? How dare some lowly peon actually talk to you, and how dare I “duplicate your effort”!
I used to believe that ‘Better safe than sorry’ was the best policy, but apparently I was wrong. God help the next person who tries to do this job, because I sure as hell won’t be here much longer if I can help it.
What a fucking douche bag!!! I hate it when I hear about ignorant management; people that don’t know that they’re being fucking asinine. I would certainly say something regarding his behavior, if not to him, then his boss. If you’re seriously considering leaving, be sure to send him the biggest FUCK YOU possible before leaving. I hope you do well finding a better job, with better people, XJETGIRLX.
Double checking an intern’s work is not equal to asking a runner to double check yours. In other words, you had acquired the boss’s location. If you are the arbiter of accuracy, asking another to check again is just a nuisance. Sorry.
Sorry, Waverly, but I don’t believe this rant is about where the boss was. It’s about XJETGIRLX being damned if she does, and damned if she doesn’t with this particular asshole. I’ve been there, with a co-worker whom I had to work closely with; she would get pissed if I asked her a question, she would get pissed if I didn’t. I couldn’t win with her. I eventually quit over her harassment, and the government agreed with me; I was able to get Employment Insurance, because they agreed with me that her treatment was indeed harassment.
XJET, document everything this guy does, and all your efforts to fix the problems before you quit.
Jeebus-- waverly what is the goal? perfect corporate etiquette or getting the job done correctly the first time?
I’ll take getting it done–and that boss sucks. Usually people don’t double and triple check stuff unless there has been inconsistency on the part of admin in their response to incidents. If I were the runner, I would want to double check where Mr. Boss Man is…why wouldn’t Ms/Mr Assistant as well?
Folks, I don’t disagree that this boss seems a bit over-wound, but I’m afraid the OP wasn’t in the right here. The boss wants the senior person to check the work of the junior person. OK, necessary or no, that’s what he wants. The senior person decides to have another junior person check the work of senior person, in this case, herself. It doesn’t follow.
The goal may be for senior people to mentor junior people, but this doesn’t mean the boss wants senior people cross-checked when they’ve done the work themselves.
Just popping in to say I feel much less lonely now, after having learned I’m not the only one who wants her boss to play hide and go fuck himself today. Hope your day gets better, XJETGIRLX.
I’m going to agree with Waverly. This does not mean the boss was right to yell at and berate XJETGIRLX either time. He obviously doesn’t know how to manage and motivate. But checking the intern’s work, which X admitted should have been done, is not the same as double-checking a location from 5 minutes earlier, which was unnecessary redundancy. In X’s defense, she likely double-checked because the “Great Motivator” scared her and had her questioning her own abilities and competencies.
Jeebus-- waverly what is the goal? perfect corporate etiquette or getting the job done correctly the first time?
I’ll take getting it done–and that boss sucks. Usually people don’t double and triple check stuff unless there has been inconsistency on the part of admin in their response to incidents. If I were the runner, I would want to double check where Mr. Boss Man is…why wouldn’t Ms/Mr Assistant as well?
From the bosses perspective, the first item is double checking an unreliable intern’s work. The second item is double checking the boss’s work/communicaiton skills.
If you honestly think your boss is wrong, there’s good reason to double check what he said/did. In this case, you probably should have assumed that he was right, and you should have approached being double sure by giving written directions, not by double checking if your boss knew what room he was in.
Still doesn’t give anyone the right to yell at anyone else in an office environment. For that, he’s a grade A :wally
Nothing to add to your OP, yes, your boss is an asshole. I do have a personal “my boss is a piece of work” story to share though. I posted this in my journal months ago:
My boss is again concerned that I’m not getting enough exercise. It’s really sweet of her to do what she can to motivate me to get off my ass and talk a walk. For example, today she motivated me by sending me an e-mail (her office is like 3 feet from my desk) telling me that she “needs a pen”.
In fact, not only is she helping me get physical exercise, she’s working on my mind as well because I had to deduce from that e-mail (which had “i need a pen” as a subject, but no text in the body) that she wanted me to supply her with the pen and not that she was just sharing with me her lack of adequate writing supplies.
I am really touched by how much she cares about my physical and mental well being.
If I thought I could get away with it, I’d change my job title on my resume to read: “BossName’s Bitch”, which I do use unofficially (and out of her hearing) around the office.
Yeah, I see this and I understand how he could be pissed at this. But considering the fact he frequently changes his schedule without telling us, I think it’s fair that we verify whenever possible.
My main beef though, isn’t that he felt my asking the runner to verify his location was wrong, it’s that he called up with this “you’re such a fucking idiot” tone in his voice and treated me like I was a brain-dead chimp. There’s a world of difference between “In the future, let’s not do that” and “What did I say this morning? Repeat it back to me. I want to hear what I said. And what part of that didn’t you get? Hm?”
Well the double checking is redundant, it’s not cause for any type of ass-reaming, especially after an lecture on double checking. I don’t think the boss is sending mixed messages though; s/he seems to be telling XJETGIRLX exactly what he thinks of her and her talents.
I don’t see it that way at all. It makes more sense to have the actual person doing the delivery (ie, the runner) make contact with the person they are running to to verify that they are indeed where they should be. Part of my job is to issue ship tickets to our warehouse. I include a contact name and phone number for each one - not so they can double check my work, but so they can make sure when it comes time for delivery there will be someone there to accept, and to make sure the address hasn’t changed. Not quite the same issue as the OP, but it’s still the same principle.
Did he really talk to you like that? You should walk out the door. That is just plain unacceptable. You are an office professional, not a little child (not that you should belittle and humiliate little children, either). Yes, this is one of my hot buttons - can you tell?
My boss’ long-lost twin! Last week he called me into his office (no, he didn’t use the intercom, but rather he yelled from his office about 20 feet away). As per usual, I answered “Coming!” grabbed my notepad and rushed in. He handed me a folder. “The label fell off. Tape it back on.”
If this company makes frequent use of actual runners, ie people who will ferry information off site or to remote locations, and checking location is part of their SOP, I stand corrected. Otherwise, I’m going to have to obstinately stand firm.
Not that I don’t feel for XJETGIRLX. Once you begin berating and employee like that, it’s hard not to second guess every decision.
Oh hell, you’re right! They are twins! My boss would so do something like that! She still frequently e-mails me something and asks me to forward it some one else (even though she has their address).
I don’t know if that’s the case or not, but considering that it’s a common enough practice among all delivery companies (except UPS & Fed Ex) and courier (at least the one I worked for) it seemed easy enough to give XJet the benefit of the doubt, especially given her previous example of asshole behaviour by her boss.
No, we have another intern who does all the running of documents, errands, etc. whom I also am responsible for. Since I was not making the actual delivery, I felt it best for the person actually making the delivery to make contact by phone. I guess I was wrong.