I USED TO Love My Job BEFORE...THIS!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My boss, the owner of one of the premiere general contractor businesses in the state, is a wacky guy. He’s gruff as hell, flippant as hell, annoying as hell, sarcastic as hell, and yet generous as hell. TRULY generous. Granted, you have to get past the crunchy frozen exterior, to get to the soft, creamy marshmallow insides of this guy,and MOST aren’t up to the attempt. But we know him well in the office and treat him well, and in return, he does very well by us. He and I get along especially well.

Recently, out of the pure goodness of his heart, he bought a company vehicle to be used by the two FT bookkeepers, my associate (I’ll call her SusieQ) and myself. We are often running errands to get city permits, pick up house plans, do banking business, and any other little thing that is asked of us. SusieQ and I were both delighted! Then to our further delight, he added that if either of us needed the truck for off-work things (moving, because our cars were in the shop, etc), we could feel free to use it.

It seems that SusieQ’s delight has faded significantly upon discovering that I took Boss’s word at face value, and intended to use the truck (for which I have a set of keys to call my own!) to help move some items over to my place for a yard sale recently. See, SusieQ’s been here some significantly longer time than I have (8 years to my 3) and it has occurred to SusieQ that the truck ought to rightfully belong solely to HER.

So on the day that I needed the truck to move some items, having made arrangements with BOTH SusieQ and Boss in advance, a “strategic” meeting was held by SusieQ and a third bookkeeper behind closed doors, and suddenly, just before I was to leave for the afternoon with the truck, Bookkeeper #3 “had to go rescue her daughter stranded across town.” For this, she HAD TO take my truck as no other would do, including Bkkpr #3’s OWN brand-new vehicle which was left sitting here all afternoon. Did I mention Bkkpr #3 is married to one of the OTHER owners of the business and is my Boss’s sis-in-law? I had NO recourse.

Had to make last-moment arrangements to get the yard sale finalized, and spent the weekend royally pissed as well, but not much I could do, so thought, oh, well, it has already been promised I can use “my” truck to help b/f move to a new apartment in two weeks, so I will live with this little bit of misery and move on.

You guessed it! SusieQ’s car (which is significantly newer than mine) “broke down” over the weekend and while she awaits parts, etc., she is using the truck as her only transportation. Therefore I cannot possibly take it away from her until her own car is out of the shop…coincidentally this will take a couple of weeks, meaning that I WON’T get the truck to help with b/f’s move.

Clincher: today Boss wanted to borrow the truck to attend a meeting, since his vehicle was in the shop. The whole place becomes unglued with SusieQ and Bkkpr #3 shouting in unison at Boss, “Where’s your own truck? When will you be back?” and the like. Even Boss cannot borrow a vehicle he clearly owns without grief.

I have halfway decided to talk to Boss about this whole venture, and halfway decided to simply stay out of it altogether. I have definitely decided never to ask for the truck again, if only to save SusieQ from having to come up with yet another excuse as to why I cannot use it.

  1. What advice would you give me? and
  2. Anyone got any work stories along these lines to offer up?

I anxiously await,
Beck

2

Sounds like SusieQ needs to get seriously bent.

I could tell you stories that would curl your chest hair about one boss I had. But the relevant bit was that he purchased a company car. That is, he called it the company car, and it was paid for with company money (which means it came out of our paychecks), but only he could drive it.

That was pretty typical.

3

Are you kidding? Keep her hopping. Make her come up with excuses, and then share them here!

4

I think your best bet is to approach your boss about this, looking as innocent and earnest as possible.

Explain to him that you’re concerned about SusieQ. She seems to need the truck a lot, especially for things that she should be able to use her own car for. Say that you hope things are OK with her, but she seems to be running into a lot of emergencies lately. Would it make sense for her to take her car to the mechanic, with you following in the truck? That way, SusieQ can have her car taken care of while everyone can keep on working.

If SusieQ borrows the car when you’ve already publically stated that you need it, your reaction can be one of concern–oh, is she having problems again? She must be, because you just know there’s no way she’d be so rude as to just ask for or take the car like that unless it was an emergency of some sort. Is there some way you can help her? Can you give her a ride? Run an errand for her while you’re out doing what you need with the truck? Help with some issue on her car that she’s obviously having trouble with?

SusieQ should be bothered enough by this (and feel a bit ashamed), but she certainly can’t bite back at you, because you’re being so nice. If anything, she has to grit her teeth and thank you for your offer to help. Then she’d have to relinquish the truck or look very, very rude and selfish.

After you do this once or twice, she should get the idea.

5

Eh? You have a set of keys, right? Take the damn truck from the parking lot the day before you need it. Park it somehwere where she won’t know where it is. Get it when you need it.

Offer her a ride home in your car :smiley:

6

This is exactly what I was going to say!

7

Oh, and, if the boss isn’t around when you have a conversation like this with SusieQ, casually let your boss know it. Then she can’t tell him that you’re being selfish with the car. Instead, you’ll divert attention to SusieQ’s issues.

8

Or, rather, let your boss know about the conversation you had with Susie, and how you hope everything is OK with her.

9

Rig the exhaust of the truck to go into the cab. Problem solved!

I’m kidding, mostly.

10

OK, seriously. Your boss sounds like someone with whom you can speak frankly. Ask him what the hell’s up with SuzieQ and BK#3 that they get their damned panties in a wad over you using the damn truck. Tell him it’s no skin off yours, but they’re acting weird about it, and it’s pissing you off.

11

I had a summer job once in a place (small company) with a car like the one described. The boss’s personal assistant demanded it was ‘his car’ but whenever packages and parcels needed to get from ‘A’ to ‘B’, I was tapped & given the keys.

Once, on the way home, a tire blew out at the entrance to the Midtown tunnel. As I was stopped, I called the office to see if I should get it towed/fixed. Personal Assistant demanded I fix the tire and drive it right back so he wouldn’t be late leaving work. I couldn’t even wait at the tire place to get it patched but was to drive the car straight there.

So, I change the tire, piss off thousands of NYers (Hey, I made ‘shadow traffic’), and I put on what VW had kindly provided: a Doughnut. I then drive to the mechanic, dropped off the tire to be patched, and drove straight back to the office. The PA was standing there, tapping his watch as I drove up, and bitching that I made him wait 15 minutes past quitting time. I think I replied ‘Oh Well’. He runs off and is about to get in the car when he sees the Doughnut.

“What’s This…?” he shrieks at me in an octave reserved for Vienna choirboys.

“That…? That’s a Volkswagen. Have a Nice Night…!”

12

Great advice. Feigned innocence and passive aggressive stuff like “expressing concern over someone’s situation” don’t often fly in construction. Say what you have to say and get it out there.

13

If that’s true, construction sounds like a great field to be in. How do I get hired?

14

I’m 100% against Scribble’s passive/agressive approach. Step 1: Prepare your resume, post on hotjobs / Monster and investigate the employment situation locally. Step 2: Ask your boss for a meeting with the three of you (4 if you think it is necessary), and lay out what’s happened. Use actual dates, draw a freakin’ timeline for them if you think pictures will help. Prepare yourself so that no matter what the other’s say, you will not lose your composure (easier for you, because you are prepared). And don’t. Look the problem straight in the eye, tell it that it is a problem, and be ready to either solve the problem - and if that means leaving due to a hostile workplace, then leave. Step 3: Take notes during the meeting, type up minutes, and distribute. Protect yourself from any other he said/she said bullshit.

SusieQ gets away with this because you let her and you don’t stand up for yourself strongly enough. Unless you are someplace in Montana FedEx doesn’t deliver AND SusieQ drives some expensive Italian import, her two week excuse to fix the car is laughable, and she should have been called on it right then. You ceded too much to her when you didn’t. She’s not afraid to step on you - you can’t hold back from twisting the foot before it lands.

15

Start getting up at 4:30 and swearing a lot. The rest’ll come. :wink:

I should probably clarify my statement, because it wasn’t entirely accurate. Some of the big-time construction companies have every bit as much office politicking and backbiting as other large companies. I work for a mid-size company (roughly $20 million/year) that’s owned by a guy who pretty much fits the description Rebecca gave of her boss - gruff, no nonsense, says whatever’s on his mind. He’ll walk into my office yelling “[Enginerd], ya dumb sonofabitch, what the hell did you do here?” If I’ve got an answer, I can yell right back at him with no hard feelings on either end. A lot of the people who have built successful construction companies are successful precisely because they’re gruff and abrasive, and they don’t take any shit.

It takes some getting used to (and a pretty thick skin), and it isn’t for everybody. We get a fair number of people who work here for three weeks and say “that bastard’s insane - there’s no way I’m working for him.” I understand where they’re coming from, but I like it here.

D_Odds is right on. If the problem isn’t addressed one way or another, nothing’s going to change.

16

I concur. Beating around the bush with “Gee, I hope everything’s OK with SusieQ…” will get you nowhere.

17

Here are my thoughts, for what they’re worth:

The boss got the truck as a convenience. Nothing is going to make him regret it faster than having a bunch of women whining to him about she gets to use the truck and I don’t – especially when you’re scrapping over who gets to use it for non-business-related purposes. That said, while it would be nice to work it out amongst yourselves, it doesn’t sound like the beyatches you work with would be amenable to that.

I would go to my boss, but I would not set out all the facts and double-dealings of the situation. He’s not interested and doesn’t care (see “whiny women”, above). And I would not present a problem to him that I didn’t also have a proposed solution for. So I’d probably just say something like:

“This is really minor, but there seems to be some confusion over using the truck during off hours. I know you said we all could share it, and I know we all really appreicate that, but there’s already been some problems about who can use it and when, and, as silly as that may seem, it’s causing some bad feelings. I was wondering if we could start using a truck calendar? That way we can each just reserve the truck for when we’ll need it and everyone will be aware of those appointments. That way, if someone has something come up and they want the truck, they’ll either have to work it out with the person who has reserved it or make alternate arrangements, and we won’t have to bother you about it. Does that sound fair?”

IOW, I’d try to think of how to solve the problem on a going-forward basis, and I’d try to do that. I wouldn’t bother with what’s already happened; he can’t do anything about it now anyway.

18

I guess I’d take what I perceive to be the path of least resistance, and use my own car. If I have to drive for work, submit the IRS-established mileage reimbursment. It’s about 44¢/mile, which really adds up. The township where I work would rather have us rent a car on the township’s tab than use our own, because it represents a significant cost savings. If you need a truck to move the b/f, ask to borrow the boss’s, and when he asks why, just say that it’s very difficult to reliably schedule the truck and you don’t know how to improve the situation.

You don’t do anything aggressive. He may have bought it out of the goodness of his heart, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the truck was cheaper than paying you to use your car at the going rate. If he has a problem with it, he solves it; otherwise, you make good money on the mileage reimbursment.

19

The wonderful news is that I AM in fact leaving this job, and the city too, in about 4-6 months. B/F has gotten a great new job in Bozeman, MT (about the only place I have never lived in the state). I am joining him with my youngest (age 15) son after Christmas is over…can’t quite do it now for a number of reasons, not the least of which is I work a part-time gig in retail that is about to go into the busy season and THAT boss (who is a personal friend, really not a boss) is counting on me.

Yes, anyone who said I am letting SusieQ “doormat” the bejesus outta me is right on…but this company is SMALL, less than 15 employees, and the office staff is for all intents “inbred”—nepotism runs badly rampant in these parts! SusieQ’s dad works for Boss as a subcontractor, and SusieQ (who is 28, BTW, 20 years younger than I!) has been here since she was a wee thing (20) and this is only her 2nd job. She went thru Boss’s divorce with him, did his laundry, ran his personal errands, took care of his 2 children and was available by phone 24/7 for him…none of which Boss is likely to forget for a moment. She KNOWS she has his ear and always will. Same with 2nd-in-charge, she went thru HIS divorce with him, did all of same for him, and he “warned” me when they hired me 3 years ago that I’d have to “work under” her, and could I, cuz if not, they’d find someone with less skill who could? I said I could.

Didn’t know she was a big bully at the time.

It’s clear to me that she is jealous of me, my time is far better organized than hers and it shows regularly to everyone in the place. Boss named me his executive asst a year ago, the only person besides her he has ever been able to work so closely with, and THAT burned her britches too, altho she claims she refused the job first & that’s why I got it. Whenever notice or attention is given to me, she makes light of it. Clearly 2nd-in-charge is wrong, it is SHE who cannot reconcile working with ME. He should have put the question to her instead.

I just want to make sure before I leave that I do something like D_Odds recommends and confront the two of them—for the sake of the poor girl who has to replace me. In other words, I want an exit interview and I want them both present! Meantime, stirring the muddy water now might be pointless. I’m not ready to leave, I want to make it thru Christmas, and her day-to-day stuff doesn’t really bother me. I’ve seen bullies before.

I should mention the truck thing NOW tho. That’s just plain ridiculous and Boss needs to know, in my opinion. I’ve got to do something to make this place easier for my successor

Thanks,
Beck

20

I completely agree, Jodi, and think your suggestion is perfect!