# New and Unimproved Workplace Rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 14, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638 "2015-10-14T15:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/261 "2015-12-31T02:26:03Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Seniority. . . . After 19 more years at this job, you, too, might get an entire day off with pay. > > Merry Christmas! 😃 When I temped, after meeting a certain milestone (it’s been too long to remember if it was a year, working full time, or what) I got a week of ‘vacation’. ‘Vacation’ turned out to be a week’s pay, with the check being cut the week you requested it. Requesting time off from the customer would not have gone well, so I just got two paychecks for one week. Paid time off is so much nicer. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/262 "2015-12-31T13:54:57Z")
Of \*course \*the HR department is closed today, chickadee. In case you haven’t noticed it’s New Year’s Eve. They’ll be back in the office on Monday like the rest of the world. Why the \*hell \*are you trying to verify employment at 7:30 a.m. on December 31st? ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/263 "2015-12-31T21:03:00Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > Of \*course \*the HR department is closed today, chickadee. In case you haven’t noticed it’s New Year’s Eve. They’ll be back in the office on Monday like the rest of the world. Why the \*hell \*are you trying to verify employment at 7:30 a.m. on December 31st? Because it’s not a holiday? I admit it has been hell getting things accomplished this week, but all our departments had coverage all day today. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/264 "2015-12-31T22:05:36Z")
So on a whim I decide to order a pizza takeout at 4:45pm on New Years Eve. The girl behind the counter explains its going to be 15-20 minutes because they are closing at 6pm and they are backed on deliveries. Then as I’m sitting waiting for my pie, I hear the owner yelling the front girl he’s backed on deliveries, the phone rings, “NO MORA DELIVERIES!!!” This is why some small business owners are fucking idiots: 1. If it’s so busy, why not stay open LATER and make money? 2. It’s New Years Eve so OF COURSE your customers are going to want food. Don’t get hot on ME or your cashier. 3. This is not the first year your open. I’m sure it was like this last year. So hire more help you cheap bastard. And people why the failure rate is so high in the restaurant business. ---
**Author:** ![NJ22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4af34b/32.png) [@NJ22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJ22)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/265 "2016-01-01T00:55:40Z")
coworkers who sing out loud at their desk ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/266 "2016-01-01T06:00:09Z")
I find myself somewhat annoyed that my boss did not give me a Christmas present. It’s customary at our firm that the attorneys give their secretaries at least a token present at Christmas/end of year. I was reassigned to Demanding Partner in early November, and he’s the happiest I’ve seen him in years, so I thought he might at least give me a token present - half price calendar, whatever. But no, nada. I was on vacation on the 23 and 34, and he was sick this week, though he came in today briefly, so I cut him some slack, but seriously? Oh well, at least I’m employed, as I keep telling myself. I’m not disappointed just annoyed - dude, it’s the thought that counts. If you appreciate me, and I know you do, a small token of appreciation is a good idea. I know, first-world employed-person problems. :rolleyes: Thanks for letting me vent. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/267 "2016-01-01T06:02:35Z")
> [@NJ22](#): > > coworkers who sing out loud at their desk I feel your pain! Chatty Cathy was on vacation on Monday and Tuesday, and I’ve never appreciated the silence more! When she’s not engaging in loud non-work-related conversations with co-workers (she’s the instigator, when she’s not around there’s much less chatting) she’s singing at her desk, right next to mine! And she’s not that good a singer! ---
**Author:** ![NJ22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4af34b/32.png) [@NJ22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJ22)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/268 "2016-01-01T06:17:19Z")
> [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](#): > > I feel your pain! Chatty Cathy was on vacation on Monday and Tuesday, and I’ve never appreciated the silence more! When she’s not engaging in loud non-work-related conversations with co-workers (she’s the instigator, when she’s not around there’s much less chatting) she’s singing at her desk, right next to mine! And she’s not that good a singer! Yeah I don’t understand why someone just can’t listen to music quietly without singing. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/269 "2016-01-01T11:21:33Z")
> [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](#): > > **I was on vacation on the 23 and 34** , He made you wait 11 days to finish your vacation? I see why you call him Demanding Partner now. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/270 "2016-01-01T19:23:57Z")
A while back I ranted on here about my boss leaving. I like him and I was worried about who they’d bring in to replace him. Boss 2.0 has been here about three weeks now and I have to say so far so good. She’s a little “cheerleader-y” for me sometimes, a real rah-rah sort and that kind of annoys me sometimes but I can usually tune it out. She brings snacks and tells funny stories and we have some hobbies in common that we can talk about. So what’s the problem you ask? I usually get to work early so I can get some work done in peace. I can always tell when boss-lady shows up because I can smell her perfume from my desk. She sits probably fifteen feet from me and my back is to her desk. Yesterday morning I caught a whiff of her and called out “Good morning!” without turning around. I don’t know if she figured out how I knew she was there or not. I guess at least she can’t sneak up on me
 ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/271 "2016-01-03T00:47:10Z")
I hate all my co-workers, and some of the customers today. Well, not really, but . . . Dear Co-worker (the seriously part-time one I’ve griped about before): Chill Out, Dude! It’s not that you are actively wrong about anything, but your degree of investment in what other people do when you aren’t there is ridiculous and stress-inducing. Next: Co-workers: Please don’t bitch about our customers-- if they heard you talking about them that way, they wouldn’t shop at our store, and we wouldn’t get paychecks. third: co-worker? Where you be? I don’t understand why you usually seem to show up at least a half-hour after you are scheduled, and I never did see you today. (admittedly, only a couple of hours into his shift). Hope you talked to someone with authority. Fourth: Co-worker: you are cute, and nice, and friendly, etc., but I wish you’d learn to stay in your territory, and keep it tidy. Fifth: Person from outside our store who was training baby managers: you know perfectly well that this is the last day of two back to back holiday weeks, my manager is on vacation, we’re generally short/oddly handed, etc. I wish you’d give us more credit for the parts we’ve done well, and nag us less about the details we dropped. I could go on, but this is enough whining for one day. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/272 "2016-01-03T01:23:31Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Beats me. > > But then they stick remotes on all kinds of things nowadays like lights and ceiling fans. Works great until you lose the remote. I just got a new car stereo console that comes with a remote. What, I won’t be able to reach it from the driver’s seat? I’m sure as hell not giving it to my kids to use in the back seat. ---
**Author:** ![NJ22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4af34b/32.png) [@NJ22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJ22)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/273 "2016-01-03T04:35:46Z")
No matter what job I had since 1998 it seemed like there is always one woman who gets “overwhelmed” ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/274 "2016-01-04T00:33:44Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > I just got a new car stereo console that comes with a remote. What, I won’t be able to reach it from the driver’s seat? I’m sure as hell not giving it to my kids to use in the back seat. Actually, my aftermarket stereo’s face is of a much more recessed style than that of the original factory-installed stereo, so I really can’t reach the buttons unless I lean forward a bit. 🙂 For the most part, the tiny remote also makes up for the fact that I don’t have any stereo controls on the steering wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/275 "2016-01-04T06:11:55Z")
Demanding Partner is really bad at communication. Won’t return texts (though I think he reads them), won’t listen to voicemails, doesn’t receive work emails remotely. Constantly forgetting his phone at home or at the office. Frustrating. I try my best - last week I texted him several times, asking if he was coming in, and informing him what time I would be leaving. On Thursday afternoon (12/31) he showed up and informed me he’d been sick (food poisoning on top of the cold he’d just gotten over). OK, whatevers. On Saturday night, right before I went to bed, I plugged my phone in and noticed a text, from his phone. Except it wasn’t from him, it was from a restaurant near the office, they had found his phone when cleaning up/closing, and, I guess, scrolled through the texts and found my “are you coming in today” texts, and asked me to inform him that they had his phone. Yeah, sure, I would do that
except I can’t text him or call him, because he left his phone at the restaurant! Oi. I don’t get paid enough for this nonsense. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![TheAllSeeingEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/919ad9/32.png) [@TheAllSeeingEye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheAllSeeingEye)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/276 "2016-01-04T09:40:01Z")
My boss is cool as, I’m overpaid, my work is quite interesting and varied, and my co-workers keep it real. when it’s this good it can’t last. hĂ©las! ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/277 "2016-01-04T14:29:48Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > Actually, my aftermarket stereo’s face is of a much more recessed style than that of the original factory-installed stereo, so I really can’t reach the buttons unless I lean forward a bit. 🙂 For the most part, the tiny remote also makes up for the fact that I don’t have any stereo controls on the steering wheel. Solution - tape the remote to the steering wheel. Duct tape, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/278 "2016-01-04T20:50:33Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > And people why the failure rate is so high in the restaurant business. > [@NJ22](#): > > coworkers who sing out loud at their desk These two statements one after the other made me laugh. 🙂 > [@Catamount](#): > > Of \*course \*the HR department is closed today, chickadee. In case you haven’t noticed it’s New Year’s Eve. They’ll be back in the office on Monday like the rest of the world. Why the \*hell \*are you trying to verify employment at 7:30 a.m. on December 31st? > [@j666](#): > > Because it’s not a holiday? > > I admit it has been hell getting things accomplished this week, but all our departments had coverage all day today. The grocery store I work part-time at was open normal hours and I had to work until closing, which is 9pm. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/279 "2016-01-04T20:57:45Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > Of \*course \*the HR department is closed today, chickadee. In case you haven’t noticed it’s New Year’s Eve. They’ll be back in the office on Monday like the rest of the world. Why the \*hell \*are you trying to verify employment at 7:30 a.m. on December 31st? New year’s eve isn’t a national holiday and plenty of people work that day, even in office environments. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/280 "2016-01-04T22:13:03Z")
You know, Boss, much as I appreciate the advice to do crappy job while thinking nasty thoughts in the direction of Person Who Should Have Done It (But is on Vacation this week)., I think I will instead think nasty thoughts in YOUR direction, with maybe a few to spare for the person who is threatening to Audit us, even though the New Year has hardly begun, and we are working hard to transition from Christmas to Valentines. At least you agreed that I didn’t need to count the things I didn’t want to count. And in other “news” no love to all the co-workers who have called in sick in the past two-three weeks. Thanks to you, we are all going to have to get Doctor’s Notes if we call in sick. (Note: I am not often sick, but if I do end up with one of those short-lived but nasty stomach viruses, I don’t really want to have to drag myself to the Doctor, who doesn’t want me there, either). Also, it’s annoying when we are short handed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638.md?page=15)