# 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:** 48
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/941 "2016-09-03T20:10:14Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > If she brings in a can of strawberries to share with senior staff, DON’T HAVE ANY! > > If you HAVE to have some, make sure there are no leftovers. Do this BEFORE the strawberry party is over. Lol! For reasons I don’t want to disclose, your allusion is quite apropos. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/942 "2016-09-04T11:18:30Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > “The customer feels that VA is superior to W”. Feels? Feels, really? It’s motherfucking physics! I feel that the customer is an imbecile! I had one of those the other evening. I mean, the details were different, but the sense for exasperation and futility were probably similar. Long version: I’m wandering around because there’s about twenty minutes left before my shift ends, and I’ve already done most of the important stuff. I hear the store manager page my name, and think “uh-oh, hope whatever he wants fits into twenty minutes” Find Store Manager and Customer, Store Manager asks if I know where Semi-Seasonal Product is. Sure, I take them there. Find Product, but Customer isn’t sold-- the packaging isn’t the same. It might work, but . . . Store Manager takes package off shelf, and lurking behind it is the same product in the other packaging. Customer announces that she’ll take that one. We give it to her and separate, and don’t attempt to explain again, that they’ve only changed the packaging, not the product. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/943 "2016-09-04T14:53:10Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > If she brings in a can of strawberries to share with senior staff, DON’T HAVE ANY! > > If you HAVE to have some, make sure there are no leftovers. Do this BEFORE the strawberry party is over. So, what’s the strawberry thing? Is it like the Noodle Incident? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/944 "2016-09-04T17:49:07Z")
Look up _The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial_. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/945 "2016-09-05T10:11:14Z")
According to my grandboss, it is not in scope for us to find out what the processes are; they’re mostly undocumented, the few documents we have are of the “too much paper, too little information” variety. It is also not in scope for us to train the users. Or provide training documents. I’m having a ticket in which thankfully the user can lend me a training key and send me the incomplete documentation she has. The items she was asking about are something to which Support does not have access (nobody thought we might need it, and getting that access would require about three months), which uses standard screen codes despite being completely non-standard, and we don’t have any documentation. Because hey, why the fuck would Support need to know what is it the users are supposed to be doing? ---
**Author:** ![cg16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@cg16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cg16)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/946 "2016-09-08T05:00:27Z")
I think it was extremely ignorant of the lead for my dept to ignore my email I sent on Tuesday. How do you not respond to someone who is clearly asking a fucking question? So her stupid ass is cut off now and have no intentions of making eye contact or socializing the remainder days we work together. It will be all robotic communication between us for this point on. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/947 "2016-09-08T06:01:33Z")
No eye contact? No socialization? And she gets to continue ignoring your email? Sounds like a Win-Win-Win. ---
**Author:** ![cg16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@cg16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cg16)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/948 "2016-09-08T12:04:34Z")
> [@digs](#): > > No eye contact? No socialization? And she gets to continue ignoring your email? > > Sounds like a Win-Win-Win. Consider me a robot for now on ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/949 "2016-09-08T13:12:39Z")
> [@cg16](#): > > Consider me a robot for now on Oh, I do hope you’ll extend your arms and flail them around to warn us of “Danger, Danger!” ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/950 "2016-09-08T13:16:17Z")
> [@cg16](#): > > I think it was extremely ignorant of the lead for my dept to ignore my email I sent on Tuesday. How do you not respond to someone who is clearly asking a fucking question? > > So her stupid ass is cut off now and have no intentions of making eye contact or socializing the remainder days we work together. It will be all robotic communication between us for this point on. Possibly she is busy. Is she in? Possibly she figures you can work it out on your own. Possibly she doesn’t like dealing with you. Re your second paragraph; keep in mind that what you feel is retaliation she may feel is a favor. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/951 "2016-09-08T13:31:08Z")
I have to ask a lot of people questions by email. Many of them ‘superior’ to me in the management chain. It is part of my job and it is just the way it is. So when someone ignores a required question, I ask a second time. The third time I CC their manager and mine. There is no fourth time. I’ve CC’d my bosses boss on several occasions in the past (previous manager who was an ass) because I couldn’t get a response. With my current boss, she is sometimes just plain unavailable, but my personal policy has always been “If you don’t answer me, I’ll assume that I’m to handle it myself. AND I WILL.” Only been called out on that once or twice in 30 years and my answer has always been a calm and persistent “I asked you (at least twice) and you didn’t answer, so I made the decision myself. If you don’t want me to do this, then please answer my emails. You know I don’t waste your time on unimportant stuff.” ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/952 "2016-09-08T13:32:30Z")
> [@cg16](#): > > Consider me a robot for now on Does that mean you can be programmed for a decent attitude toward other human beings? ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/953 "2016-09-08T15:02:00Z")
If you’re going to unilaterally clean out the work fridge, it’d be nice to give people some notice, or at least wait until the end of the day, so that, if people were going to take things home, they’d have the chance to do so. Completely emptying a 3/4ths full fridge after lunch so that you have a place for your leftovers is just selfish and inconsiderate. ---
**Author:** ![cg16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@cg16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cg16)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/954 "2016-09-08T15:25:08Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Possibly she is busy. Is she in? > Possibly she figures you can work it out on your own. > Possibly she doesn’t like dealing with you. > > Re your second paragraph; keep in mind that what you feel is retaliation she may feel is a favor. So you don’t consider it rude at all? ---
**Author:** ![cg16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@cg16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cg16)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/955 "2016-09-08T15:28:21Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Does that mean you can be programmed for a decent attitude toward other human beings? It means I will all business no emotion ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/956 "2016-09-08T15:37:07Z")
Ah yes. When someone says they’ll stop showing emotion at work, it usually means they walk around as a seething mass of anger and tears covered by thin veneer of barely calm anger. Until something happens and the stuff underneath comes boiling out. Then they quit or get fired. Been there, tried that in my angry youth, didn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![TheStake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@TheStake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheStake)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/957 "2016-09-08T15:40:57Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Ah yes. When someone says they’ll stop showing emotion at work, it usually means they walk around as a seething mass of anger and tears covered by thin veneer of barely calm anger. Until something happens and the stuff underneath comes boiling out. Then they quit or get fired. > > Been there, tried that in my angry youth, didn’t work. Haha, just bottle it up and push it far far down. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/958 "2016-09-08T15:44:08Z")
> [@TheStake](#): > > Haha, just bottle it up and push it far far down. Resulting in ulcers, back problems, migraines, suicide… Yeah, that works too. Always love when bosses tell people to leave their problems or emotions at the door. Sorry, I’m not some compartmentalized sociopath where that is easy to do. Of course, those same managers would rather play Tone Police than resolve issues… ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/959 "2016-09-08T16:05:40Z")
> [@cg16](#): > > So you don’t consider it rude at all? Could be rude Could be she was slammed and missed your email Your email may have be routed to spam folder (which has happened to me- emails sent using our university email to my university email got sent to my spam folder) Could be she’s gathering info to respond Could be that she should have acknowledged your email and didn’t, but that doesn’t make it rude, but careless or unprofessional. All I know is that if you act the way you’re planning, and she is a rude person, you will get even _less attention_ to your emails. If she’s didn’t do anything rude, you’ll be unkind to someone you doesn’t deserve it. ---
**Author:** ![cg16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@cg16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cg16)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/960 "2016-09-08T16:46:57Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Could be rude > > Could be she was slammed and missed your email > > Your email may have be routed to spam folder (which has happened to me- emails sent using our university email to my university email got sent to my spam folder) > > Could be she’s gathering info to respond > > Could be that she should have acknowledged your email and didn’t, but that doesn’t make it rude, but careless or unprofessional. > > All I know is that if you act the way you’re planning, and she is a rude person, you will get even _less attention_ to your emails. If she’s didn’t do anything rude, you’ll be unkind to someone you doesn’t deserve it. I don’t plan to ask her anything else ever again. If I mess something up it will be a learning experience [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638.md?page=47) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638.md?page=49)