I have had my share of weird coworkers! I had one guy who would not bathe (His name was Dan, I understand SoulSling has a smelly Dan as well). He could not remember anything about his job (computers), and would not bathe for up to a week at a time and reeked badly. His hair would get greasier as the days went by until he showered.
I also had a boss who would make us work for free if we made just one (often made up) mistake. Usually about 2 hrs per mistake. I also have found out that he has screwed employees girlfriends, would have customers make out checks to the initials of the company (which were the same as -his- initials) so he could deposit the checks into his account. I suspect he did this because of his four (at the time) ex-wives and alimony reasons. I found out from a college professor that he wanted to date a co-op (female, I think) from the college. The prof, who was a very mellow older man, referred to him as a pervert in a rather loud voice.
Another co-worker I have is very angry and yells at everyone, for reasons often unknown to anyone other than him. I was yelled at because I “clicked too fast” on a yes/no choice in windows, and another time because I logged out of NT by clicking on the start button rather than hitting the CTRL-ALT-DEL button and selecting <log out>. He is also always yelling about how he “hates the russian” all of the time- it would not be so odd, but the “russian” sits next to him and is his best buddy (not too many friends). He has also been known to say things like “It is too painful for me to talk to you, you are not to talk to me in a social manner- you can only talk to me -professionally-” He doesn’t just say this stuff to me either.
It’s odd but interesting.
I am sure that others have good stories to tell- Let’s hear 'em!
This is completely strange. I mean, really, really strange. I’m here in Washington, in my office, looking out my window. About half an hour ago, I looked out the window, and saw my former boss, the CEO of a major (Forbes top ten) corporation, wandering into my office building. And parked across the street is his driver. So I’m sitting here, looking out my window, and the driver spots me! And waves at me! This is just totally absurd.
And oh, yes. Both of them are quite strange. Unfortunately, if I told you how strange, I’m afraid they would track me down and… ask me how I’m doing and stuff. Great guys, I tell you. Really great.
The world is full of weird people. What I don’t understand is why they are like that when they should realize everyboy thinks they are weird. Why don’t they just be weird inside if they want but act like normal people? Then we’d never know how weird they are.
Lately I seem to come across people who fly of the handle at some totally unimportant thing. I do not argue with them but I wonder if they do not realize how stupid they look.
• I had a boss (a chef) who used to throw sauté pans or other large kitchen implements at people if they got an order wrong or didn’t put their order in in the exact terminology that he wanted. I really hope he’s dead now.
• When I was a tender young thing at my very first “real” job, I had a co-worker who, upon seeing me eating two bananas in a row, exclaimed loudly for all to hear, “Wow! How can you eat two bananas? They always give me gas something terrible! Don’t they give you gas?” I was mortified. Everyone in the office turned to look. I just smiled weakly and mumbled, “Uh, they’re okay,” or something like that. I must have been as red as a beet. She was a nice-enough lady, but what would possess someone to ask a question like that?
I also had a co-worker (not named dan) who was always a little past ripe. He weighed about 300 pounds and was as lazy as all git-out. He was always 15 minutes late with a completely lame excuse. (he lived 5 minutes away)
I asked my supervisor to speak to him about his tardiness (which he did, to no avail) and his stench (which he did not). Finally, while I was acting-lead on the shift and other co-workers complained to me about his stench, I had a talk with him about it. It was difficult, because I hate to hurt anyone’s feelings.
He swore to me that he showered each day, before his shift. I suggested that he might consider changing his clothes then, for he would wear the same shirt 3 days running. He denied this vehemently. I suggested that he might try a different soap (after asking him if used soap). Then I suggested that he visit a doctor about a food allergy.
He continued to smell until he was laid-off.
I once worked at a company where the owner…a minor celebrity in publishing and music…would go around inspecting the cleanliness of people’s workspaces. We weren’t allowed to have anything on our desks…all drawers and cabinets had to be closed…no magazines (umm…it was a freakin’ publishing company…magazines were our business) or anything like that could be in our work areas. If he found a particularly untidy desk, he’d go over and throw everything in the trash. It was, to say the least, bizarre.
Our Funkmaster ™ would wear the same shirt for days (record of 5 weeks) he had 2 winter shirts and would wear the same shirt in the summer over and over (he washed it, but sometimes would wear the same shirt over and over.)
I use to work with a guy who wore a filthy, nasty
toupee, and disgusting filthy clothes. Worse, he
smoked cigars outside of the office all the time,
and his clothes reeked of cigar smoke and had
holes burned in them. It was nauseating to be
near him.