I have been dealing with a total numbnuts at work for the past four months. I am one month away from finishing this contract and I am at the point where I would be ecstatic if I was fired.
Well after four months of covering for this co-worker, let’s call him Sam, yesterday I cracked. He royally fucked up and I, once again, had to stay late to fix his mistakes. He on the other hand only works four hours a day and is impossible to reach (he is paid for full time).
He finally showed up when I was almost done fixing his mistake and for some strange reason he was pissed off with me. Apparently his lack of ability to following a drafting is my fault. I asked him what his problem was with me and apparently I have not been giving him his due respect.
He lost my respect the first time he showed his incompetence and it has been steadily declining since. This guy is visited daily by the fu*k up fairy and I have to be the one to fix everything because he is too dim to figure out that anything is wrong.
And well I kinda lost my cool and told him what I thought of him.
It did not go well.
For him.
But I know it was unprofessional for me to ream him out, we are on the same level hierarchy wise, but I just couldn’t help it. I had all of this anger bottled up and I was just waiting for a reason to let it loose.
I can’t wait for the inevitable meeting with the higher ups. I have no fear of being fired, I long for it. I would love to be able to leave this hell hole early. I know they won’t, because they realize that they would be screwed for the rest of the season if I leave. I really want to leave though, I dream of it nightly.
They have even asked me back for next year but I have the funny feeling that I would not come back no matter what they paid me. Nothing is worth the stress that Sam causes me, and I wish them the best of luck trying to find somebody who can deal with him next year.
I’m sure you don’t need the reminder, but do be professional on your way out. Any catharsis you may get from pulling a Jerry Maguire may be well offset someday when you apply for your dream job and your interviewer happens to be one of your current bosses. They still like you right now, yes? Keep it that way. Keep calm, report Sam’s actions as they affect your work honestly and undramatically (with documentation, if you have it), and let them sort it out.
Don’t be “the crazy bitch who couldn’t work with Sam”. That just lets them ignore their real problem (Sam) longer.
Your posting suggests the title of another thread: “Have you ever thought it might actually be worth it to spend a long stretch in prison for killing someone who deserved to die?” Think about it – you could spend your nights in the warm security of your cell, giggling as you envision Sam’s corpse rotting in the ground, and knowing that you have actually made the world a better place.
This is easy. Don’t dread the chat with the bosses, anticipate it. If/When it coes to that, fill their earholes about Sam just like you did the guy himself.
If nothing else they need a blunt description of the guy’s incompetence, work habits and effect on morale. And your cherry on top can be an invitation to fire you and get you off the sinking ship.
Proceed with your job search and level with the bosses. It’ll do you some god I think.
Some of his actions are not documented but all of them are witnessed. My plan is to, near the end of the day, walk into the boss’s office with a couple of beers (we have a really casual office, and hell in the middle of the day the boss has been known to walk into my office with beer just to shoot the shit) and have a discussion with him.
I work in an industry that references are everything and it could very well be a death warrant to quit mid production, so I don’t think I will do that. But again, I would have no problems leaving if they ask.
I fully plan on taking the high road on this one. I was very pleasant with Sam this morning and I am doing my best to keep at it. That way he has nothing he can say to bad mouth me. I still have to work closely with him, but only for three more weeks. After that I will not look back.