# Why am I still in the office? WHY? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 11, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-still-in-the-office-why/206790 "2003-10-11T03:06:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-still-in-the-office-why/206790/21 "2003-10-12T14:33:32Z")
My condolences Obsidian. I did 52 hours this week (including one 12 and one 13 hour day), so I can relate. ---
**Author:** ![Kieras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a87d85/32.png) [@Kieras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kieras)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-still-in-the-office-why/206790/22 "2003-10-13T01:50:41Z")
I would go to my boss to just to have a heart to heart talk. I am in the office from usually 7:30am till I am done never before 5pm and sometimes as late as 7:30pm. I don’t mind though its money in the bank. But the fact that he just dumped it on you is what would concern me. I am a single mother so I take any extra hours they want to throw at me. I have an understanding boss though. If he did that to me and I told him I wasnt able to do it… He would just stay late himself or take it to Kinko’s. That sucks ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Obsidian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/51bf81/32.png) [@Obsidian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obsidian)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-still-in-the-office-why/206790/23 "2003-10-13T05:59:27Z")
**Kieras** , you reminded me of something I was thinking about the other day. . . There’s no predictability to my hours. What if I had children? What if I had a babysitter waiting? I came to the conclusion that my bosses would be much more accomodating. They’ve all got kids (well, all but one, and his first is due next year), and they’re very family oriented. Hell-- they gave me two days off when my cat died. Unfortunatly, I don’t HAVE a good excuse. Sorry, sir, you can’t go home to your wife and 18-month-old because I have a pressing date with CSI. Of course, if I continue to work these hours, I’ll never go on a date again, and the children thing will be moot. You guys have really cheered me up. I’m going to bed soon to rest up for my long week, so goodnight. And thanks! ---
**Author:** ![meara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@meara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meara)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-still-in-the-office-why/206790/24 "2003-10-13T07:29:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Obsidian \* > \*\*Cocksucking printer. \*\* Now THAT’s what I call an all-in-one printer! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-still-in-the-office-why/206790/25 "2003-10-15T04:20:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Obsidian \* > \*\ ***Kieras** , you reminded me of something I was thinking about the other day. . . There’s no predictability to my hours. What if I had children? What if I had a babysitter waiting? > > I came to the conclusion that my bosses would be much more accomodating. They’ve all got kids (well, all but one, and his first is due next year), and they’re very family oriented. Hell-- they gave me two days off when my cat died. Unfortunatly, I don’t HAVE a good excuse. Sorry, sir, you can’t go home to your wife and 18-month-old because I have a pressing date with CSI. > > \\*\* You know, this kind of thing drives me absolutely nuts. Just because you don’t have kids doesn’t mean you should be expected to take up the slack for people who do. Are all the people who have kids more valuable, and are their lives more valid than yours? Is your time less valuable because you don’t have kids waiting for you at home? A resounding NO to all of the above. Your time is yours, to do with as you want. Your bosses choose to spend their off time with the families they chose to have; they do not have the right to make decisions for you about how you spend your off time or how much off time you get; you should get the time off that you negotiated for when you started this job, and kids or lack of kids should not be a consideration at all. ---
**Author:** ![Computer\_Guru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Computer\_Guru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Computer_Guru)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-still-in-the-office-why/206790/26 "2003-10-15T04:28:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Obsidian \* > \*\*It’s 8 PM. I have been here since 8 AM. It’s fuckin’ friday. Why the hell am I still here? > > I’ll tell you. At 4:46, as I’m slowly packing my desk, my boss wanders out and tells me, by the way, before you go, I need something printed. > > Okay, fine. > > Turns out to be four different color documents (2-4 pages apiece), at 500 copies each. They’re damn adobe PDFs that won’t print coallated, so I must then coallate (however the fuck you spell coallate-- god damn it I shoud be getting drunk by now!) and then staple all of this. He needs them by tomorrow morning. > > Why the fuck do people abuse their assistants? You pay us dirt, you treat us like shit, and you expect us to be fucking smiling all the time. > > Generally, I like the guys I work for, buy they’re all high-paid execs with stay at home wives and sometimes I swear they think woman=servant. Or maybe they just don’t realize that I’m a person, not a piece of office equipment (The All In One Desk-- with automatic mechanical secretary! Just $299.99, by Whamo!), or that I don’t, in fact, sleep here. (I’m always here, right? I’m here when they get in, I’m here when I leave. I must live under my desk.) > > Fuck! I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten anything since noon, but if I order in dinner, I’ll be giving in to the inevitability of my fucking night gone down the tubes. I feel like I’m in college again-- oh wait, in college I did nothing on friday. Late nights were suplemented by sleeping till noon. > > So I’m just stapling and coalating away here. Look! Cyan toner empty! Cocksucking printer. > > Off to storage room to hunt for cyan toner. Will return soon to kill myself. \*\* Just look at it as more money in your pocket, unless they don’t pay you overtime. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-still-in-the-office-why/206790.md?page=1)