# Workplace griping, anyone? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 12, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401 "2010-11-12T06:39:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![Grapefruit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@Grapefruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grapefruit)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/461 "2011-01-11T17:02:24Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’ve been trying for a week now to talk to my contact at the temp agency. She doesn’t answer her phone ever and takes forever to return a call (if at all). I have no cell phone reception in the warehouse I’m working in, and I won’t talk on a cellphone while driving, so every day we play a game of me leaving a message, waiting as long as I can for the return call, finally going out and doing something, and seeing I missed the call when I come back in. Today I talk to someone else and find out what her email address is - I’m tired of this stupid shit. > > All this rigamarole for her to probably tell me that I have to just suck it up and move all the heavy boxes they want me to move (I’m an office worker). How close are you to the agency’s office, and does the agency have a gatekeeper for people who don’t have appointments? If email doesn’t work, then your last resort might have to be barging in… I have a new one! My director has taken to asking me “How’s are you doing?” when she really means “Update me on what you’ve been doing.” I’m used to “How are you doing?” as a colloquial greeting, so I’ve been responding with “Good!” and walking away. That is, until yesterday, when she followed me back to my desk and repeated herself. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/462 "2011-01-11T17:07:52Z")
Dude 1 called yesterday on a bad phone connection and kept talking over me. I got his email so I could send him information he wanted without having to repeat myself ten times. Then Dude 2 called from the same place, said he had gotten my email and started asking for the same information and kept talking over me on a bad phone connection. I told him the connection was bad and could he send me the data via email and he… asked me for my email address. Which he already had. Because he said he got my email. And it took repeating myself a whole lot because the line was bad AND HE KEPT TALKING OVER ME. So, he sent an email, today I sent a reply. And he called me. On a bad line. And kept talking over me. Forcing me to repeat myself dozens of times. I HATE THESE TWO MEN. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/463 "2011-01-11T20:15:55Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I beg you, send them this verbatim. 😃 Update: The RFP response they sent me contained the SOW… sort of. Except not really. You see, someone else pulled the SOW section out of the RFP and developed it into a much larger document, which is what I’d been asking for. Which somehow neither of these women noticed despite the fact that the start/end dates had changed, the page numbers were different and it became over twice as long. Whatever fucking retard created the extracted SOW never updated the footer, so there was literally no way to track it down. We’re pretty sure we figured out who worked on it, but she (big shock, since she was too fucking stupid to update the footer) didn’t keep a copy of the finished document, nor did she remember who she sent it to. OAISUSL;SFDJLSFIJSELILIJOSEKJSL SFG SMASH ---
**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 11, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/464 "2011-01-11T20:48:43Z")
I am so glad that we are so busy today that it was totally worthwhile for me to be kept standing around for thirty minutes after my manager told me I could go home so he could talk to his brother and sister-in-law about whatever the hell they wandered in to talk to him about. Oh wait, we weren’t busy at all. I better not have any questions from the head honcho about why I was on the clock so long today. Because I will tell him. The hours are nice, but there was absolutely no reason why I should have been on the clock for the last three hours today. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/465 "2011-01-11T21:12:49Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Dude 1 called yesterday on a bad phone connection and kept talking over me. I got his email so I could send him information he wanted without having to repeat myself ten times. > > Then Dude 2 called from the same place, said he had gotten my email and started asking for the same information and kept talking over me on a bad phone connection. I told him the connection was bad and could he send me the data via email and he… asked me for my email address. Which he already had. Because he said he got my email. > > And it took repeating myself a whole lot because the line was bad AND HE KEPT TALKING OVER ME. > > So, he sent an email, today I sent a reply. > > And he called me. > > On a bad line. > > And kept talking over me. > > Forcing me to repeat myself dozens of times. > > I HATE THESE TWO MEN. > > That is all. And I hate them both as well, just from reading this. I cannot imagine what it was like IRL. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/466 "2011-01-11T21:28:18Z")
Yaaayy, a person who can’t sort out the difference between a 24-hour day and a shorter period of day\*light \*\*\*is talking to me like I’m an idiot for thinking there’s a difference, yaaaaaay… ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/467 "2011-01-12T21:30:08Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > So, how’s that getting in the middle of other people’s idiocy going for you? 🙂 Oh, it’s just delightful. And they’re still mad at me. Busybody and minion said of my weekly meeting with the manager, “Oh, this will be an excellent opportunity for us to…” Uh, no. Nononononono. This is not an excellent opportunity for you to anything. When I commented as calmly as possible that I would use the meeting to update my manager on what I was doing, both women looked like I’d slapped them. I swear, this is the second time I’ve had to remind them that my weekly status meetings aren’t their inroads to the boss. It’s just another day in paradise. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/468 "2011-01-12T21:44:41Z")
Someone is going to write a workplace gripe about me. My shoes. They are squeaking. You know the squeak sneakers make on a polished surface? My shoes are making that noise… on carpet. I have no fucking idea how this is possible, but it’s happening. And I can’t take my shoes off because it’s the office of a fiberglass plant and there are often fibers on the floor. Bare or sock feet are a no-no. _squeak_ _squeak_ _squeak_ ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/469 "2011-01-12T22:16:54Z")
Have you checked the toes for mice recently? Perhaps shaking the shoes out at your desk could be helpful. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/470 "2011-01-12T22:18:04Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > _\_ > Oh well, but you’re in the office now. Oh good, an email from you! And what does it contain? _The same fucking RFP response_. (1) I already responded to the other woman \*and \*you with a PDF copy of the actual document I’m looking for; (2) I’ve now said repeatedly that I need _the fucking SOW_, you vapid morons, not the RFP response. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I beg you, send them this verbatim. 😃 You won the Lottery? Congratulations! ---
**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:** [January 12, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/471 "2011-01-12T22:21:55Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Someone is going to write a workplace gripe about me. My shoes. They are squeaking. > > You know the squeak sneakers make on a polished surface? My shoes are making that noise… on carpet. > > I have no fucking idea how this is possible, but it’s happening. > > And I can’t take my shoes off because it’s the office of a fiberglass plant and there are often fibers on the floor. Bare or sock feet are a no-no. > > _squeak_ _squeak_ _squeak_ I once read that when shoes squeak it’s a sign that they haven’t been paid for… ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/472 "2011-01-12T22:38:05Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > You won the Lottery? Congratulations! I don’t think she’s offering to \*compensate me \*for the fallout so much as _laugh at it_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/473 "2011-01-12T23:56:46Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Someone is going to write a workplace gripe about me. My shoes. They are squeaking. > > You know the squeak sneakers make on a polished surface? My shoes are making that noise… on carpet. > > _squeak_ _squeak_ _squeak_ I have no personal experience with this, but I was told that if this happens you should take the insoles out, dust the underside with baby powder or talc, and put them back in. The person who told me this is the guy who does custom orthotics and shoe repair at my podiatrist, so I tend to think he might know something about the matter. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/474 "2011-01-12T23:58:17Z")
> [@mischievous](#): > > I have no personal experience with this, but I was told that if this happens you should take the insoles out, dust the underside with baby powder or talc, and put them back in. The person who told me this is the guy who does custom orthotics and shoe repair at my podiatrist, so I tend to think he might know something about the matter. The squeak isn’t from inside the shoe. The squeak is like sneakers on a hard floor. It’s the combination of the sole and the floor. I don’t understand how it can happen on carpet, but it was. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/475 "2011-01-13T01:50:34Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I don’t think she’s offering to \*compensate me \*for the fallout so much as _laugh at it_. 😃 Heh heh heh. ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/476 "2011-01-13T14:43:16Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > The squeak isn’t from inside the shoe. The squeak is like sneakers on a hard floor. It’s the combination of the sole and the floor. > > I don’t understand how it can happen on carpet, but it was. Okay, that’s bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/477 "2011-01-13T14:57:09Z")
> [@mischievous](#): > > Okay, that’s bizarre. Indeed. I’m wearing different shoes today just to avoid being murdered. ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/478 "2011-01-18T18:02:49Z")
I know I’m bumping the thread, but it’s not _that_ old… Dear client, Just because something you want seems simple, does not automatically mean that it will be simple for our programmers to do. We have an integrated application, and often what we do on one screen affects multiple screens that you might not think it does. And no, no one else has asked for this enhancement - they all make do with how it currently works. The current method of looking up the information you want printed is not particularly onerus, so get a grip and deal with it. No love, Me ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/479 "2011-01-18T18:25:29Z")
If you just throw the paper into the bin so that it gets all crinkled up and torn, GUESS WHAT. The printer won’t fucking work. Stupid bitches. ---
**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/480 "2011-01-18T19:15:13Z")
My manager is unable to make an on-call roster. 4 engineers, one primary, one backup, rotating on a per-week basis. As scheduling goes, this is really simple. Last year, after 5 revisions, one engineer still, inexplicably, had no on-call duty for all of December. (We gave up at that point, as it was the best try yet and it got really embarrassing…) This year, we noticed the turn-over day was moved - normally it’s a Monday-Sunday shift, this year it’s Tuesday - Monday. Turns out she has C&Ped the dates directly from last year’s schedule - and thrown a few 8-day shifts in at the start of the year, to make things match up! How the %#^%#&^%$! can you be PMP certified without understanding the basic concept of a calendar? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401.md?page=25)