# 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:** 283
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5642 "2013-06-05T03:41:43Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ll bet I must have been a book burner or something like that in my last life. Or a backyard breeder. I keed, I keed. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5643 "2013-06-05T04:51:25Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I’m not a Zoo animal. Of course not, you’re mythological. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5644 "2013-06-05T09:57:09Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > Mostly, they look smooshed. 😛 > > I don’t know much about insects, but [this pic](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://biology.duke.edu/dukeinsects/images/Vespula_maculifrons2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://biology.duke.edu/dukeinsects/Vespula_maculifrons.php&h=818&w=1200&sz=429&tbnid=UmQNav-DQ_ridM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=113&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dyellow%2Bjacket%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=yellow+jacket&usg=__gkVkeYjKze0H6o5O-22OT9OYR58=&docid=oo-w6qEYykd4OM&sa=X&ei=GaOuUcm4LIawiQeYhoCQBg&sqi=2&ved=0CJABEP4dMBA) looks like what we keep finding. 3 today. Ah, not paper wasps then. Congrats, looks like you have yellowjackets. Ultra-mean. Those were the ones we had making nests under the siding of our house. Apparently some are ground-nesting as well. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5645 "2013-06-05T13:44:13Z")
Yes. Member **Lancia** had a run-in with them in 2011: [How to get rid of ground-nesting yellowjackets? Need answer sorta fast... - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=623084) ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5646 "2013-06-05T14:59:08Z")
> [@Kzbre5m](#): > > [This one? (Kill Bill whistle)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZwsK36BzcY) No, and although I now have a permanent facial tic due to having to look this up, I present to you the [offending ringtone](http://www.pisamba.com/ringtones/view/Verizon-Whisting-Ringtone-Verizon-Whistling-Ringtone_368106). :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: There really just are not enough roll-eyes in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5647 "2013-06-05T16:36:57Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > > [@Chimera](#): > > > > I’m not a Zoo animal. > > Of course not, you’re mythological. \ No little circus wagons, either. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5648 "2013-06-05T18:48:49Z")
Good fucking gawd, coworkers, it’s new chat program, not the end of the damn world. What are you going to do when we get rid of Lotus next month? And not-my-supervisor? You spent 30 minutes LOUDLY having a video chat with a coworker. SQUEE! THIS IS SO COOL! LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!! Yet, when one of your employees comes to me with questions about our procedures, you squawk at her for not being at her desk, working? Moronic heifer. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5649 "2013-06-05T20:22:09Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > ? And not-my-supervisor? You spent 30 minutes LOUDLY having a video chat with a coworker. SQUEE! THIS IS SO COOL! LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!! Wait until they find the emoticons embedded in the new program. Just wait. I can tell you from experience - it’s UGLY. And it will make you stabby. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5650 "2013-06-05T20:44:06Z")
There are not nearly as many emoticons as we had with Sametime. Darn it. We love our emoticons. And I have heard from one coworker that the upgrades we’re receiving are actually part of a conspiracy to track our every movement, since we’re no longer in office. I used to have a lovely tin foil hat smilie that would be so appropriate for her. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5651 "2013-06-05T21:19:36Z")
Snort! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5652 "2013-06-05T21:48:40Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > There are not nearly as many emoticons as we had with Sametime. Darn it. We love our emoticons. > > And I have heard from one coworker that the upgrades we’re receiving are actually part of a conspiracy to track our every movement, since we’re no longer in office. I used to have a lovely tin foil hat smilie that would be so appropriate for her. Which chat program? Lots of them let you add custom emoticons, and [this site has loads and loads of lovely ones](http://www.freesmileys.org/), many animated. I’m particularly fond of the computer getting bashed with a hammer. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5653 "2013-06-05T22:36:28Z")
Microsoft Lync. I’ve looked for add-ons and hacks, there aren’t any. I had two favorites from Sametime : head meeting wall (it is government, after all) and a windows pop up box that says “read the fucking manual” (I work with government employees, after all). ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5654 "2013-06-05T23:23:13Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > Microsoft Lync. I’ve looked for add-ons and hacks, there aren’t any. > > I had two favorites from Sametime : head meeting wall (it is government, after all) and a windows pop up box that says “read the fucking manual” (I work with government employees, after all). There’s that box at the top that you can use for long term status stuff, who to call, etc. I was told it was just for that until I saw that one of the high level VPs I work with was putting _Princess Bride_ and other movie quotes in it. So I started doing bastardized semi-work related movie quotes, song lyrics, etc. You could probably put Most of the time it makes more sense to just read the manual or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5655 "2013-06-06T01:32:19Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > Mostly, they look smooshed. 😛 > > I don’t know much about insects, but [this pic](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://biology.duke.edu/dukeinsects/images/Vespula_maculifrons2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://biology.duke.edu/dukeinsects/Vespula_maculifrons.php&h=818&w=1200&sz=429&tbnid=UmQNav-DQ_ridM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=113&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dyellow%2Bjacket%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=yellow+jacket&usg=__gkVkeYjKze0H6o5O-22OT9OYR58=&docid=oo-w6qEYykd4OM&sa=X&ei=GaOuUcm4LIawiQeYhoCQBg&sqi=2&ved=0CJABEP4dMBA) looks like what we keep finding. 3 today. > > My minion has been insisting that his life won’t be complete unless he can throw a bridal shower for me. I managed to talk him down to coffee and cake in the break room. > > Everyone always loves free cake and good coffee, so we showed the jar of dead wasps to everyone who showed up. > > Nobody except the receptionists who work on the ground floor has ever seen a wasp in their work area. > > I’ll bet I must have been a book burner or something like that in my last life. It appears you have what we call meat bees here. Try (CAREFULLY!!!) looking around the ground near the building foundation and see if you see any of them flying in and out of a hole in the ground. If so somebody with that responsibility needs to deal with it ASAP as those bastards are evil and mean. Don’t get any closer to their nest than you need to. Damn, now I want cake … ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5656 "2013-06-06T02:02:53Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Oh how I wish I could have been at that party! You really know how to give your guests a good time! I do like to make an impression. 😃 > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Or a backyard breeder. > > I keed, I keed. EEEKKKKK!!! _tears hair and rends garments in horror_ I think that the property management guys have been looking at the outside walls and grounds. They really are taking this seriously now. Yesterday, they were on a cherry picker, spraying the walls. The wasps must be coming in from outside, because they are all dying or dead when we find them. We smoosh them on sight just to be sure. My Beloved Butthead bought us some fly swatters (pink for me and blue for minion) because he thinks that shooting them\* would be a bad idea. We could damage the maps or something. The dying wasp that got my minion, stung him 3 times. They are certainly insects that should not be fucked with. \*Wasps, not the property management guys, but shooting them would probably be a bad idea too. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5657 "2013-06-06T03:15:08Z")
Yeah, one of those yellowjackets got up under the back of a shirt I was wearing and stung me about a dozen times before I could get it off. The thing pumped enough venom into me to slightly restrict my breathing. Yellowjackets are my sworn enemies. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5658 "2013-06-06T04:37:23Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Yeah, one of those yellowjackets got up under the back of a shirt I was wearing and stung me about a dozen times before I could get it off. \*\*The thing pumped enough venom into me to slightly restrict my breathing. \*\*Yellowjackets are my sworn enemies. (bolding mine) OK, wait a minute here. I carry an epi-pin because I’m deathly allergic to bee stings. I thought that wasp venom was different and doesn’t cause anaphylactic shock. My minion got stung 3 times, does that mean that he will have a worse reaction if he gets stung again? I really do like this minion, and I don’t want him to die on the clock. There would be so much paperwork… Seriously, do I need to worry about this? Our wasps are dying or dead, they don’t seem aggressive. Mostly the live ones are just crawling around on stuff, so we have to be careful to watch where we put our hands. I really don’t want to google this so late at night, I need to get some sleep and then arm myself with my pink fly swatter and do battle. **Lynn** Bill says that I was probably one of the designers of the Lucus electrical system. Yes, I did cry. (OK, that was a lie, I threw a pillow at him and called him a butthead.) Whatever I did, it was really bad. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5659 "2013-06-06T04:47:08Z")
The two venoms are different, so being allergic to bees doesn’t mean you’re allergic to wasps, but you (or your minion, or the receptionist, or anybody else) might be allergic to wasps. The info I get from [medline](http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002857.htm) says that difficulty breathing isn’t a symptom of wasp-stings per se, but it is one of being allergic to them. So, we know that **Ferret Herder** is allergic to wasp stings. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5660 "2013-06-06T05:14:30Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The two venoms are different, so being allergic to bees doesn’t mean you’re allergic to wasps, but you (or your minion, or the receptionist, or anybody else) might be allergic to wasps. The info I get from [medline](http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002857.htm) says that difficulty breathing isn’t a symptom of wasp-stings per se, but it is one of being allergic to them. So, we know that **Ferret Herder** is allergic to wasp stings. Thank you so much! When I google health issues, I usually find enough stuff to scare me to death. I wasn’t so worried about me as my minion. Allergies usually take exposure, and my minion was recently exposed several times at once. I’ll cross examine him tomorrow. He didn’t complain about excessive pain and didn’t say a word about breathing problems. **Ferret Herder** , stay away from wasps from now on. My bee sting allergy went from excessive swelling of the stung limb to OMFG!!! I can’t breath!!! with repeated stings. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2013, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5661 "2013-06-06T10:26:09Z")
There’s an apple tree in my dad’s back yard. Every year when the apples fall off and start rotting on the ground a cloud of yellow jackets arrives to enjoy them. They’re very mellow because they’re drunk on rotten apples. I’m not saying this is a solution, but it might be if you’re afraid of getting stung by them. You can pick them up by the wings when they’re in that state and they don’t care. They probably wouldn’t even notice being swatted to death. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401.md?page=282) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401.md?page=284)