# 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:** 43
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/841 "2011-03-08T17:54:20Z")
Hey boss, when you delegate your duties to non-management workers, there’s a paycode for that. Yeah, it’s “only” $10 a day, but I’ve got bills to pay. Just because the other person in the workgroup doesn’t know about it doesn’t mean you can dismiss it with a wave of your hand. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/842 "2011-03-08T18:45:01Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Yeah, my company only buys breakfast for board members. That has been our company’s MO, but if you’re doing an interdepartmental thing, you can choose how you want to do it. And I know that breakfast does not a referral make, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to drag people into an early meeting and not give them decent food and coffee. Expecting them to thank you when you give them what amounts to bread and water is ridiculous. And in the infamous words of my mother, “It’s just not done!” ---
**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:** [March 8, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/843 "2011-03-08T18:51:29Z")
Chipotle, I appreciate that you pulled my business card out of the bowl and are treating my office to some free burritos tomorrow, I really do. But… 1.) Could you maybe be a little bit more flexible with what days I could get the damned things? Your only options were last Wednesday (the day after you called me at noonish) or tomorrow. And now half the office isn’t even going to be here, due to off-site meetings and the like. 2.) Where the hell did you get the fax number you tried to send the order form to? The correct one is right there on my card. I even got paranoid and triple-checked it, but nope, it’s correct on the card. When I called back to let you know I hadn’t received the form, \*none \*of the numbers you rattled off were anything remotely like any phone number on my card, let alone the one marked as the fax. > [@Projammer](#): > > I suspect there are many reports of encounters with **curlcoat** at [http://notalwaysright.com](http://notalwaysright.com). > > Most of which will be filed under ‘Empress of the Universe’ I’ve often thought the same. Wouldn’t doubt if there are more than a couple notes addressed to her posted on [http://passiveaggressivenotes.com](http://passiveaggressivenotes.com), either. > [@Raginghormonal](#): > > But could someone please please move the thermostat up from 62…Please. One of the best little things about this office is that I can set all of the thermostats to comfortable temperatures. > [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](#): > > Would the company potentially buy you an under the desk space heater? Most places ban them outright, because they’re too big a liability risk. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/844 "2011-03-08T19:39:07Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > That has been our company’s MO, but if you’re doing an interdepartmental thing, you can choose how you want to do it. And I know that breakfast does not a referral make, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to drag people into an early meeting and not give them decent food and coffee. Expecting them to thank you when you give them what amounts to bread and water is ridiculous. And in the infamous words of my mother, “It’s just not done!” My brain’s too foggy to figure out what these referrals are about… but my company routinely calls all-hands meetings over the lunch hour, without providing any lunch. Morale sucks. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/845 "2011-03-09T02:52:08Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Hey boss, when you delegate your duties to non-management workers, there’s a paycode for that. Yeah, it’s “only” $10 a day, but I’ve got bills to pay. Just because the other person in the workgroup doesn’t know about it doesn’t mean you can dismiss it with a wave of your hand. Just code that to “miscellaneous,” would you? 🙂 I decided today that my supervisor is a complete and utter shit (there wasn’t much doubt before, but he really nailed it down today). I had to use my temp’s mantra, “I get paid by the hour\*” quite a bit today, as I re-did all the work I had done previously because for some reason all the information I wrote down needed to be written down again - either he lost it, or he simply didn’t care that it had already been recorded. From what he said when I completed re-doing everything (“Thanks - that makes my job so much easier”) I think he simply didn’t care that all the work except for his part had already been done once. That would be par for the course with this asshole - he’s one of the worst supervisors I’ve ever had, and I’ve had plenty. \*I do get paid by the hour, but no one likes wasting their time doing the same thing twice. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/846 "2011-03-09T04:05:03Z")
Well, my saga is coming to a close. This afternoon, in the middle of Weekly Meeting Personal Hell, I emailed everyone that I’m starting my maternity leave no later than 41 weeks. That’s two more Tuesday Personal Hells to get through. I hope I don’t feel lost, without this job to hate. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/847 "2011-03-09T04:16:43Z")
The countdown begins! Actually, for all the mental energy it takes to hate a job, it’s surprising how quickly it disappears from your consciousness once you’re finished with it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/848 "2011-03-09T05:09:21Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > The countdown begins! Actually, for all the mental energy it takes to hate a job, it’s surprising how quickly it disappears from your consciousness once you’re finished with it. 🙂 I wonder if this is true for other places, but whenever I see someone who voluntarily left our place (either retired, or quit to take another job) they always look 10 years younger. My mini-rant: I have Verizon Wireless; today I went in to order a new battery cover for my phone. They only charged me $4 and change, which is fine, but they don’t have them in stock and it has to be shipped. Fine. Except the only way they ship is 2nd day FedEx. Someone has to be home to sign for it. Chances are there won’t be anyone (if they come late enough in the afternoon my partner might be home, but life isn’t that easy). That means I get to make a 30 mile drive on Saturday to pick up a $4 piece of plastic. Whoopee. Roddy p.s. sorry wrong forum, I thought this was mini-rants. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/849 "2011-03-09T13:51:42Z")
No, mini-rants is down the hall. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/850 "2011-03-09T14:07:56Z")
> [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](#): > > Would the company potentially buy you an under the desk space heater? My hands would freeze as well until I got one, it makes a difference! 🙂 I actually have one, but they said everyone would want to use one and it would blow the circuits. So I can’t use it. One girl uses those gloves that leave her fingertips free. Maybe I’ll look for some of those. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/851 "2011-03-09T15:32:58Z")
Okay. So I spent two hours in a workshop learning a ‘new’ way to send documents. I had been creating the document, saving it to the file, then requesting mailing. No no no, we don’t want blank documents in the file, just generate it as you’re mailing it! Except, I generate the document in the mailing process and then the system errors out. Because it hasn’t been saved to the file, it can’t be found (despite getting a pop up letting me know it’s been saved). I contact the person on our team who is our ‘first contact’ regarding this whole new way of generating documents… she wasn’t trained on doing the whole bypass saving the doc just send it thing. She learned the passe create/save/then send. Calgon, please take me away. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/852 "2011-03-09T16:02:43Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > My brain’s too foggy to figure out what these referrals are about… but my company routinely calls all-hands meetings over the lunch hour, without providing any lunch. Morale sucks. I was so aggravated I didn’t really explain. Basically, our internal departments are required to refer people to us once they’ve completed the company’s primary service. Most departments don’t because they don’t know what we do (which is primarily free education). This is a hold over from when the service started and the internal marketing efforts were very, very poor. So to clarify things, we’re refreshing everyone’s memory through an internal campaign where we talk about the service, provide a meal or good-sized snack if that’s all they have time for and answer any questions they have, plus educate them on the referral process, which involves two mouse clicks. Since most people are hourly and lots of them deal with angry, bitter and sometimes suicidal customers all day, we (I and other seniors on my team) feel that they deserve something nicer for their efforts than half a bagel and some water. Apparently busybody and minion don’t. Eh, it’s just an ongoing saga. They tried to ding me again yesterday when I factually stated that, without controls, the Medicare hospital trust fund is set to run out by 2019. Health reform has bought us an additional 10 years, but that’s still just 10 years. Apparently stating fact when asked a direct question by an internal employee is tantamount to offering politically slanted, inaccurate information. The question was, “Hey, isn’t Medicare supposed to go bankrupt in, like 5 years?” My answer, “Well, according to the Medicare Trustees Report, prior to the Affordable Care Act, it was slated to go insolvent by 2019. With reform, it is anticipated to last until 2029.” Follow-up question, “Wow - shouldn’t they stop that?” My answer, “It certainly is a concern for many people. It’s uncertain exactly what will take place in the coming years, so we encourage people to focus on their current situation and make sure they’re taken care of now.” “Well, what do you think?” “I don’t generally provide an opinion on those matters, but if you want more information on what’s in the bill, I can provide you a summary.” ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/853 "2011-03-09T16:23:55Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > This afternoon, in the middle of Weekly Meeting Personal Hell, I emailed everyone that I’m starting my maternity leave no later than 41 weeks. That’s two more Tuesday Personal Hells to get through. Wooooo! Good luck popping even sooner. > [@Raginghormonal](#): > > One girl uses those gloves that leave her fingertips free. Maybe I’ll look for some of those. I worked in a cube maze that had its A/C cranked all summer–several women kept blankets in their cubes. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/854 "2011-03-09T16:24:58Z")
> [@Raginghormonal](#): > > I actually have one, but they said everyone would want to use one and it would blow the circuits. So I can’t use it. One girl uses those gloves that leave her fingertips free. Maybe I’ll look for some of those. I have a lap throw that plugs into a usb port and is heated. Highly recommended. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/855 "2011-03-09T18:44:13Z")
Here’s an actual work rant: Someone in our lovely IT department tripped over a cord, or delayed maintenance is biting us in the butt, or some other Oops moment has happened, but our file servers have been down all morning. I can’t work. I can’t go home. I can’t play games. All I can do is troll (in the fishing sense) around the internet, and wait. Sometimes I hate those people. Officious busybodies one minute, incompetent boobs the next. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/856 "2011-03-09T21:46:34Z")
People climbing up my ass for demo accounts for their friends (which I know we will never charge for even if they decided to keep the account). Look, paying customers take priority, and I am real booked up. This is the first free minute aside from lunch I’ve had all day, and I will be putting in another two hours of work when I get home, also on behalf of paying customers. If you want your fucking free request dealt with in priority fucking sequence, put it in with our sales rep and generate a ticket for it, like all our paying. Fucking. Customers. ARGH. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/857 "2011-03-09T22:01:21Z")
1.) Yes, I’m sure that admin got rave reviews for the one conference she organized this year for one location. Good for her. You know why I’m not going to ask her for any “pointers”? Because I’ve gotten rave reviews for organizing the same conference \*every year \*since I started this job. For _three different cities_. Ass. 2.) When I do the work to look up the availability of the person you support for the week we’re looking to host this conference, and give you a series of guesses based on their calendar, and ask you to confirm and clarify, that means… _FUCKING CONFIRM AND CLARIFY_. Don’t tell me what day they want to come–there are six people who are already scheduled out the ass, and quite frankly\* I don’t give a shit \*when you \*want \*to be here until I’m giving you a list of dates that work for everyone (and there won’t be any). When half your person’s dates are listed as maybes, tell me if they \*can or can’t \*make it. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/858 "2011-03-10T00:29:46Z")
> [@Raginghormonal](#): > > I actually have one, but they said everyone would want to use one \ Hmm, you’d almost think that was a clue about the situation for the temperature decision-makers… Dammit, I’m 44 years old - I come home from every shift and spend the night alternating cold and hot packs on my back, shoulders, neck, elbow, and wrist - I’d too old for this shit. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/859 "2011-03-10T09:23:46Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I wonder if this is true for other places, but whenever I see someone who voluntarily left our place (either retired, or quit to take another job) they always look 10 years younger. It’s the smiles. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/860 "2011-03-10T13:44:44Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Hmm, you’d almost think that was a clue about the situation for the temperature decision-makers… > > Dammit, I’m 44 years old - I come home from every shift and spend the night alternating cold and hot packs on my back, shoulders, neck, elbow, and wrist - I’d too old for this shit. I agree, but apparently TPTB are more Warm Blooded (or is it cold blooded? I always get those mixed up). 🙂 I did bring a blanket for my lap. That’s helping. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401.md?page=42) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401.md?page=44)