# 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:** 451
**Author:** ![Boggette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@Boggette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boggette)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9002 "2015-05-27T14:37:35Z")
Good god, woman. That perfume is killing me! ---
**Author:** ![Melaleuca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Melaleuca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melaleuca)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9003 "2015-05-28T03:57:35Z")
**Kelevra** , I always think the same when someone ‘likes’ their own Facebook post. I call it the “ultimate selfie” ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9004 "2015-05-28T15:57:33Z")
My co-worker spends a lot of time on the phone as part of her job, and I completely understand that, at times, she’s going to have to deal with people who are either difficult or incompetent. _ **But** _, that does not mean that, after each one of those calls, she has to make a big scene and huff around. It’s a desperate ploy for attention, and it rarely works. Instead, it just irritates all of us as we try to do our jobs. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9005 "2015-05-28T17:37:47Z")
For the most part I like where I work: the university I most closely associated with when I was growing up and in an environment where, as my wife put it the other day: I don’t have to manage anybody and my supervisor trusts me to get my work done and isn’t a “micro-manager” (well, not _most_ of the time, anyway). To which I add: and where I have responsibilities but where my job isn’t _too_ overwhelming. In _many_ ways I’d almost rate my job as “perfect” for me. But there’s this ONE issue that keeps nagging: one of my co-workers, well - she and I just don’t mesh particularly well. We’ve tried. I’ve tried. She’s tried. We’ve tried. But we just don’t mesh. Yesterday, she (from my perspective) had a meltdown which, in a way, is refreshing because USUALLY what she does is get all passive-aggressive on me when she has some sort of beef. Something that it’s been a little hard for me to convince my boss is actually happening. Yesterday’s “kerfuffle” was a little easier to spot. He had a meeting with her today and he’s having a meeting with me tomorrow (or so he’s told me). Fortunately for me she’s taking a couple of weeks’ vacation starting this afternoon. As you can probably imagine I’m looking forward to THAT! ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9006 "2015-05-28T18:01:08Z")
> [@Calatin](#): > > The Friday catering arrived 15 minutes ago (10:45) and it is soup, salads, and sandwiches. > > The woman referenced in [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18368163&postcount=8984) is muttering to others about how she’s not going to clean up after all of these "ungrateful bitches, after someone complained (to nobody in particular) how she boxed up a bunch of the “remaining” food around noon so that she could take it home (when others hadn’t even had a chance to eat yet). > > She is hovering around the food, encouraging everyone to get soup or salad because “it is healthy,” to the point where it’s borderline shaming people if they don’t acquiesce to her demands. > > I’m sure this has nothing to do with the fact that (of all the items catered today) the sandwiches are the one item that a person could take home and eat as leftovers, and so the more people eat soup and salad, the more there will be for her to plunder later. I’d call her out on her ass so fast that she wouldn’t know what hit her. We had not one, but two people like her back when our uber manager had lunch catered for us twice a month. Everyone, including myself, knew what they were trying to do. I was the only one who not only confronted them, but I also told several managers about it as well as uber manager. The catering stopped soon afterward. I have no idea if they knew I was the whistleblower and frankly, I don’t care of they know. You just don’t do that kind of shit just before or in the middle of lunch hour. I’m generally a let-and-let-live sort, but stuff like this really raises my hackles. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9007 "2015-05-28T18:10:39Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I know what the health inspectors look for, and it isn’t shiny stainless steel and spotless floors. They’re concerned with food-contact surfaces, handwashing, temperature control, proper cooling, proper hot- and cold-holding…So my cleaning priorities are focused on making sure that I’m serving “safe” food. Not on polishing stainless steel and floors. I don’t prepare food on the floor. We’re going through our annual “Let’s Clean The Grout!” at work right now, which of course, comes on the tail of health inspections by both the town and our employer’s food safety team. One of my coworkers who has roughly the same experience as you said virtually the same thing when it was announced. Our manager, of course, had to toe the company line about sanitation and such, but the rest of us know the real reason: We’re coming into the slow season. If your manager can justify you, a PT worker, for being there “so they can spend their shift cleaning the grout” the PT worker won’t lose any hours. In other words, it’s busy work, plain and simple. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9008 "2015-05-28T19:12:58Z")
I just got one of those job-hooks with more acronyms than a military slideshow which frankly doesn’t seem to make sense no matter how I try to interpret it. The good news is, I’m 100% sure I’m not interested in working for people who send such alphabet soups. The bad news is, I’m going to be wondering what the heck are they actually looking for, because what they sent made about as much sense as asking for a salsa specialist with a tomato allergy. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9009 "2015-05-28T19:55:34Z")
The company that bought the company that bought the company I started working for a few years back has been bought. I don’t think my job is going to make it through this round of “synergy”. Damn. I hate the job search. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9010 "2015-05-28T22:35:25Z")
The ballast in one of the light fixtures in my office failed three weeks ago. Is it unreasonable to think that it should have been fixed by now?? And yes, the job hunt sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9011 "2015-05-29T07:55:45Z")
> [@Melaleuca](#): > > **Kelevra** , I always think the same when someone ‘likes’ their own Facebook post. > > I call it the “ultimate selfie” These days you pretty much have to do that to ensure it shows up in your friends’ news feeds. I blame the mysterious FB algorithm. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9012 "2015-05-29T11:34:50Z")
> [@Dunkelheit](#): > > These days you pretty much have to do that to ensure it shows up in your friends’ news feeds. I blame the mysterious FB algorithm. Yep :nodding: Liking your own post makes sure the current algorithm lets other people see it. It’s been like that for awhile now. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9013 "2015-05-30T10:51:51Z")
I pit the job insecurity of third-sector work that requires securing one’s own funding on a regular basis to stay employed, and I pit my deteriorating condition that might make it impossible to keep doing said job even if we do get funding in time. If I can’t rely on my legs to respond to instructions (which it seems I can’t), I can’t safely drive, and if I can’t drive, I can’t do this job or many others. I’m in such horrible shape now I can barely do this job as it is, I can’t imagine having to start over in a different job and a different workplace that is unlikely to be as accommodating of my limitations as this one. Who knows, though, a new job in a new place might even be less stressful in the long run, therefore draining my resources less, but just the thought of having to start over, including selling myself sufficiently to get another job in spite of my disability, is exhausting and depressing. I also pit doctors who respond to new and alarming symptoms and requests for referrals to specialists with ‘don’t get your hopes up, they probably won’t find anything, it’s probably just the fibromyalgia and you’ll have to live with it.’ Fibro is not a diagnosis of a cause, it is a collection of symptoms that might have any number of different causes for different people, and different people respond very differently to various treatment options. Also, when something scary starts happening, don’t brush it off as ‘it’s just the fibro’, and neglect to actually pursue a diagnosis. Just because I have fibro doesn’t mean I can’t have something else as well, and this (non-functional limbs, falling down and losing control of the car brakes and such) is not a symptom I’m familiar with from hearing others describe their conditions. I don’t want to end up dying or being permanently incapacitated by something treatable just because you think it’s part and parcel of the fibro. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9014 "2015-05-31T01:52:54Z")
> [@Dunkelheit](#): > > I also pit doctors who respond to new and alarming symptoms and requests for referrals to specialists with ‘don’t get your hopes up, they probably won’t find anything, it’s probably just the fibromyalgia and you’ll have to live with it.’ Fibro is not a diagnosis of a cause, it is a collection of symptoms that might have any number of different causes for different people, and different people respond very differently to various treatment options. Also, when something scary starts happening, don’t brush it off as ‘it’s just the fibro’, and neglect to actually pursue a diagnosis. Just because I have fibro doesn’t mean I can’t have something else as well, and this (non-functional limbs, falling down and losing control of the car brakes and such) is not a symptom I’m familiar with from hearing others describe their conditions. I don’t want to end up dying or being permanently incapacitated by something treatable just because you think it’s part and parcel of the fibro. Preach it! I swear “fibro” is code for “we don’t know what you have and your insurance company doesn’t pay enough for us to look” ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9015 "2015-05-31T11:56:00Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Preach it! I swear “fibro” is code for “we don’t know what you have and your insurance company doesn’t pay enough for us to look” At least I don’t have the insurance problem here, and the NHS doesn’t seem reluctant to have people look at me, but the GPs at my local practice don’t seem to know much about the condition, so aren’t a lot of help other than to refill my prescriptions, refer me to others and write notes for things like work absences and getting out of jury duty. I’m glad the court accepted my release request, as I don’t think they’d appreciate a juror who couldn’t sit or stand in one place for very long, especially without comfy chairs, can’t concentrate especially when in pain from spending hours in uncomfortable chairs, and who had to spend upwards of twenty minutes at a time in the washroom, sometimes frequently and usually urgently. Very sensible of them. ---
**Author:** ![Megaera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/megaera/32/1405_2.png) [@Megaera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Megaera)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9016 "2015-05-31T15:07:06Z")
As of today, I’m officially unemployed. I think. Weasel called me into his office a week ago last Tuesday to tell me that he was closing the place at the end of this month and was pulling my Super in to weld at one of his other businesses. He’s also keeping on the 77-year-old part time helper he has. Me? I’m out at the end of the month. For a long time I couldn’t understand why I was being treated so poorly at work. I worked hard, doing things I really shouldn’t have been doing, and I paid for it later, but things had to be done, so I did them. I knew Weasel had a huge case of gender bias, but I didn’t think it was as bad as it turned out to be. It wasn’t until the beginning of this spring that I got a hint of what was going on, when I walked into the office in time to hear my Super taking the credit for everything I’d done. And he kept doing it right there in front of me. And still I kept doing my job, even when he took credit for things I’d done when he wasn’t even on the premises. Weasel, who bought it hook, line, and sinker, rarely came around and I was fine with that. He has a reputation around here, and it’s not a good one. When I was in Weasel’s office, he told me that we would keep in touch in case he sold the place or leased it, in which case I’d still have a job. He called me once after that, the following Tuesday, to “see how I was doing.” That’s the last I heard from him. And I know exactly why. It’s the 31st of May. The place is closed, according to him. He’s avoiding me deliberately, so that if I try to claim unemployment, he can say he didn’t fire me and I wouldn’t be able to claim it. He’s famous locally for this kind of crap. I’ve been talking off and on to another business in town whose owner really wants to hire me, but wouldn’t while I was working for Weasel because he didn’t want to be seen as poaching employees. I saw him a couple of days ago and he asked me when my last day was and said we’d talk, but I haven’t heard anything since, and I’m getting nervous. As if I weren’t already. I documented everything Weasel has said and done said and done through all this on my iPhone. I don’t know how much good it will do, but I did do it. Just in case. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9017 "2015-05-31T21:15:28Z")
> [@Dunkelheit](#): > > At least I don’t have the insurance problem here, and the NHS doesn’t seem reluctant to have people look at me, but the GPs at my local practice don’t seem to know much about the condition, so aren’t a lot of help other than to refill my prescriptions, refer me to others and write notes for things like work absences and getting out of jury duty. That’s what I meant. The doctors (specialists) will look at me, but they won’t do any testing to try to find out what is actually wrong. They just won’t look any further than “it must be fibro”. Which was more or less OK until the government started making it so flipping hard to get pain medication…☹ ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9018 "2015-06-02T13:03:07Z")
They’re finally sending someone around to count all the burned out lights. Yay. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9019 "2015-06-02T13:50:50Z")
Every summer it’s the same thing: You always get a couple of people in every department who do nothing but bitch and moan about why they’re not getting more hours. Explaining to them that they’re classified by HR as “X type of associates” and therefore “can only work the maximum of Y hours every week” only increases their discontent. Explaining to them that their refusal to learn all aspects of operation has led them to be classified as “X type of associates” goes over their heads. The irony is that these particular people are well into adulthood and are otherwise articulate and have some degree of intelligence, so yes, they do understand on one level. They just don’t WANT to. And yes, I realize on a greater note that their journey to our company says a lot about the economy of the past few years. I, too, have been laid off before during an economic downturn. I know the hair-pulling frustration of landing ANY kind of job. However, I swallowed my pride and took anything that was offered. One of those positions led to the position I now have held for over 20 years. Age plays a big factor with these particular employees. They’ve been supervisors or in charge of entire departments. I know for a fact that being “demoted” to a $10/hour PT position (thank your lucky stars about that – oh, wait, it never occurred to you that plenty of people are paid less) is a slap in the face. If there was something I could do about it, I would. There isn’t. But for the love of fricking god, SHUT UP AND DO YOUR WORK. You have no idea, and probably don’t care, how tiresome it is to listen to you drone on and on and on about your fate :headdesk: ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9020 "2015-06-02T14:57:27Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > They’re finally sending someone around to count all the burned out lights. Yay. How many people does it take to _count_ a lightbulb? ---
**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:** [June 2, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/9021 "2015-06-02T15:28:15Z")
Three. One to do the counting, and one to say “_ONE! One light bulb! TWO! Two light bulbs! THREE! Three Beautiful Burnt-out Light Bulbs! AHH-AHH-AHHH!_” And one to make the thunderclap sound effect with the sheet metal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401.md?page=450) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401.md?page=452)