Workplace griping, anyone?

The BBQ Pit
1601

Not my workplace, but my sister’s. Sister is seven months pregnant and got put on total bed rest due to some complications. Her boss suggests that sister work from home. Sister is all for it, so sister’s boss (SB) takes it to CEO. CEO is also all for it, and tells SB to go to HR to get it done. Here’s the problem. HR guy is a fossil who thinks that women don’t belong in the workplace, so doing anything to accomodate a woman, especially a pregnant one, makes him break out in hives. HR guy tells SB that they don’t have a policy covering working at home. SB (who is over HR guy also) says, “So write a policy!” HR guy then whines that if he writes a policy everyone will want to work from home. SB then says to put in the policy that work-from-home will only allowed in certain situations. HR guy whines that he doesn’t understand the certain situations. This has been going on for a month now. CEO knows that HR guy is dragging his feet but won’t drop the hammer on him. And my poor sister is at home bored while her work piles up because her department is already short-staffed.

Now my workplace… I go back to work tomorrow after being on vacation. I think my boss tried to do some of my work while I was gone. We’ll see what kind of a mess I get to deal with. If y’all hear screaming around 8am EDT tomorrow, don’t worry, it’s just me.

1602

:confused: HR Whine-o-saurus doesn’t need to understand the “certain situations.” He just needs to include a disclaimer to the effect that it will be approved on a case-by-case basis.

1603

I’m not understanding the problem. HR policies are in place to cover the company’s butt, not because you’re mandated by law to have policies before you can do something. I think it’s so engrained these days that something needs to be in writing before action can be taken on it but, really, that’s not the case at all. Everyone’s on board. So the company should just do it. Then go to HR and say “guess what? We’re doing it. So you can write us up a spiffy policy or not but it’s already set in motion.”

1604

I think the real problem is CEO not lighting a fire under HR guy’s butt and just telling him to do it already.

1605

Yeah, not familiar with VBA. And, like you said, I shouldn’t have to.

Pretty sure that’s your opinion as a person with an IQ over 70. Christ.

Bingo.

1606

Yup… Just talked to sister again, she thinks that HR guy is either related to CEO somehow or has a lockbox full of incriminating pictures somewhere.

1607

Dear Animal Kingdom,

I don’t know what it is about my office that you find utterly intoxicating, but GET THE FUCK OFF MY CEILING.

tap.tap.tap.tap.skitter.tap.tap.

Boss got the building manager to sick the poison on them once, but the hardy fuckers appear to have survived. I was actually supposed to move to a crappier, but animal free office this week, but then boss nixed that and left me in my pretty office. With the creatures.

tap.tap.tap.

1608

Focus. FOCUS.

I seem to have a very narrow mood range where I can work. Too depressed and all I do is stare at the screen trying not to burst into tears while the clock races towards knockoff and I’ve gotten nothing done. Too manic and I can’t pay attention to anything for more than approximately 40 seconds before I NEED to go and find something else while the clock races towards knockoff and I’ve got nothing done.

DON’T MAKE ME BREAK YOUR FINGERS, BITCH.

1609

I posted a video on YouTube once of a cricket crawling across my desk. They spray 'em dead here monthly, but leave the carcasses as Easter eggs to find later (note to self: don’t move any more file cabinets). Occasionally, a dead cricket will drop from the ceiling onto my desk. I’ve started using cups with lids… :eek:

1610

I think they work for a few govt contractors that enjoy submitting their proposals as word docs full of these things. Wouldn’t mind it so much if it was in the correct format. Wastes time when I have to come get you to fix it.

1611

Ugh. Spent all day again in a Process Hazard Analysis, going through P&ID diagrams reviewing if there’s any new hazards pumping from tank 14-XXX to 14-YYY than there were from 14-XXX to 14-WWW… My brain feels like it is dribbling out of my ears. There’s no chemistry in pumping something from one place to another; I don’t need to be bored without mercy!

Anyway. Finally got done for the day, returned to my office – it’s raining, but so hot that the raindrops weren’t actually reaching the ground – and find: AC in the lab offices has pretty much given up. It’s sort-of cool, but basically pumping in humidity as far as we can tell. There’s thunder outside, and rain up high, but the ground is dry.

And the IT geniuses apprently broke the web-based database I need to update stuff in, when they were “upgrading” it today. Who knows when it’ll be fixed, and it’ll probably run even slower when it is.

Pounding nails into my hands would be more fun than this.

1612

Oh, busybody and minion. Why must you continue to do this? Will you never learn? Why all the drama and incompetence? Every week (sometimes every day) it’s something new. And every week you chip away at your credibility. Or rather you tear of gigantic chunks of your credibility and try to stuff them down the toilet, clogging it up and spewing shit everywhere.

This week’s craptacular surprise? I find out you’ve lied about the accuracy of our reporting. It’s off. Way off, and upper management doesn’t have any way of accurately evaluating the product’s performance (read: revenues) for the last three years, unless they want to wait several weeks for you to go back manually over thousands of files and write it all down in spreadsheet for them. And guess what? I had absolutely nothing to do with it, and they know that.

Oh, yeah. I checked your queue. So did your boss. Your staff is about a zillion calls behind on our other product. Why? Because you “don’t agree with parts of it,” so you’ve given your staff a free pass not to sell the product without my, the other product manager or upper management’s consent.

Is this really the way you think a business is run? Now what had started as a “re-examination” of the sales process is going to turn ugly. So, congratulations. Now you have upper management breathing down your neck and whatever axe that’s about to fall isn’t going to fall on my neck.

I will try very, very hard to be impartial and provide factual information only. I don’t like you at all, so it won’t be easy. Especially when I’ve been asked to re-evaluate you and your staff and help figure out if we have the “right” people selling the product. Be glad I have a conscience. If I didn’t, this would be a golden opportunity for me to fuck you over. But I don’t have to, and I’d prefer not to. You’re doing a great job yourself.

Oh, and before we part, one last thing, busybody. Though you tried to cover it up, I know that more than 70% of your staff are attempting to find jobs elsewhere within the company. People *do *talk, you know. Like your employees. Who are talking to HR. And me. A lot.

1613

I am rubbing my hands with girlish glee, overly, at the prospect that you are going to be rid of this vile bitch with a perfectly clean conscience, through no one’s fault but her own incompetence.

Sometimes shit works like it should, and that makes me so happy.

1614

Oh look, Karma’s about to come crashing down on someone at overlyverbose’s workplace and it will be absolutely delightful! :smiley:

1615

OMFG I am prescient!! She called today … thinks the dog has ear mites, can she get medicine for it? Nope! That’s a prescription and she has to see the vet. Exam fee is $44 and the medication will be at least $20. Oh - not to mention the separate charge for doing the ear smear (if she charges for it!). Luckily, the vet won’t do the smear if she doesn’t suspect mites and thinks it’s an ear infection. If it is, hopefully it won’t be too severe so we can get away with a topical medication and opposed to a topical plus oral antibiotics. Of course, she won’t be able to afford anything else the dog needs, like other vaccines, a heartworm test, or heartworm preventive. ARGH!!

1616

It is now eight months straight that my boss has been sitting behind a closed door.

Eight months straight.

There are three of us in this office. Other boss is traveling all week. Bad boss still comes in everyday and shuts his door. All day.

Earlier this week I had to be out in the morning. When I got to work his door was open. !!

Huh. Let’s time this and see how long it takes him to shut his door once he knows I’m here.

<click>

Yep. About five minutes. :rolleyes:

1617

Is it giving you a complex, Carol? Do you check your antiperspirant many times each day? How’s your breath? :smiley:

1618

You have my sincere sympathy!

Now for mine. Not really a rant, and not really work related, just very entertaining to me. (Yes, I know I have no life and am easily entertained)

There is an alley between the warehouse and some houses. I have a window in my office! and when I look out, I can look into the backyard of an elderly lady who doesn’t seem to notice much. I’ve said hello and she’s never indicated that she was aware of me. To the left of her is a nice old guy who is deaf as a post. To the left of him is a couple who like to start noisy vehicles and let them idle. Their garages are in the back yard, close to the 6 foot high chainlink fence.

About a week and a half ago, quiet music started coming from the deaf old guys garage. I could see that he had the doors open and was doing stuff with his stuff. Moving it around and sorting. The music that is playing is the sort of stuff you hear when you get those forwards with pretty nature pics and its playing so low that I’m sure that deaf old guy can’t hear it. MY WAG is that he found a radio, wondered if it still worked, plugged it in, saw lights come on and thought all was good.

I hear it whenever I’m in the alley. I do peek out my window to see if deaf old guy is there so I can tell him about it, but I can’t stand around watching for him all day, and I don’t really care. As far as I can tell, the elderly lady hasn’t noticed.

The couple with the loud vehicles have. I’ve heard them yelling at deaf old guy, but honestly, if he’s not looking, he won’t notice. He’s a very nice man, btw. I’m sure that he would shut it off if he was asked.

The couple have said some pretty rude things and were ignored by everyone but me who was entertained.

They have upped the ante. On Friday, they had one of their harley’s idling so long it fouled out the sparkplugs. I heard the bike lugging and then swearing and repairs.

Yesterday morning, I pulled in to listen to the couple loudly complain about how rude deaf old guy was while they were setting up a boombox. It was loud enough for me to hear it inside and it played all day.

This morning, I was able to witness them pulling out some HUGE speakers, point them at deaf old guys house and turn the music up. They gradually turned it up so that it was shaking my office window.

Now, as I mentioned, I’m easily entertained, so I was laughing at the idea of speaker wars with only one side playing. My money was on deaf old guy for the win.

About 3 this afternoon, the loud music went away. I crept out to see what was going on and saw a cop talking to the noisy couple. The elderly lady had one in her backyard and I could see that she was distressed about the noisy couple. By the time I finished my cigarette, the only sounds were birds in the trees and a quiet piano concerto coming from deaf old guys’s garage.

1619

Must’ve missed it, Carol, why is your boss hiding? Does he communicate w/ you at all?

1620

That is frickin’ HYSTERICAL! :smiley:

(The part where people who ride Harleys think they have any moral ground to stand on about anyone else’s making noise is perhaps the best part.)