Let's bitch about our stupid, annoying co-workers

I had a softdrink-stealer in a previous job, and I was pretty sure who it was but of course couldnt accuse anyone blind because it was this brand of energy drink a lot of us drank, so seeing someone else with one, they could have got it themselves.

So a workmate suggested I tag the base of some new cans with an X in permanent marker. We did this, and the next day found the guy I suspected drinking a can of V. "Hey Simon where'd you get the V from?" "oh its mine I got it at the petrol station" he said evasively. I asked if I could look at the base of the can and there was my mark. Fuck you buddy.

He got fired a little later on for being a useless shmuck anyway so swings and roundabouts.

James, just playing Devil's Advocate here, but maybe you just forgot to put cheese on your sandwich before you came in?

I did wonder that at the time, but I checked and there were imprints (and crumbs) of the cheese in the margarine.

Maybe you were just about to take a bite out of your sandwich and the hot sales rep walked past and you got distracted and the cheese fell out.

So our employee promised to come in the afternoon for some client. Yesterday she emailed our other employee saying she'd probably couldn't make it and could she cancel it. She needed an answer RIGHT AWAY. Eh? First of, she should ask ME (or my mum), secondly like wtf. Today I asked her why she couldn't come. Is it rude of me to ask? I mean, shit, it's for something really important, then I could understand. She said:"Why should I give a reason?" in a rather rude way. She finally said she'd come anyway. WTF.

fire her

"Dear [single person out of several people working on project, others not CCed],

I was looking at [catalogue number of item in latest project] and noticed [different kind of catalogue number for completely unrelated item not in latest project]. Why is there [something which doesn't show up for me for either item, which would be nothing to do with me anyway]?"

Yeah, I'll... get right on that.

Sunny, didn't. :-) I quickly realized that it wasn't such a big deal. Thing is that our other employee is using this as a "look at me, ain't i so much better" through constant whining about it:"Wow, she's rude isn't she? I'd never do this! Very impolite." I was tempted ot make her STFU by telling her she's done "much worse" but what the hell, why get bothered by this?

otoh, it's great that you're not letting it get to you... but on the other, you're letting her know that it's ok to act that way. which means she'll push it a bit further the next time, and bit a further the next time. ppl like this - you give an inch, they take a mile.

dear coworker,

thank you for leaving shit til the last minute, then throwing it at me so that when i have to ask people for materials to complete said shit, i get yelled at for not giving them enough time. it's so very considerate of you.

t

On a quick misreading, I thought your co-workers were actually hurling shit at you, chimp-like.

My bf's got a new "look at my brass balls" female manager at his workplace who is tossing her orb about at everyone. She's been there a month; she's never been a manager before, and staff morale has plummetted in the time she's been around. Why? She thinks people doing so much as talking and making jokes while they work (key being THEY ARE WORKING) means they havent got enough to do.

Bf got pulled aside by her last week and given an official warning. Because he taps/drums on things a lot while he's waiting for print jobs to run/doing other stuff, and she thinks that means "you don't have enough to do". She was apparently speaking to him like a 5 year old being told off in class. Fucking cow. I'd have laughed in her face if it was me. He's just sat there and didnt say anything out of complete confusion. I want to go in there and slap her.

Do it!

I would if I didnt care if he got fired, haw.

But I mean wtf, you cant official-warn (thus potentially FIRE) someone for TAPPING ON A DESK. WTF.

This manager sounds completely out of her depth.

Yeah thats what I reckon.

Its like Homer saying "work harder!" to the guys at the Scorpio plant. Unfortunately bitches like her are the ones who go far, which is so unfair it makes me want to punch someone.

I'm still wondering about the soda-bomb

Hahah oh yes! Did it explode on the unsuspecting thief? Updates!

No, I don't think managers like her necessarily go far. I think she's just as likely to be found out. When people start quitting the owners/upper management/big bosses will almost definitely put two and two together.

I'm sure if an uptick of formal warnings from one person to a bunch of people who've previously been trouble-free at work is present, it will be notable...and noted. Go to HR, bandy the word 'inappropriate' around? If it's that sort of company.

trayce, i had a manager like her once. on top of her dickish work related behavior she used every chance possible to point our she was married to a football player and how my boyfriend at the time looked like a girl (ie he was in a band and had longish hair and zero meathead). eventually i had a meeting with her boss and got moved to another project (the best thing that has ever happened to me workwise). A few months later i heard her footballer left her and she had a nervous breakdown and got fired. im usually pretty empathetic but at that moment i was filled 100% proof glee.

justine you are right. but i am way better about it now. used to get totally worked up about it and let my emotions run with it. i think in her case it is lack of respect but also she is socially inept, she tends to come across as rude because she is actually shy. probably doesnt make sense.

Sunny: thats an awesome tale of schadenfreude! :) Yeah I dunno - I told the bf he should band together with all the pissed off staff and have a chat with the guy who *was* their manager (and is totally nice and on their side) but now hes been sideways-moted and she is his manager too, so I guess they all feel a bit powerless. The current economy doesn't help: you gotta suspect some companies are taking advantage of the downturn to use any excuse to sack people. Which leaves people in fear and kowtowing. It blows :(

soda bomb update: today marked a week since I put in the fridge, and I was starting to feel uneasy/remorseful and decided to take it out this morning, but when I went in there it was gone. I hadn't shaken it in a couple days so I have no idea if it 'sploded at all.

Need video cam installed stat.

Does anyone at your work look like this? It's a man injured in a serious soda bomb explosion which drove the cap into his forehead.
http://www.dryiceinfo.com/Pictures/dry%20ice%20bomb%20injury.jpg

Sorry, that's bigger and thus grosser than was intended!

hahahahahaha holy shit

i don't know if that makes me want to never try that again or want to more now

Just to let you all know in advance that if anyone anonymously posts 10,000+ words of hate-filled bile describing in depth exactly how screwed and wrong a particular workplace is on this thread in the near future, it'll be me. Cheers.

Awesome! *gets popcorn*

I spent an hour loading reg card packets with little purple coupons for tonight's special at our restaurant.

My aspie coworker has removed them all to carefully trim the edges.

Her side of the desk is full of slivers of paper and stuff that needs to be filed and God love this girl but it's like working with a dumb tornado

(x-post to James Mitchell) I hope that, like me, you're posting under your real name. Every now and then this thread gives me the fear.

Arrrgh sales dude I know its your thing, and you're a nice guy, but do you have to chirp merrily into the phone at customers so LOUDLY at this early hour? You're hurting my damn head.

yrs, hungoverly,
Me.

You should just start faking an orgasm really loud. Hmm, maybe that'll actually get him speaking even louder. Hmm

Are you singing hymns?

She stopped to make a phone call and then started up again.

8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM 8:54 AM

Predecessor in my job, who makes me feel woefully inadequate, visiting DC and staying the weekend at my (used to be her) apartment. Can't think of anything in the world more awkward.

I'm actually extremely fond of my closest colleague, but I can tell when she's having a bad day because she heaves giant sighs every 7 minutes. SIGH do one thing. SIGH do another. SIGH walk to the printer. SIGH flop back into chair. And so on.

ahem, I do that I think...

ya, i'm guilty of that aswell.

i just did it.

I need to control my under-the-breath exasperated muttering at computer

i'm pretty sure you don't need to worry about your computer getting upset about it.

or... DO YOU?!

I sigh way too much. I get done with a big chunk of uploading or whatever and I just do one of those long Phewwws.

The guy who sits next to me was watching a Youtube link with the sound turned down to about 2. I hit "submit" on a big project and let loose with a big sigh. I then felt bad because the dude without looking at me cleared his throat and turned his volume all the way down.

Predecessor in my job, who makes me feel woefully inadequate, visiting DC and staying the weekend at my (used to be her) apartment. Can't think of anything in the world more awkward.

You really can't?

If I tried I fear I'd go into squirm meltdown.

I posted this on the Chicago thread, but it belongs here too:

So my boss just called myself and another guy into the conference room, because "something was wrong with the flat-screen" in there. He's complaining about how some channels look great, but others look like crap. He was switching between standard-def and hi-def channels. No matter how much the two of us tried to convince him that standard-def channels do look significantly worse on an HDTV, he wouldn't believe us. He insisted on having someone come in to look at the TV, so now he will be paying someone to tell him the exact same thing.