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Post about your worst workplace experiences.

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by MeltedMetalGlob, Nov 23, 2013.

  1. MeltedMetalGlob

    MeltedMetalGlob Resident Loser Donor

    Location:
    Who cares, really?
    I'm sure not many of us are working our dream jobs, so let's hear about some of the nightmares you've experienced at your place of employment. It can be about co-workers, managers, office parties gone wrong, business deals derailed, whatever.

    My first entry is about a manager who was, to put it mildly, a hypochondriac germaphobe. He usually had some bizarre requests...

    [​IMG]

    (I kid you not, that was absolutely real.) :eek:
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2018
    • Like Like x 3
    • Informative Informative x 1
  2. Indigo Kid

    Indigo Kid Getting Tilted

    Germaphobes can ruin anyone's day.
    My worst job/workplace...worked 1 day at an Audiologist/Hearing clinic and the Dr. asked me to clean all the earwax off several old used hearing aids. They never mentioned that in the interview.
    I gagged and said, "Nope, See Ya." BTW - Pay wasn't great either. GROSS!
     
  3. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    Hoo Boy...where do I start? I've had so many special and "entertaining" places.
    1. The one where my boss, the CFO, was a financial assassin, sent into by the board to undermine the fiscal credibility of the CEO
    2. The one where my boss was a complete idiot. (I had to explain a simple SQL statement 10 times...and he still didn't get it)
      select lastname from table where lastname = 'smith' ..."That's a nice 'technical' explanation"
    3. The one where my boss was a pretentious fop
    4. The one where my boss liked creating arguments and saying inappropriate things. "I'm doing great today, but then again my grandma didn't die"
    5. The one where my store owner liked playing head-games with people and was manipulative.
    6. The one where my IT co-worker was named "Guru" and everyone thought he knew what he was doing because of it.
      Guy was a territorial con who refused to give system/db password when he was going to India for a month.
    7. The one where I was forced to resign because I tried to warn HR about staff safety due to overwork. (we had 2 go to the hospital...)
    8. The one where the lead tech had a political agenda to not give me any help or cooperate. (I worked without a system or anything for 2 weeks)
    I could keep going...those are just the first 8 off the top of my head.
    And what I described in the one statement was only the tip of the iceberg at those places.

    I would love to have a job where the place is sane...but typically when that happens, they lose funding sooner or later.
    Or like now, they're moving to someplace that is untenable. Not that this place is sane, just doable work-hours. :rolleyes:

    I'm thinking of opening my own business again...but then you have to deal with unpredictable staff & clients.
    But at least you have some control of that...
     
    • Informative Informative x 1
  4. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    I paid for college with the help of this job:

    - Unpacking an inflatable boat in the middle of the desert for no reason
    - Running a half marathon with seventy pounds on my back
    - 130 degrees in body armor in a vehicle with no AC
    - Not having sex for six months at a time
    - Eating the same thing every day
    - Getting shot at randomly
    - PowerPoint mania

    ...AND MORE!
     
    • Like Like x 1
  5. DamnitAll

    DamnitAll Wait... what?

    Location:
    Central MD
    ^^^ Clearly this was the worst part.

    Mine, story retold in a blog entry that chronicled it from 4.0:
    Yeah, that was fun. Somehow I was fortunate enough to find another position to transition into before I got laid off, although from what I hear the severance package they were offering was pretty sweet.

    Still don't regret my decision, though.
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2013
    • Like Like x 1
  6. mixedmedia

    mixedmedia ...

    Location:
    Florida
    I worked for a small patriarchy at one time where I am about 99% positive that I was hired for my looks. One day one of my co-workers, a stunning young Asian woman (yeah) came to me because she felt like she was being sexually harassed by one of the clients and her boss had just told her that he wanted her to come with him on a tour of this same client's store. This was highly unusual - she never left the office to visit the clients - and she thought she was being set up and it made her really uncomfortable. Her boss was passing it off as no big deal and didn't want to let her off the hook. Since this was her boss doing this, I advised her to go up one stop on the chain of command and tell his boss that she was uncomfortable with the situation. The next day I started getting dirty looks and none of the guys would talk to me. Less than three months later I was "laid off." I was fired. After that job is when I decided to go back to school to be a nurse.
     
  7. fflowley

    fflowley Don't just do something, stand there!

    I was accused of (non-sexual) harassment for insisting that a manager do his job.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  8. Indigo Kid

    Indigo Kid Getting Tilted

    I'd like to add that working for a Government Agency really sucks!
     
    • Like Like x 1
  9. MeltedMetalGlob

    MeltedMetalGlob Resident Loser Donor

    Location:
    Who cares, really?
    Got another one and yes, this actually happened. (They didn't go through with it, but they thought it was a great idea.)
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2018
    • Like Like x 2
  10. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    Damn, what place do you work at @MeltedMetalGlob ???
    I love the clothing policy.
    I'll match it...hmm, where's my strip-away red bikini underwear? Got to keep in fashion with the rest of the office. ;)

    Of course, if I wear it...It might make the others list it in their worst workplace experiences...
     
    • Like Like x 2
  11. GeneticShift

    GeneticShift Show me your everything is okay face.

    I almost started a thread like this last week, but got distracted! I'm glad you took the reigns, @meltedmetalglob.

    Some tales from the bookstore:

    1. I am at customer service, customer is a middle aged woman who seems to be a stay at home mom, as she is in the store dragging her kids at 11 am on a Wednesday.
    Customer: "I want that book."
    GS: "Which one? I'd be happy to help you find it"
    C: "Someone posted about it on Facebook. It had a blue cover and was 4 words."
    GS: "Do you remember any part of the title or the author"
    C: "NO BUT *SO AND SO FRIEND* POSTED ABOUT IT ON FACEBOOK AND YOU SHOULD HAVE IT"
    GS: "There is a very good chance we do have it, ma'am, but it is extremely difficult to find only knowing that the cover was blue. Do you remember the genre of book? That may help narrow it down"
    C: "WHAT DO THEY EVEN PAY YOU FOR? THIS IS THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER."

    2. Customer is a teenage boy with his mother. I am again at customer service.
    C: "Do you sell jewelry here?"
    GS: "No, I'm sorry, we sell mostly books, games, and toys. The closest gift things we have to jewelry would probably be some of our small handbags and accessories."
    C's Mother: "That isn't good enough! No wonder your store is going out of business because of Amazon."
    GS: "I'm sorry ma'am. We are a book and music store, and I don't believe we've ever sold jewelry..."
    C's Mother: still muttering about how unacceptable it is as they walk away

    3. I am working in the music department shelving CDs and DVDs. It's a pretty quiet day. Studying Bitch (SB) walks back into my department
    SB: "Um, hi. Could you turn off the music?"
    GS: "I'm sorry miss, what was that?"
    SB: "Could you turn off the music? We're trying to have a study group meeting and it's making it hard to concentrate."
    GS: "I'm sorry, but we are a book and music retail store. The music advertises what we have for sale, and it can't be turned off during the day due to corporate policy."
    SB:" WELL THEN HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET ANY STUDYING DONE?? THIS IS EXTREMELY INCONVENIENT TO PEOPLE TRYING TO STUDY AND HAVE MEETINGS."
    I get pretty fed up at this point.
    GS: " Miss, we are a retail store. The point of our store is to sell product and make money. If the music is too loud, may I suggest the public library a block and a half up the road."

    She called my manager on that one, who later gave me a high five.

    4. Notice my customer has a Michigan Tech jacket on:
    "Oh! I went to Michigan Tech!"
    Him: *looks me up and down* "Oh. I didn't. My son does. So you graduated and you're working -here-? That's depressing." *scoff*
    Me: "...Sir, I'm in grad school"
    Him: "Hmmmmmm" * skeptical look, raises eyebrow, walks away*
     
    • Like Like x 8
  12. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    Other jobs:

    A:
    - I popped in on one of my coworkers banging my high school dream girl doggy style in walk-in refrigerator.
    - My boss kept all the wine/booze locked up in his no-windows office. And almost never came out.
    - The dishwasher didn't just clean the dishes, it blasted them with white-hot plasma beams.

    B:
    - My boss had an office with a one-way mirror near the cosmetics department. There were clumps of tissues scattered everywhere and a big pump bottle of lotion on his desk.
    - My coworker was an "amateur professional wrestler" and had bitten the outside edge of his tongue off. His tongue was serrated by his teeth. Super creepy when you see it.
    - I was hit on by a middle-aged woman around X-mas. I was ringing up her purchase when she brushed the hair on my forehead and told me how handsome I was. Whoa.

    C:
    - The CEO of the company looked like Scrooge from you-pick-it Christmas Story and wore his shirt unbuttoned down to his nipples with a gold chain. He spoke Angry Drunkese.
    - Typical "old guy that should have been fired years ago but still works for the company because the boss likes him." Dude made twice as much for doing literally nothing.
    - We had "bring your guns to work day" for show 'n tell purposes in the parking lot. Today such things would be considered scary and probably get you arrested/shot.

    Go employment!

    ...

    Is it me or is the dress code at where @MeltedMetalGlob works a little unfair to the men? I mean, it's clearly 90-100 degrees in there and he's wearing a button-up and a fedora while all his female coworkers are in Wicked Weasel products.
     
    • Like Like x 4
  13. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    Makes me wonder if there is any real sanity in this world. :rolleyes:
     
  14. All I do is bitch about my shitty jobs...
     
  15. Charlatan

    Charlatan sous les pavés, la plage

    Location:
    Temasek
    I call bullshit.

    There is no way you ever had bangs long enough to be brushed off forehead.
     
  16. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    This is you losing that bet. I'm not going to post the picture (because it's horribly embarrassing) but sleep safely knowing I once had hair to my chin.
     
  17. Charlatan

    Charlatan sous les pavés, la plage

    Location:
    Temasek
    Pictures or it never happened...
     
  18. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    I also had neon orange hair one summer. Suburban rebel!
     
  19. DamnitAll

    DamnitAll Wait... what?

    Location:
    Central MD
    --- merged: Nov 26, 2013 at 12:15 AM ---


    And I'm still waiting to see this one.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 3, 2013
  20. MeltedMetalGlob

    MeltedMetalGlob Resident Loser Donor

    Location:
    Who cares, really?
    [​IMG]

    (Again, I am STILL NOT MAKING ANY OF THIS UP!)
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2018
    • Like Like x 5