Just need to vent

I can't remember any nutty bosses but I've worked with some nutty people. One lady constantly had kleenexes wedged up her nose, sticking out about 4 inches. It was really hard not to stare and laugh, let me tell you. Of course, I was 19 or 20 at the time. Still, it was odd.

Another one used to amuse me all the time with her malapropisms - I still get a kick out of them.

And then there was the single mom who used to throw the department telephone bills she was supposed to reconcile into the garbage and talk about her trips with her daughter. They slept in their station wagon and cooked over her car engine. She was a character and I admired that she'd just up and go like a gypsy but I don't think I'd want to eat her dinners.

P.S. I think Tico's a lawyer.

2 Replies

@Mame,

Mame wrote:

I don't think I'd want to eat her dinners.

I don't think I'd want her to reconcile my phone bill.

1 Reply

I had one boss from hell. I didn't know it right away as I was hired when he was out of town. He would turn purple and a vein would stick out on his forehead when he was angry.

I was hired in January and by the end of February I had received 5 calls from people looking for their T4 slips (income info for taxes). They'd all had and quit my job the previous year. I lasted until September -- it was some kind of record apparently.

I sometimes get a cold sore on my lip when the seasons change but that September they just wouldn't quit and I finally had to get antibiotics when one got infected. My doctor had been recommended by someone at work and when I saw him we both had a lightbulb moment. "Such a large number of outbreaks is usually caused by stress," he said, and then, "oh, that's right, you work with E. don't you? I've been trying to get her to change jobs for years." I did a little mental math -- school loan paid off and some savings in the bank. I handed in my notice the next day.

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@chai2,

She got a job in another dept and asked our Admin Mgr for the last two weeks off (as her vacation) so she could train. She was denied (I thought that was kind of silly since she wasn't really working, anyway) and called in sick, like hundreds of people do. The Admin Mgr called over there to speak to their Admin Mgr about transferring her files and guess who answered the phone? Yes, so the **** hit the fan and that dept no longer wanted her. I really thought that was just spiteful of our Admin Mgr... yes, she had the right to do it, but ...

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@Ticomaya,

Quote:

But giving advice is what I do!

No, seriously ... I know you find it hard to believe, but people pay me money to give them advice. It's sorta my day job.

Do tell, what is your day job? I've daydreamed about breaking into the consultant business, they make a lot of money for knowing just enough and how to spin it.

I'd say you missed the point of why chai posted in the first place. Even though you acknowleged her venting you then gave the mixed message of changing her attitude. What's to change? Chai's grounded enough to know when bullshit flings in her direction, as she's chronicaled in this thread. How is she supposed to change her attitude?

I've never taken that kind of demand well-- change your attitude-- it implies that chai doesn't have the sense to know what to be annoyed by. Another thing-- I know I can put up with a lot of crap, up to a point. Most of us put our own needs on the backburner when it comes to work, but you know what? after a while you just can't do that and you need a day off to take care of personal business, and sometimes that business includes wishing you didn't have to be surrounded by so many clueless people in your work life.

1 Reply

@chai2,

My advice was sound, whether you choose to take it or not, and whether you feel it is relevant to your situation or not. I wasn't trying to tell you that your attitude needed to be changed. If you read it that way, then you read it incorrectly. My post was designed more to defend Intrepid's position and post, as he was being attacked (unfairly, IMO) as bringing a "holier than thou" attitude.

I don't have a nutty boss.

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@Ticomaya,

Intrepid missed the point as well.

1 Reply

@Gala,

yeah, intrepids pretty much a douche bag about 95% of the time.

1 Reply

@Ticomaya,

Quote:

My advice was sound, whether you choose to take it or not, and whether you feel it is relevant to your situation or not. I wasn't trying to tell you that your attitude needed to be changed. If you read it that way, then you read it incorrectly. My post was designed more to defend Intrepid's position and post, as he was being attacked (unfairly, IMO) as bringing a "holier than thou" attitude.

In your opinion, your advice was sound.

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@Mame,

I had a boss who would walk around with the Kleenex up his nose, wedged up, as you've decribed, with 4 inches sticking out. He would come and have a conversation and it was so hard not to laugh. Thinking about it now makes me laugh. He had no idea, none, how inappropriate and hilarious it was.

1 Reply

@Gala,

Gala wrote:

Quote:
But giving advice is what I do!

No, seriously ... I know you find it hard to believe, but people pay me money to give them advice. It's sorta my day job.

Do tell, what is your day job? ...

It's in my profile. I'm a grimbribber.

Gala wrote:

I've never taken that kind of demand well-- change your attitude-- it implies that chai doesn't have the sense to know what to be annoyed by. Another thing-- I know I can put up with a lot of crap, up to a point. Most of us put our own needs on the backburner when it comes to work, but you know what? after a while you just can't do that and you need a day off to take care of personal business, and sometimes that business includes wishing you didn't have to be surrounded by so many clueless people in your work life.

First of all ... not a demand. Anyone (... and by "anyone" I don't mean you, I don't mean Chai, I don't mean anyone in particular ... is that disclaimer sufficient?) can change their attitude if they want to. That's a fact. One has the ability to do so, and whether they in fact do so is entirely up to them. If one's circumstances have caused one to have a "bad" attitude, one can change it into a "good" attitude. One can choose to be annoyed by stuff going on, or one can choose to not let that stuff annoy them.

Or, one can choose to bitch about their circumstances, and feel that's a better way of dealing with their problems. I certainly wasn't implying that Chai should not rant, if that's what she wants to do.

It's all blue potatoes to me, you understand.

2 Replies

@chai2,

chai2 wrote:

yeah, intrepids pretty much a douche bag about 95% of the time.

Come on, that's not fair.

Can't be more than 40%.

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@Ticomaya,

Quote:

First of all ... not a demand. Anyone (... and by "anyone" I don't mean you, I don't mean Chai, I don't mean anyone in particular ... is that disclaimer sufficient?) can change their attitude if they want to. That's a fact. One has the ability to do so, and whether they in fact do so is entirely up to them. If one's circumstances have caused one to have a "bad" attitude, one can change it into a "good" attitude. One can choose to be annoyed by stuff going on, or one can choose to not let that stuff annoy them.

Or, one can choose to bitch about their circumstances, and feel that's a better way of dealing with their problems. I certainly wasn't implying that Chai should not rant, if that's what she wants to do.

It's all blue potatoes to me, you understand.

You're a grimreaper?

I see your point, but what we want to be able to do is have some wiggle room to vent and shake off the lunacy without being told the problem lies within us.

You're being grandiose.

1 Reply

@Gala,

Gala wrote:

You're a grimreaper?

Best give me a wide berth, lest you find out.

Quote:

I see your point, but what we want to be able to do is have some wiggle room to vent and shake off the lunacy without being told the problem lies within us.

How about me having room to make my comment without being pounced on for accusing someone that the problem lies within them?

Quote:

You're being grandiose.

I yam what I yam ... and so what if I yam? Are you trying to tell me I can't come here and be grandiose? I just want to come here and be grandiose ... why should I have to deal with someone pointing that out to me?

1 Reply

@Gala,

Quote:

I had a boss who would walk around with the Kleenex up his nose, wedged up, as you've decribed, with 4 inches sticking out. He would come and have a conversation and it was so hard not to laugh. Thinking about it now makes me laugh. He had no idea, none, how inappropriate and hilarious it was.

Why couldn't you laugh? I can't think of any boss I've ever had man or woman, who, if s/he came up to me with a kleenex sticking out of his or her nose whose nose would get out of joint if I laughed and sputtering said, 'I'm sorry, but if you expect me to be able to listen without getting distracted by that kleenex sticking out of your nose - you better take it out....just to talk to me...and then you can put it back in if you want to.'

Because I've actually never had a boss who didn't have a sense of humor - thank god. How could you stand to go to work every day if you were working with people whose skin was so thin they couldn't see the ridiculous humanness of having to walk around with a kleenex sticking out one's nose?
And if they are socially inept - welcoming them into the club of humanity- by treating them like you'd treat anyone else, might actually be something they'd enjoy.

2 Replies

@aidan,

Laughing at people is rude. If he/she wants to walk around with kleenex stuck up their noses, then they're allowed to. Snickering about it is allowed, too... just not in front of them.

They obviously have some sort of medical problem and this is the way they're dealing with it. If it were me, I'd use smaller bits of kleenex so it wasn't so obvious, but maybe they've been doing this for so long that it's their 'normal'. Either way, they don't deserve to be laughed at. Most people are sensitive that way. In my case, the woman was a stranger to me and there's no way I would have spoken to her about it.

I worked with another woman who would colour coordinate everything, from her eyeshadow down to her shoes and stockings. So, if she wore a blue skirt and yellow blouse, her eyeshadow was blue and yellow, her shoes were blue and stockings were yellow. She'd have a yellow sweater and yellow and blue jewellery. She nearly always looked ridiculous in her strange colour choices... but I don't think anyone ever commented on her outfits... she was happy with it and how did it affect us? Not at all.

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@Ticomaya,

Quote:

How about me having room to make my comment without being pounced on for accusing someone that the problem lies within them?

No, big man, because it wasn't a comment it was an unsolicited mini-lecture. Chai said she just needed to vent, she asked for no more.

Quote:

I yam what I yam ... and so what if I yam? Are you trying to tell me I can't come here and be grandiose? I just want to come here and be grandiose ... why should I have to deal with someone pointing that out to me?

Because, Popeye, grandiose works in the board room, not in the venting room.

2 Replies

@Gala,

You're not going to get anywhere trying to convince a douchebag that he's being a douchebag.

You're just giving him an excuse to repeat his douchebaggery.

1 Reply

@DrewDad,

There's your 95% douchebag, Chai.

And lately, nudging it up closer to 98%.

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@Gala,

Gala wrote:

Because, Popeye, grandiose works in the board room, not in the venting room.

Thank you for your opinion. For the record, I'll continue to share mine whenever and wherever I damn well please.

1 Reply

Just need to vent

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