Post about your worst workplace experiences.

I was let go from a job where I thought I'd been hired to help people but it turned out I was supposed to be selling them things every time they called for help.
The boss told us his kid wanted the good presents at Christmas times and the only way that was going to happen was if he got his bonuses so we had to met our goals.
There were people having breakdowns and freak outs from the pressure just about every day.
I saw a woman who was being screamed at by a customer hit the mute button and than dump everything on her desk on the floor and walk out of the office.

 

I had a boss when I was first starting out. She was in PR and I was her assistant. She would occasionally comment on how you can tell who is gay by the dead look in their eyes.

Life lessons, my friends. Life. Lessons.

This same woman had a bit of a tizzy about a pulled thread on a towel in the bathroom of our interview suite. It's one thing to want perfection, it's another to loose your cool over it.

 

I worked in a darkroom at a printing plant specializing in wedding invitations and such. The main office was in the Midwest and every AM they sent in the day's orders which had to be typed on a machine that generated a paper film, which I developed. Everything had to leave before 5 PM for delivery to them next day (this is before computers).
One day John, the plant manager, decided to replace my sink (which was twelve feet long). To do it they removed the entire wall so the new sink could slide in (the door was too narrow to get it in). Attaching all the necessary plumbing took until three in the afternoon. I was watching the plumbers work so I was surprised when John came rushing over demanding to know why the day's film hadn't been developed yet. I pointed to the open wall with light streaming in and said I didn't have a darkroom. Since he was the manager, I assumed he would understand but apparently not. He went ballistic.
Because the original door (an S-shaped entry) didn't allow large objects to be brought in, John decided to instead put an ordinary door on the darkroom. I had maintenance put a latch on the inside so no one could walk in and ruin my work by accident. Within an hour of his doing so, there was a bang on the door. Before I could say or do anything, John kicked the door in and ruined much of the day's film -- and blamed me.
I was gone the next week to a far better job.

 

I recall another bad experience (managed to shut it out for years): when I worked at a tape/DVD duplication facility, a new client insisted we had to quality-check their entire catalog for possible glitches/errors before they went out for copies. This meant I had to sit through every single movie, and unfortunately 90% of the catalog was tentacle rape-porn anime.

Worse still, my office was located next to the lobby front door, and more often than not people would wander in and head directly into my room, trying to find a receptionist. This lead to frequent embarrassment.



(tagging @Plan9 for the 80's reference.)

 

(that's a big no thanks on the tentacle porn for me, thanks. )

 

Perhaps the job should have been subcontracted out. I'm guessing there would be a wide range of bids.

Me, I would want about $1,000/hour for intently watching 375 hours of tentacle porn, but I bet some would do it for next to nothing.

 

This was a job that I didn't get because I walked out during the orientation.

The ad said it was a public relations position, but what they really wanted were sales associates. They never once used the word sales while I was there.

A membership store that supposedly offered "only high quality merchandise available only at the very best stores at steeply discounted prices" mailed out free one-use passes. When the folks came in with their passes, the "assistants" were to show them around while talking-up the benefits of becoming a regular member, and to delay any purchases until after they had joined, or it became apparant they weren't going to join (which of course was totally unacceptable). The guy said, "If that isn't public relations, what is?"

 

Nice Clara Peller reference.

 

Hey, it never hurts to use 80's references around here.

Might as well post an update, since I just got laid off and don't care if this gets seen- The upper management (also known as The Evil Ones) from my former workplace couldn't figure out how to get the drinking fountains working, so put gallons of drinking water next to the fountains (which actually did work, The Evil Ones just didn't think the flow was strong enough)

Strangely enough, they also decided to install water coolers next to the fountains which actually did work and the gallons of drinking water. So now if you were thirsty, you had numerous avenues for quenching your thirst. This was all done by The Evil Ones for reasons known only to them.

I have picture-proof:


W.T.F.???

 

Hydration is a must when you are serving evil, doncha know.

 

Not sure there is enough water available there. Might help if some bottle water was stacked as well.

 

Whoa. Is this going to be a problem?

 

@MeltedMetalGlob, how are you doing?

 

Do you mean, am I going to be subjected to constant blasts of ridicule and withering scorn from my wife? I get that even when I'm steadily employed, so I doubt I could tell the difference.

But thanks for asking.

 

Surely, someone with your extensive tentacle porn experience is in high demand?

 

I'm sure there are corners of the net where you could get good traffic for a tentacle porn blog.

You can write reviews, do artwork, work from home, sell advertising, profit.