Work AIBU.. no im not.

[susanfromHR]

This is a safe space for all of us who want to rant about work things that irritate us without being told we are unreasonable.

Share how Susan from HR takes the comfy chair in the staff room every lunch, how your manager drives past you at the bus stop every time it’s raining and waves without offering a lift or how Linda the cleaner throws things away they deem are rubbish without asking but are actually the countries nuclear codes.

I’ll go first- I work with kids and have this parent who is so intent on making sure their child isn’t criticised that they say ‘that’s okay’ to everything. I’ll say ‘they’re tired’, ‘they’ve chosen their own outfit today’ ‘they pronounced xyz word in a cute and funny way today’ always with a ‘well that’s okay’ YES I KNOW, I’m simply observing and most of the time Saying it with the intention of boosting or complimenting your child argh.

It’s every day and it drives me crazy. What’s yours ? 😂

I feel the same about people noises…you might want to look into getting a pair of Loop earplugs. They’ve been a life saver for me.

I have a newish colleague who is at exactly the same grade and pay as me. We all go by first names in the office, not being wankers. He always greets me (and the other senior managers) with, “Good morning, Full Job Title”, and frowns when I say, “oh, hi Bill”, in response (well, his real name, which isn’t Bill). We’ve kept this up for months now and I can keep it going until he cracks and starts behaving like an actual human, or we both retire, whichever is the earliest.

@TheDandyLion I love this!

Mine is the fact that I appear to have transmuted into some sort of muggins.

My director has just assumed I'll do a project which do not have time for, and is not my job. This happens quite frequently, so I am going on a hunt for some big girl pants and starting to say no.

Can we have a mention for people who, in a hot-desking office, leave their crap all over their preferred desk whether they’re working there or not? We have a desk booking system, so if I’ve booked a desk, why I surrounded by the personalised mugs, stationery, snacks, condiments, magazines and shoes of someone who only sits there on alternate Tuesdays? Take your fucking herbal tea bags home, love.

A marketing manager who uses exclamation marks in all her emails, what is this all about and why does she have to shout out about everything?
A colleague who always calls me love when she knows my name.
Another colleague who if she manages to trap me is only interested in talking about herself.
Someone who always interupts when I am speaking to someone else.
A manager who exaggerates everything, talks endlessly about her dogs, and if you have an ailment you mention she has had it but always worse.

@BlanketAnnouncement wait… he actually greets people with their name and job title? Like you’re in the army?

Thinking back to a guy in my team who shared custody of his kids with his ex - miraculously on Fridays when we had a big project on his kids would be sick and need picking up from school early, so we'd all have to stay late to get his share done too.

His ex had the kids Fri - Wed 🙄

Nope, just the job title. It’d be outing to say exactly, but imagine something like, “Good morning, senior leader, operations”

Yes! My manager is so incompetent that her manager (they are friends) does her work for her or just takes it off the workplan. She is constantly molly coddled and excused. She can't even do basic, menial stuff without cocking up. To top it off, her manager puts her name against all the work that I do that she could never dream of doing. It's so unfair 😪 I have seen this before, but not to this extent. We are NHS professional (not medical) and I think it's common!

bulldog in a china shop 😂

THIS. 'Hi xxx'.....me in my head....WTF do you want.

Bonkers WW colleague, if you say 'I wish I could eat (insert whatever I am eating) but I am on WW'', I will scream. I also dont need constant little digs about what I eat or my weight which I am happy with.

I also dont want to know the calorie content of everything I eat.

No I dont think you have a slow metabolism. I think you eat to much and move too little. You take you car to the Sainsbury's 5 minutes walk away to get lunch, and you drink full fat coke.

We hot-desk, though people tend to gravitate to similar areas due to the type of chair or desk or whatever.

A Colleague came in on a KIT day yesterday and sat in a space I really like sitting in. She did this before her ML, as well. It's irrational of me, I know, and only grated when she did it as she did it so consistently. I'm embarrassed to say I think I thought it was a bit uppity of a Newbie not to be more aware of dynamics with her Colleagues.

Also, she was asked to be in at 9.30am for a 10am meeting. She was in at 8am. On this occasion, she stayed till 5pm. However, before her ML, she would be in at 7.30am and leaving mid-afternoon. So frustrating when the people we supported kept more conventional hours.

People microwaving fish or not cleaning out their mouldy food from the fridge which has been there for weeks

Also two different people I support each taking a two week holiday (which over-laps by a week) in the run-up to two big deadlines, leaving me with a lot to tie-up and no awareness from them of other work I have on/support. I accept that is more of a Management failure.

One of these holidays the person concerned says was signed-off months again but it wasn't in their electronic diary (and I told them I couldn't see it in there), their Manager has no recollection or note of it (though he has problems logging-into the AL system he also usually makes a note in his own diary) and a quick word to HR who can see everything shows only one day was actually booked. Cock-up not conspiracy, but that doesn't change the pressure I am under.

People who take the cables/peripherals away from the monitors. It's hotdesking, non bookable though divided into areas for different 'types' of teams. Its no use to me to come in to find a desk is free but I can't hook my laptop up to anything!

People who have LOUD conversations in horrible jargon which generally translate to "look at me. I'm brilliant and clever and important and great at my job". Yes. But please be quiet so the rest of us can think straight.

Amazing! That would make me crack up every time

So many people do this at the company I work for. I try to ignore now as I think its quite rude, they say "Hi Kat" then nothing, and sometimes even do it again without telling me what they are actually contacting me for, like they are chasing me up or something. If I'm busy I just ignore completely until they actually tell me what they want.

Training someone on something 5 times and them then saying they haven’t been showing. Yes you bloody have Doris! It’s not my fault that you basically lied in your interview!
constantly answering the same questions over and over again.

We think he’s so chuffed to have made it into a senior management position he thinks we all are too and want it highlighting at every turn

Having to be on call 24/7 because I am the manager. Having to post on social media at home. Having to go out and deliver promotion leaflets in my spare time as they won't give payroll. Having to travel to other shops and pay for the privilege if they are short staffed. Having to cover any sick shifts for free. Having to do the work of 3 people as again no payroll. Having an area manager that expects you to be happy at working just above minimum wage and to work 5 hours free a week because I'm salaried. Having worked for this company for 24 years and still be treated like shit because your a single parent with a mortgage to pay. Just stuck

That is so fucking weird. Bill needs to send himself to HR for this!

Does this mean you are actually working for less than minimum wage? Even if you are salaried minimum wage still applies. Sorry you are in such a horrible situation.