(no subject)

[pearwaldorf]

I gave my two weeks today. The boss lady kept coming up to me all plaintive and "Do you haave to leave? Are you sure you don't want to work part time? You can always come back." It was really uncomfortable, because I think the last time I talked to somebody with her level of social awkwardness and maladjustment was middle school. I'm also deeply annoyed, because a coworker was trying to get some vacation time the week I'm leaving and after I talked to my boss, she called my coworker up to her desk and said, "Since Alice has given her two weeks, I can't let you have these days off." You fucking passive-aggressive bitch, don't you dare use me as an excuse for something you were going to do anyways because you don't like my coworker. I think she's totally racist and does a bad job of hiding it, because everybody with browner skin than mine gets treated so much worse than our paler compatriots.

I vacillate between incredible loathing for her and pity, often within the same hour. I don't think she likes herself very much, and she's really really not good with people, but she's in a position where she's expected to be and to take calls that the peons or team leads can't handle, and she's not. She's also completely clueless about the department itself, and that leads to an incredible lack of respect within the ranks. Nobody likes her, and the team leads make fun of her behind her back. I've heard the other managers talk smack about her. She's the type of person who has books on her bookshelf with titles like People Leave Managers, Not Organizations and wonder why morale in her department is so low and everybody is looking for a way out. I will miss many many people here--coworker J, my Former Favorite Team Lead, grandma D. But I will not miss my boss.

Thanks for reading. Have a DJ Anjali podcast, courtesy of the Portland Mercury. It's all the bhangra and Indian trance and techno I've wanted but never could find, and now I want more.

Comments

[thomasngo.livejournal.com]

LOL:

It was really uncomfortable, because I think the last time I talked to somebody with her level of social awkwardness and maladjustment was middle school.

Oh, and DJ Anjali rules.

[mydarkstar.livejournal.com]

books on her bookshelf with titles like People Leave Managers, Not Organizations

Looking at the title, I thought, well, but that is true, sometimes. I mean, I wouldn't have quit my job at Quick Stop if it weren't for the fact that the owner uses his Nice Old Man image to force his employees to overwork themselves and take on responsibilities they never agreed to rather than just hire enough people, and "forget" to give anyone the raises they're owed. I've noticed now that every time I go back to QS to pick up film or whatever, everyone looks completely frazzled and unhappy, and wonder if I looked like that, too. I mean, I liked the work, I liked the location, I liked my coworkers, I even liked him... But constantly being stressed out and poor because your boss is nice, but not nice enough to really think about how his actions affect his employees, sucks.

Then I clicked the link. Barf.

I always wonder how people like that manage to get hired or promoted. I think everyone has had that really socially awkward, clueless manager who really just barely knows how to do their job or function. It's not competence, it's not a knack for ass-kissing and corporate game-playing...how?

Hooray for quitting, by the way!

[sonatine.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I very much look forward to not being in the department anymore, even if I will miss a lot of people who still work there.

And re: your old manager, it always annoys me when people pretend to be completely clueless about whatever to manipulate people to do whatever it is they need. I mean, it's one thing to say "I'm running a small business, I can't afford to give you that raise" and a whole other to say "Oh? I promised you a raise? When did I do that?" It's dishonest and makes me wonder what else they're not telling me about.

Of course, the really funny part about the book is that the company brought the author, Rick Tate, in to do some workshops with the customer service people. It wasn't anything you or I haven't heard before, but I can see how it would be useful for those who don't come from a customer service background or need a refresher. My boss said something completely and utterly stupid, and by proxy, made the rest of the department look like a bunch of morons, and it totally sucked. What I hate most about her being my boss is that her complete and utter incompetence reflects badly on so many other people who don't deserve it, and it's going to make life much harder on them.

Aargh. Didn't mean to unload on you like that. I only have two more weeks. It won't be that bad.

[mydarkstar.livejournal.com]

Ha, the "I'm running a small business" type thing was the most aggravating - the unspoken overtone was that the reason we were so hideously understaffed and underpaid was that we couldn't afford for it to be otherwise, but then we found out that, whoops, actually, our Christmas season last year was the most lucrative in the company's history. And yet, I didn't get my scheduled raise, I was forced to do fucking mailing all day (and then print all night), and we each got a Christmas bonus of $75. (The previous year, my bonuses were in the $500-600 range, which was why I was able to quickly save up enough to get my own place.) It's probably partly the influence of the owner's son, who works for the company as the type of "tech" who makes things worse way more often than he fixes them, and is a money-grubbing little weasel if ever there was one, but still.

Feel free to unload, you; I do the same thing all the time. What will you be doing now? (Moving to Portland and working with me, yes yes? No, I know, but that would be awesome. You would love my new company, seriously.)

[sparklesparkle.livejournal.com]

Yay, for quitting jobs! I swear, my last two weeks at the casino were two of the longest of my life, but it also reinforced the feeling that I was definitely doing the right thing. Good luck!