Friday's Boss From Hell
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Mean boss, incompetent boss, sexist boss, drunk boss, crazy boss? Time to brag!
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Back in the mid-90's, when I was young and
naive, I worked for a small accounting software company. The owner of the
company was a woman, my boss was a woman... pretty much every person in a
position of authority was a woman. Normally, I enjoy working for and with
women, but this company was seriously dysfunctional.
My boss took micromanagement to the extreme. She would stop by my desk at least
5 times a day, just to see what project I was working on. One day, she set a
new record when she stopped by my desk FOURTEEN times in the space of 8 hours.
When she'd give me a programming project to work on, she'd make it sort of a
game. She wouldn't tell me anything aside from the basic requirements. But
once I came up with a solution, I would have to make an appointment with her to
sit down and explain my solution. Half the time, she'd say: "Nope, that's not
the right way to do it," and have me try again, instead of just telling me the
"right" way (i.e. her way). Sometimes, I'd have to try 3 or 4 times before I
guessed the way she wanted it done.
I hated working nights and weekends, but was oftentimes forced to do so. Every
now and then, my boss would get so wrapped up with a project that she'd work all
day, all through the night, and on into the next day, when she would finally go
home at 10:00AM. She had no problems requiring us to put in similarly insane
hours.
I wasn't the only one who didn't get along with her. Every now and then, one of
my fellow programmers who also worked for her would get so mad that he'd have to
take a walk. I'd go with him sometimes, and he would rant and rave and cuss
about how much he hated her. I know of at least 4 people who quit the company
because they couldn't stand working for her.
The rest of the company was no better. The receptionist / HR lady would make a
note of the time you arrived at work. If you arrived at 8:02, she would watch
to make sure you stayed until 5:02, even if you were done for the day.
When the managers would have disagreements, they would quickly degenerate into
terrible screaming matches. Then they wouldn't speak to each other for days,
and would make us employees carry messages back and forth between them, like we
were all in grade school.
The owner of the company would sexually harass some of the younger,
better-looking male employees. She once called a buddy of mine (ex-college
hockey player) into her office, made him stand in front of her desk, and turn
around a few times so she could check him out from all angles. Once, when he
was complaining of a sunburn, she had him remove his shirt so she could rub
lotion on his back.
One day, the owner decided that it was time to clean out the file / storage room
in the basement. She made the entire company go downstairs and sort through old
furniture, dusty file boxes, and assorted debris for the entire day. Computer
programmers, sitting on a dirty floor, sorting through garbage.
On the day I tendered my resignation, I walked into my boss's office, slapped an
envelope with my resignation down on her desk, and told her I was leaving in two
weeks. She seemed alright with it at the time, but later she got extremely
upset. She kept stopping by my desk for the rest of the day - sometimes
incredibly angry at me, sometimes in tears, wondering why I wanted to leave.
I've never, in all my life, been so happy to leave a job as I was to leave that
one.
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