The boss from hell in "Office Space."
This Halloween, young professionals in San Francisco reveal their job nightmares that still haunt them to this day. Read these stories only if you dare to...
"I used to work with a senior consultant on my team who went out of her way to make my life hell. She would spread vicious rumors about me, give me "the look" in boardroom meetings when I spoke up, and tap others under the table and laugh. Because this was my first job out of college, I tried extremely hard to win her over. I invited her and my team over to my apartment one day and went all out with nice music, wine, appetizers, and cheese. We laughed and had a good time, or so I thought. The next week, my team told me that after they had left my apartment, she went off about how "juvenile" my apartment was and how it was pathetic I threw a party when I barely had any furniture. After that, I stopped trying. She transferred offices several months later, and I never saw her again. Now that I am the same age she was at the time, I cannot even comprehend why she picked on a harmless 22-year-old."
"I once had a boss, a director, who was a real jerk. He would order people around and not actually make any decisions, set any clear direction, or frankly create anything. At one point I needed him to make a decision so I walked into his office with a few options, pros and cons... the whole shebang. He sat me down and said, "I manage, you do!" Within 3 months the team was dissolved and all the managers were let go. he was given the hefty boot. My buddies and I found better projects. That was my first experience with my first job after college. I saw him 9 months later in a bar. He gave me a big smile and told me he was still unemployed. I gave him the finger back and walked away.
"I had one particular boss who was a complete space cadet. She would forget everything she tells me so I had to document things in writing for her memory's sake. She was lazy, burped all the time in public, and complained about everything. Way to lead by example! One time I saw her stick her envelope opener in her cup of tea as a stierrer. She smelled like ginger mixed with incense all the time. I swore she would smoke smoke at lunch in her car every day."
"When the movie The Devil Wears Prada came out, I had my very own Meryl Streep Meryl Streep presiding over my duties in a London based office. London based office. Starting from moment I walked in for the interview, I knew I should have left immediately. The interview went a little like this: I arrived promptly arrived at my interview. The receptionist took my details and proceeded to bring me to my future boss's desk. After being presented to my supervisor, she eyed me up and down and told the receptionist, "I suppose she will do." Ouch! During the interview, I was consecutively cut off from fully answering any of the questions that she fired. Yet, I somehow passed through the screening. At the end of the interview, I was pushed out the door with my new boss sneering, "Well then, I suppose I’ll see you on Wednesday then. Oh, please remember that here we dress professionally. Good day." Feeling a bit insulted by the entire ordeal, I left the interview and headed back to my flat. On my stroll back to the tube, I caught my reflection in a coffee shop’s window - Banana Republic checkered coat, white blouse, black trousers, black stilettos. Really? Unprofessional?! The interview was one of the few times I actually spoke face-to-face with my supervisor. From that point on, we were strictly communicating via email. Which wasn’t that bad, but the emails were almost always addressed to me with my name spelled incorrectly in multiple ways. No matter how many times I tried to fix it, my name would always be mispelled."
"Ever heard that saying, "watch before you hit send?" I once sent an email to my team telling them how this venture capitalist would be the person to get leads and referrals from and we should use him for his network. Then I pompously bragged about how I was worked my way through an event to talk to him, and that the team should follow after my footsteps. When I hit SEND, my fingers froze. I had sent that email to that very same venture capitalist I bragged about, instead of my team. Needless to say, I never heard back from him again."
< Part II: Online dates from hell >
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