One of the annoying things about my job is that no one can cover my work if I’m off. I try to get ahead enough before I go, but that’s not always possible.

I come back after a few days off to find a long email chain, first between me and [Coworker], and then with [Coworker] and my boss.

It all kicked off because before I left, I sent [Coworker] an email, this time copying my boss. I’d asked [Coworker] three times to provide information only he could. It had taken him weeks and I’d had nothing back, so I escalated it. And I felt fine doing so.

The last email in the chain was [Coworker] “proving” that he had sent me the information I’d asked for the day after I asked him for it. He then went into a full rant about how busy he was and how I should make more of an effort to get things right, and on and on and on.

He made sure to copy his boss and my boss’s boss into the email.

I reply to all:

Me: “Hi, [Coworker], thank you for responding! However, when you emailed me the report, you spelt my name wrong in my email address, so I wouldn’t have received it, hence why I had to follow up two more times. Also, the information you sent wasn’t what I asked for. Please can you send [Report #1] and not [Report #2]? Many thanks!”

I got the right report that afternoon. I’m still waiting on an apology, but I don’t think I will waste my time chasing that one!

I work as faculty support staff for the business school of a prestigious university. The school has just hired someone to a newly-created position as our administrative services director. Our department has a meet-and-greet with him soon after he starts, and we’re going around the room telling him our interests and hobbies.

Coworker: “…and I’m really interested in Indian history.”

New Director: “That’s wonderful! You must really love living here; there’s so much of that history around.”

There’s a mortified pause as we all realize he thinks she meant Native American history, but no one can quite bring themselves to correct him, so we just move on. He ended up staying for nearly five years and never improved on that first impression.

Many years ago, I started working with a woman who had an advanced degree in her field. I very much enjoyed working with her as she was smart, efficient, and very nice, and she would often talk about her family: a husband and two sons. She was a per diem employee, which meant that she gave the company the hours she was available to work and they scheduled her if she was needed.

Coworker: “Starting this fall, I won’t be working as much as I have been. [Son #1] is getting ready to go to college, and I’m enrolling in his classes so I can help him.”

This puzzled me a little, as she had never mentioned that he was intellectually challenged, but I was happy for her that she was able to do this for him. I am talking with my boss a few days later.

Me: “It’s too bad [Coworker] won’t be working with us as much. I really enjoy working with her.”

[Boss] is friends with [Coworker]’s husband.

Boss: “What are you talking about?”

Me: “Well, she’s taking herself off the schedule so she can go to school with [Son #1]. I didn’t even know he was intellectually challenged.”

My boss starts laughing uproariously.

Boss: “He’s not intellectually challenged; he’s a normal eighteen-year-old with an over-clinging mother!”

I don’t know what happened — if the college stepped in or her husband put his foot down — but she never ended up going to college (again!) with her son.

Fast forward to a few years later.

Coworker: “[Son #2] is going on a pilgrimage with our church; I’m very worried about him, but the pastor and the chaperones have all told me it’s perfectly safe.”

Me: “How old is he?”

Coworker: “He’s twenty, but he’s never traveled without me before.”

Really, never? 

A month later, [Coworker] came to work.

Me: “So, how was [Son #2]’s trip?”

Coworker: *Getting visibly angry* “They abandoned him! They didn’t wake him one morning and just left him and continued on with the trip. I had to fly all the way to [Country] to rescue him! I am never going back to that church, and I have stopped talking to all my friends who went on the trip. I can’t believe they would just leave a helpless child all alone in another country!”

Later on, I was talking to my boss.

Me: “So, what’s with [Son #2]’s trip? I can’t believe the church people would just abandon him.”

Boss: *Grinning from ear to ear* “They didn’t really ‘abandon’ him. He was going off at night with the other kids his age, drinking, and staying out very late. As a result, getting [Son #2] up every morning was a major event; he slept through multiple alarms, would fall back asleep after being awakened several times, and would take an hour or so to get ready to leave. The group ended up being late for every part of the tour and even missed some events altogether because of his lateness. They sat him down several times to talk to him about his lateness, and when nothing improved, they gave him a countdown. If he made them late three more times, they would leave him and let him make his own way to the sites. Every time after that, when he was late, they would remind him, ‘You have only two chances left,’ and, ‘This is your last chance,’ and the third time, they held to their word and left him.”

Me: “Well, I don’t know what they could have done, but it still seems harsh to abandon someone who’s never traveled alone before.”

Boss: “Nah, they left him clear, written instructions about what to do once he finally woke up, along with everyone’s cell number. He was supposed to go to see the guy in charge of the accommodations, who would arrange for prepaid transportation to where the group had traveled to, and once he got there, someone would meet him and take him to the group. Instead, he called [Coworker] crying about how he’d been left all by himself and didn’t know what to do.”

Several years later, this same woman was incensed that her husband would not let her go with her son and his new bride on their honeymoon!

Mosquitos have been in high numbers in our area this year so, as such, we have been going through a lot of bug spray — in this case, specifically the bug spray brand named “Off!”

A coworker and I are going through our order that was just unloaded. He turns to me holding up a case of said bug spray.

Coworker: “Hey, look what we finally got in.”

Without even thinking, the words that escaped my mouth are:

Me: “Oh, great! We’ve been having trouble getting Off!”

I managed to miss my lunch break as I was helping during a major machine breakdown. I grab my food and sit in the break room. It’s just me and a woman I don’t really know, sitting at opposite ends of the room.

As I’m eating, I grab my phone and start playing a game (on silent). Straight away, she pipes up.

Woman: “I’m actually sensitive to mobile phone radiation. Please don’t use your phone.”

Me: *Pauses* “I’m not actually online, so you should be fine.”

Woman: *Dramatically* “Your phone is giving me a migraine. Can I not just eat without being polluted, please?!”

Me: “Whoa, fine, whatever. I will switch on airplane mode.”

This at least shut her up, but she kept looking over and her agitation was making me feel uncomfortable. I ate quickly and got out of there.

I later got approached with a complaint. I firmly stated that if they wanted to discipline me for using my phone in my personal time, I would get the union involved. The complaint got squashed there and then.

The funny thing is that this woman her lunch later than everyone because “WiFi” and always sits in the same place, directly under the WiFi router.

Of course, phones use WiFi even when you not using them, and everyone around her has their phone in their pockets or bags the entire workday.

I’ve seen her at her desk before and she seems completely unaffected. Funny how seeing a phone several meters away is a massive problem, yet sitting next to one for eight hours is fine!