Four years after leaving a company where I was the only software engineer among mostly chemist employees, I meet a previous coworker at a community event.

Coworker: “Hey, [My Name]. When are you coming back to work at [Company]?”

Me: “Sorry, I am never going back to work there.”

Coworker: “But we really need you. The new guy is not working out; he’s no good.”

Me: “I’m not going back, but I have a solution for you: treat the new guy like he’s a valuable employee, pay him enough for the job, listen to him when he is explaining a software issue instead of saying, ‘Beep, beep boop, you’re speaking technical talk.’”

Yes, they really said that to me while I was there.

[Coworker] looked at me like I was joking. It’s been four more years since speaking with the coworker. Occasionally, I check job listings to see if the company is posting for that position, and yes, every six months to a year they are hiring for a software engineer.

I’m at work, working the donor door at a thrift shop. I’m running around sorting and taking donations while an eighteen-year-old kid is moving at a snail’s pace.

Me: “Move faster; we need to clear out some space on the floor.”

Eighteen-Year-Old: “Why are you such a b****?”

I stop.

Me: “Why can’t you do your d*** job?”

Our manager, who has been on the other side sorting stuff, addresses my coworker.

Manager: “Clock out. And do not ever speak to her like that again.”

I loved him that day! Two days later, the kid left for lunch and never came back. I didn’t care. If you are eighteen and healthy and an asthmatic thirty-year-old and a diabetic fifty-eight-year-old can kick your butt after a month, reassess your life.

I work in a factory and lift very heavy things all day. One day, the machine required for my job breaks down. As we wait for it to be fixed, I have to load parts up onto a cart and run it to an identical machine on the other side, unload them, test them to ensure they work, and then load them back up. As I get to the machine, one of the Vietnamese ladies who works on that line comes over. She has a fairly heavy accent but is easy to understand.

Coworker: “No, no, you go there to work. Don’t worry.”

She unloads the parts for me and then loads them back up. With the help, I’m able to get done a lot faster.

Me: “Hey, thanks, but you didn’t have to come help. I had it.”

Coworker: “No, you shouldn’t lift things this heavy! I keep telling them, you’re a little girl; you shouldn’t lift heavy things like this.”

The way she says it sounds like she’s worried I’m too frail.

Me: “But [Coworker] I’m bigger than you.”

Coworker: “No, no, I mean… ah, it’s… you’re… you’re little!”

She motions with her hands to indicate the size of a child.

Me: “Oh! I’m too young!”

Coworker: “Yes! Too little, shouldn’t be lifting heavy things like this, right out of school.”

Me: “That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said while I’ve been here. I’m thirty-four.”

My workplace is very forgiving; you don’t see people being disciplined and I have never seen anyone fired. That is probably why [Coworker] still works here. He does an okay job but seems to seek out ways to be wronged and then acts out massively. 

Coworker: “Hey, can you cover for me next week?”

Me: “Err, I’m going to be a bit busy next week. What day?”

Coworker: “No, the whole week.”

Me: “Oh, no, sorry. I’m off one day and have a customer with me one day.”

Coworker: “There are five days in the week!”

Me: “During which I will be doing my own job!”

Coworker: “Fine, whatever!”

He storms off dramatically, which is pretty funny because his desk is only a few meters away. I don’t think any more of it until his boss approaches me.

Coworker’s Boss: “So, we have the [meeting] Wednesday, and the monthly reports due Monday—”

Me: “Sorry, but why are you telling me this?”

Coworker’s Boss: “Well, you’re covering for him! He has the week off.”

Me: “I’m not; I told him I can’t.”

Coworker’s Boss: “What? Wait ‘til I get hold of him.”

I avoid [Coworker] and his boss for the rest of the week. Monday comes around and his boss is again at my desk.

Coworker’s Boss: “Can you help me with this report, please?”

Me: “I’m sorry, didn’t we have this conversation last week?”

Coworker’s Boss: *Sighs* “[Coworker] has called in sick today. Please, any help would be great.”

Me: “Okay, I guess.”

I stay a little late and get everything done, including [Coworker]’s work. I have Tuesday off, and I come in early Wednesday, ready to catch up with everything I’ve missed. I open my emails to find one from my boss, asking to see him ASAP. I go to his office and see him and [Coworker]’s boss there.

Me: “You asked to see me?”

My Boss: “We need your help. [Coworker] isn’t in again and he has some important work to get out.”

Me: “I can see where this is going, but I am already a day behind on my own work, and I have [Major Customer] coming in tomorrow, so I not only have to catch up and prepare for the meeting but also I’ll also miss another day. So, no, I don’t think I can.”

My Boss: “I’ve talked to human resources and the director; we will give you double-time for all of your hours and I personally will add an extra five hours to it. Don’t forget, pay review session is nearly here and this will look very good for you.”

Me: “Fine, I guess.”

I end up having one of the busiest weeks of my life. I work late into the evening all week and I have to move a load of work into next week just to get done. However, I manage to get through it.

The next week, [Coworker] waltzes in like nothing has happened. After chatting with some people, he strolls over to my desk.

Coworker: “Looks like you did have time after all. Ha.”

Me: “I think your boss wants you.”

His boss motioned him toward the office. Whatever was said didn’t last long, and [Coworker] left the room with an empty box to fill with his stuff. If I had to guess, calling in sick and then posting pictures of his holiday on Facebook was probably the last straw. They replaced him with a part-time worker who is lovely and somehow never struggles anywhere near as much as [Coworker] did.

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I submitted this story about my father-in-law. My father-in-law is a pretty smart man, especially when it comes to anything construction, and the company he has worked with for several decades really values him.

The construction company teams up with another company to do a very big and lucrative highway job. My father-in-law has a lot of experience with repairing big machines, so they send him to the site to work on the big and incredibly expensive machines. 

The mechanic from the other company, for some unknown reason, takes great offense that my father-in-law was put in charge and is just a jerk the whole time; he argues with him every chance he gets, even over things as simple as putting the correct type of oil in the machinery.

My father-in-law gets a call and has to go home for a family emergency. He instructs the mechanic and the helpers from the other company that he is in the middle of changing the oil on a piece of equipment and asks them to finish it.

He gets an urgent call the next day to come in to the job site, which he quickly does. In the office, the owners of the construction company and some big wigs from the other company are arguing, with the other mechanic sitting in the corner with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face. Apparently, the piece of equipment’s engine froze, which resulted in something worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars being worth nothing but scrap. The company blames my father-in-law because he was working on it, and they are demanding that the construction company replace it.

My father-in-law figures out what happened pretty quickly. He tells them he will be right back, and he returns with a box and a scared-looking helper. He dumps out the box of parts onto the table. They are bluish in color, which is what happens to engine parts when they are run without oil. He gives the poor helper an angry look and growls, “Tell them!”

The helper stammers that they restarted the engine without any oil because the other mechanic told them to. At that point, the mechanic in the corner looks scared and starts getting angry looks from his bosses.

Before storming out, my father-in-law yells, “It won’t run without f****** oil, dumba**!”

The outcome was the mechanic lost his job and was blacklisted from several other construction companies as word got around, and the company apologized to my father-in-law and had to pay over $200,000 to replace the equipment.

The owner of the construction company took my father-in-law out for a steak dinner.

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