(Our small company hires a new tech guy who is kind of a jerk. He really likes to lean hard into the “everyone but people who work in IT are helpless and have stupid problems” stereotype and takes it beyond harmless teasing, even when the issue you have is legitimate and out of your control. He also tends to be very arrogant and condescending. One day I’m trying to update something in our database and keep getting an error. It’s something I’ve done a million times before, as outlined by the steps left behind from our previous tech guy who moved away, and the system isn’t giving me any information that I can use to troubleshoot besides the error. I call up our tech guy and give him the error I’m seeing, plus the steps to reproduce it, and everything I’ve tried.)

Tech: “Huh, that shouldn’t be possible. You probably aren’t logged in.”

Me: “I am definitely logged in. I couldn’t see the dashboard if I wasn’t.”

Tech: “You need to be putting these things in the assets folder.” *drags the word “assets” out long, as if speaking to a dog*

Me: “I just told you, I did. You can see them in there for yourself. I know the error it gives me when it can’t find them, and that’s not the code it threw. Did you try to replicate it?”

Tech: “We’ll do that later if necessary. For now, let’s just make sure everything you’re doing is on the up and up.”

(Frustrated, I walk him through everything that’s happening, again. He just keeps reiterating that I must have done something wrong, and I keep asking him to try and see if he gets the same error. When he loops back around to saying I must not be logged in, AGAIN, I hang up and go down to his office, make him move aside, and show him, right in front of him, what I’m doing and the error I’m getting. I have to tell him to pay attention multiple times because he keeps sighing in a put-upon way and fiddling with his phone.)

Me: “Okay. You just saw me do everything correctly, right in front of you, and I still got the error. What is happening?”

Tech: “I told you, you… Oh. Well, why aren’t you doing [completely different process than the one I’ve been following for years]?”

Me: *baffled* “Why would I? That’s not the way the system works.”

Tech: “It is now. I made some updates yesterday, so you need to do things that way from now on. I told you about this, hon.”

Me: “You absolutely did not, and please don’t call me ‘hon.'”

(While he initially insisted he did, when he pulled up his email to prove it, what he’d actually done was save the message as a draft instead of sending it. He never apologized for the confusion or his attitude. I found out from another coworker that he’d gone to complain to our boss about my “bad attitude.” My boss just laughed and said, “I’ve never heard her so much as raise her voice; what did you do?” Keep in mind I still HADN’T actually raised my voice to him at all. He quit a couple weeks later, saying he was looking for a company a little less “high maintenance,” right after he’d been reprimanded for coming in more than an hour late three days in a row. Can’t say we miss him, and the new guy we hired is absolutely fantastic.)

(I work in admin in the head office for a high street retailer, and am based in the reception area alongside our receptionist. Recently, the company has expanded slightly and hired a marketing executive; however, as she has no specific “department” to join, she has been allocated a desk in reception with us. The only downside is that due to the way our switchboard works, if both the receptionist and myself are on the phone, reception calls will go through to her phone. It is worth noting that she has never worked in a retail environment before. The receptionist and I are on calls when the marketing phone rings.)

Coworker: *answering phone hesitantly* “Hello, [Coworker] speaking. Sorry? Yes, sorry this is [Retailer]… I’m sorry, could you explain that again?”

(By this point both the receptionist and I have finished our calls and are gesturing to her to see if she needs assistance.)

Coworker: “I’m really sorry. I’m not sure I’m the best person to speak to; would you be okay if I transferred you to my colleague?” *listens for what seems like a lifetime to the caller’s explanation* “Oh… So would you like to speak to our accounts team?” *listens again* “Oh. Okay, well like I said, I can put you through to one of my colleagues who would be able to help.” *listens again– from where I am sat I can hear the caller raising their voice, but cannot make out what is being said* “Right, I understand, but I can’t help without putting you through to someone…. Okay, I’m sorry, too. Bye.”

(She hangs up and looks at us both nervously.)

Me: “Who was that?”

Coworker: “A customer who bought a suit from the [Scottish City] store. He wants a refund for it because it’s ripped at the seams, but he doesn’t want to return it. He didn’t want to be transferred to anyone because he didn’t want to be on hold, but I didn’t know what else I could do for him.”

Me: “Well, the [Scottish City] branch closed over a year ago.”

Receptionist: “And we don’t sell suits.”

Coworker: *looking really confused* “So… if the store never sold that item and isn’t even there anymore, why is he calling us for a refund?”

Receptionist: *snorts* “Welcome to retail, [Coworker]. Just wait for Christmas.”

Coworker: *excitedly* “Oh, I love Christmas!”

Me: “Not anymore, you won’t!”

(One of the librarians I work with is close to retirement age, and it’s no secret she despises technology and doesn’t even make an effort to help patrons with any questions that are even remotely technical. This means when I work the reference desk with her, I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to help everyone at the public computers while she sits at the desk staring off into space. It’s not unusual for me to come back to the desk and find a line of people waiting for me to help them, as she’s told them, “I can’t help you, but [My Name] can when she gets back.” I come back to the desk after helping someone print a document and she tells me there’s a phone call that needs help.)

Coworker: “It’s a [downloadable eBook service] question, so I put them on hold.”

Me: *resigned* “All right.” *I answer the phone* “Thank you for holding. This is [My Name]; how may I help you?”

Patron: “Hello! Thanks! I just had a quick question. How many books can I check out from [downloadable eBook service] at one time?”

Me: “You may check out five titles at a time.”

Patron: “Great, thanks!”

Me: *thinking there must be more, as even my Luddite coworker could have answered that one* “Did you need help downloading titles to your device?”

Patron: “Oh, no, I just wanted to know how many I could borrow at once. Thanks, bye!”

Me: “You’re welcome. Goodbye.”

(I hang up the phone and look at my coworker, trying not to get frustrated.)

Me: “[Coworker], you could have answered that. It wasn’t anything technical; she just wanted to know how many books she could borrow at once.”

Coworker: *defensive* “Well, I didn’t know! She just said she had a question about [downloadable eBook service], so I put her on hold.”

Me: “You could have at least asked what her question was! She was on hold for over five minutes for a question you could have easily answered in thirty seconds!”

Coworker: “Whatever. I don’t understand all that stupid technology stuff.”

Me: *sighing*

(Yes, I have complained to our boss, and no, nothing has changed. Occasionally she’ll make a half-hearted attempt to help someone with the printer, only to come back to the desk and get me because it’s “too confusing.”)

(I’m the assistant manager in a discount clothing and housewares store in Colorado. We get trucks every day except Sunday. We have a girl in our stock team who only works once a month, as she has a full-time desk job. She is very lazy, unprofessional, and sometimes downright insubordinate. She also tries to sit down or lean as much as she can, and she cusses quite often. I get called to the stock room on this morning.)

Stock Lead: “[Coworker] says she needs to leave at noon today.”

(This coworker has been scheduled from 8:45 am to 1:00 pm.)

Me: “[Coworker], you’re scheduled until 1:00 pm. We need you to fulfill your shift.”

Coworker: “No one told me that I had to be here until one. [Store Manager] only told me the time to come in.”

Me: “It is not our job to tell you what time you work. It is your responsibility to know when you need to come in and when you need to leave.”

Coworker: “Well, I have my other job to go to at 12:30.”

Me: *not wanting to argue* “Okay, just this once, you can leave early. But please do be more careful and considerate of your schedule next time.”

(She rolls her eyes and says nothing. An hour later, I ask her to cover a break in the fitting room, to which she agrees. Towards the end of said break, she calls me back there.)

Coworker: “My mom is here, and she wants me to go to lunch with her and my sister.”

Me: “Okay?”

Coworker: “Can I go?”

Me: “I’m sorry, but you have to work more than five hours in order to get a thirty-minute lunch break. You’re only working three hours and fifteen minutes today, so all you would get is a fifteen-minute break.”

Coworker: “You have to work five hours to get thirty minutes off? That’s a bunch of bulls***.”

(Keep in mind, we are standing in the fitting room and there are plenty of customers around, although no one reacts.)

Me: “[Coworker], please watch your language on the sales floor.”

Coworker: “Why do I have to work five hours?”

Me: “It’s Colorado law. You must work at least five hours before you can get a lunch break.”

Coworker: “Well… What if I went to lunch and come back right after?”

Me: “I thought you had to leave at noon to go to your other job?”

Coworker: “But I would come back.”

(This goes on for a few rounds. I don’t understand what she means when she says she’ll come back right after lunch, considering earlier she made a big deal about leaving to go to her other job. Finally, we come to a conclusion.)

Coworker: “F*** it! Just f****** forget it!”

(She clocked out at 12:45 and told me it would be her last day working. I told her I wished her well in life, and that she needed to contact the store manager. A month or so later, I was making the schedule with my manager and noticed this employee was still on the roster. I reminded my manager that she quit, and she called the employee just to be safe. The coworker said that I had fired her on that day, and she was just waiting for a call from the store manager so she could get her final paycheck.)

(I am working in a department store around the holidays. In the days leading to Christmas, we are slammed with customers every day. Although my name is uncommon, I somehow end up working with two other girls who have the same name. I work registers, one works stock in the back, and another is a shift manager, and we all look very different from each other. I’m checking out customers when my coworker tugs my shoulder.)

Coworker: “Hey, can you help me with something?”

Me: “Sure, what’s up?”

Coworker: *gestures towards customers in front of her* “Can you explain the return policy to them?”

Me: “Why? You’ve been here longer than me.”

Coworker: “But I don’t speak Spanish.”

(I’m Native American, so it’s a pet peeve of mine when people assume I’m Mexican because it leads to other insults. So, naturally, I get offended.)

Me: “And what? Because I have dark skin, I must speak Spanish?”

Coworker: “What? No!” [Store Manager]—” *who is not working that day* “—told me you spoke Spanish.”

Me: “No. I don’t. Are you sure you have the right [My Name]?”

Coworker: “Hmm.” *speaks into walkie* “Hey, [Assistant Manager], which [My Name] speaks Spanish?”

Assistant Manager: “Uh… Honestly, I don’t know. Page [My Name #2] up. She’s on the floor right now.”

(We page [My Name #2] to come to the register.)

My Name #2: “What’s up?”

Coworker: “Do you speak Spanish?”

My Name #2: “No. Why? Who told you that?”

(It turns out that the store manager told the other managers that [My Name] could speak Spanish, but failed to mention which of the three could. Of course, it ended up being the one who worked stock in the back and didn’t have a walkie.)