I’m the office manager for a small service company. I field all the phone calls and emails. Over the years, I’ve learned not to take anything personally and just handle all problems as best I can. If I can’t handle the problem personally, I let the caller know who I will contact to get it handled.

Today, a lady tried my patience.

Caller: “Hello, I just got service and the bill left was for twice the amount it usually is. I need to find out why. It has always been one amount and today it is twice that. That doesn’t make any sense. I need to know why it is twice the amount. You need to explain this to me because it is usually one amount but now it is twice that. Why is it different?”

I finally just interrupt her, something I don’t generally do.

Me: “Can I have your address, please?”

Caller: “It is [address]. You all have been out here before and it was always one specific amount but this time it is…”

She goes on and on. I have pulled up the account and see that she has two invoices. Her current one would reflect the amount of both. I wait for her to take a breath and interrupt again.

Me: “It looks like there was a service in July that has not been paid for and—”

Caller: “NO! HE CALLED AND SAID HE WAS COMING AND I TOLD HIM NOT TO THAT DAY AND HE NEVER DID END UP COMING! I’VE SAVED ALL THE TEXTS.”

She begins reading texts while still shouting. I put the phone on the desk and can still hear her clearly as I look in the system to see if the technician left notes or signed off. The notes do show a delayed service. The final sign off was done in a “batch” which means the technician did not sign off personally. I decide to give the caller the benefit of the doubt since the technician should have signed off personally and zeroed out the July invoice entirely.  

The caller has not stopped shouting.

Me: *Interrupting* “Okay, I have deleted the—”

The caller interrupts me, still shouting.

Me: *Losing my cool* “Seriously, if you would just stop shouting at me for a moment I can explain how I have solved this problem!” *She stops* “I have deleted the July invoice so your current balance will reflect the usual amount.”

Caller: “NO! I AM WILLING TO PAY FOR TODAY’S SERVICE! IT IS THE JULY SERVICE I DID NOT RECEIVE…”

This continues on while I take a deep breath. This call has actually shaken me up a bit. I realize shouting is just her way of communicating.

Me: “STOP!” *Pauses* “I have deleted the July invoice as you have claimed there was no service in July. Today’s invoice will no longer include the former balance. Your balance is now the typical amount you are used to for today’s service.”

Caller: “YES! I AM HAPPY TO PAY THE BALANCE I OWE! I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR HELP IN THIS! THANK YOU! I’LL PUT THE CHECK IN THE MAIL TODAY! THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP! YOU HAVE A NICE DAY!”

I mumbled a good-bye and hung up before she could shout any more appreciation at me and noted in her file that she was a shouter but probably did not intend belligerence. I then took a quick walk around the office just to calm my nerves.

I worked away from home for a few years as a self-employed business consultant because there wasn’t much work in my field near my hometown. Unfortunately, my wife suddenly became quite ill one year, and whilst her parents were really helpful, I was desperate to find work that would mean I was able to go home to her each night. 

I eventually found work for a consultancy who told me that they were developing a satellite office in my region, which initially sounded really promising, but ended up being one of the worst professional experiences of my life.

In the nine months that I worked there, my boss changed three times. When [Boss #1] left, we lost our main contract. It turned out that nobody had been doing any business development when they were on a full-time secondment, so when they left, there was suddenly no work for me or my team. This led to a lot of nonsense which, in retrospect, was almost certainly them trying to get me to quit, but like I said, I was desperate so I put up with it. This particular story is about a meeting with [Boss #2] a day before [Boss #3] started, in response to my asking if I passed my six-month probation — and hence would be a bit more difficult to fire or let go.

Boss #2: “[My Name], I have reviewed the probation objectives [Boss #1] set you with the Head of the Department (HOD) and we don’t agree that they were appropriate.”

Me: “What do you mean? These were all agreed on at the time and formally submitted. I’m pretty sure the HOD even signed off on them.”

Boss #2: “HOD says he’s never seen them. So, we have set you four new objectives. Here they are: [list]. As I’m sure you’d agree, you haven’t achieved any of these objectives, so we can’t pass your probation. HOD is particularly disappointed that you haven’t done more business development.”

Me: “Wait, what? Out of six objectives, you have changed four, and since my probation is up tomorrow, you’ve pre-emptively failed me by giving me less than a day to complete them? How is that fair?”

Boss #2: “I didn’t say you had failed them.”

Me: “What do you mean? You just told me that I failed them.”

Boss #2: “Oh, no, you haven’t failed. You just need longer to achieve them, so we’re extending your probation by another two months. Don’t worry. Most of the people in the team had their probation extended.”

Me: “And you honestly don’t think that’s a problem? Surely if almost everyone needs their probation extended, that suggests that there is an issue with the whole system?”

Boss #2: *After some silence* “Anyway, Human Resources will be in touch with the papers to confirm your probation extension. Please make sure you agree on the new objectives with [Boss #3] when they start tomorrow.”

Almost as soon as [Boss #3] started, we had a meeting to go over how angry I was about all of this, but they basically talked me into taking it on the chin and promised that they would pass me after the two months. In fairness, they did, but at that point, I pretty much went straight into garden leave because the business initiated processes to make my role redundant.

The company I work for announced a while back that there won’t be a Christmas party this year, for obvious reasons. This is my first year with the company, but from what I’ve heard, the party is a pretty great time, so everyone was quite disappointed. At the event, each employee receives a gift card to a local mall or business. The amount varies, but it’s typically in the range of $50 — nothing to sneeze at, for sure.

It was announced that in lieu of a Christmas party, the company was going to provide a gift box for each of us containing a turkey, some vegetables, a pie, and some other items to round out a nice Christmas dinner. Most of us thought this was a nice gesture, seeing as it would have been pretty easy to simply cancel the party, cite the health crisis as the reason, and save a bunch of money.

One coworker was not happy with this. During our shift last Thursday, the manager phoned us up saying that our boxes were ready for pickup and that we could pack up early. [Coworker] blew up, ranting on and on about what an insult this gift was, how it was beneath him, and how he wanted a gift card or nothing. Keep in mind, he is a grown man, and people were around. It was a really embarrassing sight.

We tried to talk him down, but he continued to say how insulting and demeaning this was and how he didn’t need a turkey. Well, fair enough, you’re one guy and that’s a lot of food. Another coworker of ours, who is a really sweet young lady but unfortunately not very well off, asked if he could pick up his box and give it to her and her family. He refused, saying that he wouldn’t touch it out of principle. The food bank was also out of the question.

He even phoned the manager back to tell him what he had just told us. The manager was rightfully pissed and sent him home for the day, telling him that by refusing to pick it up today, he was forfeiting everything and that he couldn’t backtrack later on. He agreed and stormed off, so the rest of us went off to pick up our meals.

Out of the four of us on the crew that day, two of us had been forced to go to the food bank at least a couple of times in the past few years, so listening to this guy go on about how a free meal wasn’t good enough for him had us rather angry, especially considering the state of the world right now.

We showed up at the shop and the gift box blew our expectations out of the water. A twenty-two-pound turkey, bags of vegetables, an apple pie, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce, all locally grown and handmade, complete with a baking tray, meat thermometer, and instructions on how to prep and cook everything. And for a little icing on the cake, tucked into the corner of each box was the $50 gift card that our coworker had been ranting on and on about. His gift box, complete with the gift card, ended up going to the food bank after all.

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I am female. A manager, who is also female, has accused me of being pregnant all three times I have needed to take a sick day for the past three years. Each time, she heavily implies that if I am pregnant she will have me fired but never outright says it.

A couple of months ago, my husband got kidney stones and I had to rush him to the hospital because he called me in immense pain and had no idea what was wrong. They did very little for him except diagnose him before sending him home to drink water and charge $15,000 in fees, which led to a few months of stress sorting that out and getting it down to $600.

I have recently started working out again.

Me: *Stretching* “My stomach hurts.”

Husband: *Jokingly* “You probably have kidney stones.”

Me: “I do not have kidney stones.”

Husband: “Let’s take you to the hospital.”

Me: *Laughing* “Oh, God, no. [Manager] will fire me for running up her insurance and she won’t care that it is highly illegal.”

Husband: “Sounds about right.”

[Coworker #1] works in the next office over but takes his lunch at the same time as ours. Some days he will blank us; other days he won’t leave us alone. He is okay apart from his some strange opinions and his outlook on life, in particular on women and their “role” in life and the workplace. Personally (and as a guy), I still find him odd and backward and would rather have nothing to do with him. 

[Coworker #2] and I are chatting about family life when [Coworker #1]’s tray lands on our table with a thud. 

He interrupts us.

Coworker #1: “Well, I would never have children.”

Me: “Okay…”

Coworker #2: “I love my children. They are a handful but they give so much love.”

Coworker #1: “Nah, all part of your female biological programming. It’s just nature.”

Me: “Okay, I… err… don’t know what to say to that.”

Coworker #2: “You know what? I think I’m going to get a head start on that presentation. [My Name], are you coming?”

Me: “Oh, the presentation. Sure, let me just finish my lunch really quick.”

Coworker #1: *Seemingly not noticing* “You see, women are programmed by their bodies to want and love children, allowing men to go out and hunt.”

Me: “And that’s what you are? A hunter?”

Coworker #1: “Well, yes. Yes, I am. I will never be burdened by family or children. I am the hunter and need independence.”

I finished my lunch and looked at [Coworker #1], his cardigan stained from lunches previous, looking like he couldn’t hunt down a cheese sandwich.

As far as I know, [Coworker #1] did get called in for sensitivity training, among many other things. But he never crossed the line enough to get disciplined properly. The greatest punishment was probably his own company.