I previously worked at a place where I was hourly but should have been salary (they later made me salary) and had to work odd hours at times due to the demands of the job. Despite the extra time that I worked, I was still expected to be clocked in at 8 and to leave no earlier than 5, all while making sure I got as little overtime as possible because they didn’t want to pay overtime. They also expected me to take lunch at a pre-determined time, even though it conflicted with the nature of the work I did.

Every time I clocked in late, clocked out early, or clocked out for lunch at the wrong time (this was the bulk of the issue), a report was generated from HR and sent to my supervisor. Despite my making the case that it was basically impossible to adhere to these requirements, my supervisor point blank, told me:

Supervisor: “I don’t want to see these anymore.”

This was in reference to the report they were waving around in the air about my comings and goings on the time clock.

Me: “Okay, I’ll make sure you don’t have to see them anymore.”

I then walked down to HR and informed them that my supervisor was tired of seeing these reports and no longer wanted to see them. I told them verbatim what I was told, and they accepted it without question, as I said it came straight from my supervisor.

Surprisingly, they didn’t double-check the request at all; they simply stopped sending the reports to my supervisor. To be fair, they were tired of sending the reports and knew the situation was not tenable.

After that, things were great; my supervisor was happy and had always been happy with my work.

Many months down the road, I spoke with one of my salaried coworkers about it when they remarked that our supervisor hadn’t been griping about the reports in a while. So, I told them what had transpired.

Coworker: “I don’t think that’s what they meant when they said that.”

Ultimately, I don’t know how they actually meant it, all I know is that I fixed the issue by doing exactly what they said, and everyone was happy after that.

It is back in the late 1990s at the grocery store where I work. Every Thursday evening, like clockwork, our extreme couponer will roll in with two enormous binders of coupons. She shops for three hours, then spends another two at the register, matching coupons to items one by one.

By the time she leaves, it’s an hour past closing, and the manager and the poor cashier who deals with her are exhausted. Since I work closing on Thursdays, it’s usually me. 

This night is no different, so my manager approaches her as she’s walking in.

Manager: “Ma’am, please… if you’re going to do five hours of shopping and coupons, could you try coming in earlier? We close at nine.”

Customer: “I am here earlier. I always arrive hours before closing. You have to process my order.”

Manager: “But you’re keeping us here an hour past closing. Every time.”

Customer: “Not my problem. I’m a paying customer.” 

Technically, she’s so good with her coupons that she’s barely a paying customer, but semantics! Week after week, the same routine continues, until one evening, my manager says:

Manager: “I’m done. I’m so done. Next week, I’m trying something.”

The following Thursday, she arrives right on schedule (6:00 PM) and starts her marathon haul. The manager steps in.

Manager: “Quick update, ma’am. New policy. Coupons are only valid during store operating hours. Meaning: if the store is closed, we’re not obligated to accept them.”

Customer: “You can’t do that!”

Manager: “We can. The store is allowed to set its own terms and conditions. So, if you want to use coupons, the transaction has to be completed by closing.”

Customer: “This is illegal.”

Manager: “It’s printed on the sign by the register.”

He points to a freshly posted sign. She sputters, gathers her things, and leaves in a huff.

The next week, at 5:59 AM, a minute before the store opens, we see her standing outside with two giant coupon binders and a thermos.

Manager: “Well, whether it’s staying past closing or arriving before opening, at least she’s consistent.”

Related:
The Couponator 52: The District Doppelgänger
The Couponator 51: Dawn Of A New Stupider Age
The Couponator 50: Endgame
The Couponator 49: The Level 99 Checkout Clerk
The Couponator 48: The A**hole Tax

Almost ten years ago, I worked at a company where my department analyzed survey and secondary data, compiling it into handbooks each quarter. After six months of joining the department, my manager, who joined us two months after me, reorganized our tasks in an attempt to improve our efficiency.

This manager was promoted internally and was notorious for kissing up to management. He was technically not qualified for the promotion due to a different background required for our department, but one of the C-suite members liked him a lot. He did have some expertise in other areas, but generally had an unpleasant personality, so, many people in the company didn’t like him much.

Along with three new projects, I was assigned the handbook task for the first time. I carried out the handbook project smoothly along with my other tasks, and by late July, the only thing left for me to do was to proofread the content. A whole two weeks before our target timeline to send the design to the Unit Head, this conversation happened:

Manager: “I need you to finalize everything today, because we are sending the design to the Unit Head on Monday.”

Me: “Next Monday? Why? We have two weeks.”

Manager: “Well, the Unit Head wants to see some changes around here, so I thought we could speed up the publication of this handbook to start. I told the Unit Head we would send the design to her on Monday.”

Me: “Okay… you could have discussed this with me first. I mean, the proofreading is almost done, I can get it done by today, but we still need to sit down with the designer to finalize and sign off. The appointment is in a week.”

Manager: “Can you do it tomorrow? Go ask the designer.”

Now, it was not normal in our company to come to the office and work on the weekend. And, of course, I already had a plan for that weekend, so this was really annoying to me. At least I knew that the designer would have no issue moving it to the next day, because he is very cooperative.

Me: “I can try… but tomorrow is Saturday. I’m not sure if he can make it. And are you sure we want to rush this? Because even if we meet the designer tomorrow, the hardcopy will be delivered just two weeks earlier than the normal deadline. Is it that significant?”

Manager: “Yes! Just go ask the designer now.”

So, I called the designer, and as expected, he had no problem meeting on Saturday.

Me: “Mr. [Manager], the designer is okay to meet tomorrow. Is 10 AM okay with you?”

Manager: “Huh?” *Puzzled look.*

Me: “Uhm… You also need to be there for the sign-off.”

Manager: “I do?”

Me: “Yes, you literally need to sign off on the final version to send to the Unit Head. It’s the normal procedure.”

To be honest, he didn’t need to be there aside from following procedure. He had already seen the design a few times and likely wouldn’t have contributed much to the meeting. I would have loved for him not to be there anyway. But at that point, I was quite excited to make him come to the office on the weekend when he obviously didn’t realize he ALSO had to be there with the designer.

Manager: “I can’t tomorrow, I’m going [somewhere] until Sunday.”

Me: “Well, if you want to send this to the Unit Head on Monday, then YOU HAVE to be here tomorrow.”

Manager: *Sighs.* “Let me get back to you.”

About half an hour later, he came up to me with the sourest face ever.

Manager: “10 AM tomorrow is fine.”

And he walked away.

I’m guessing he must have p***ed off someone when he had to change/cancel his weekend plan.

So, the next day, he came in one hour late, not smiling at all, and was rude to the designer and me. He was really unhappy to be in the office on that day, but we got it done by 1 PM.

The following week, the story of how I made my manager come to work on Saturday was told around the company. Apparently, the plan that he had for the weekend was a group trip with some of his buddies who also worked in the company, and he had to make new arrangements to get to the place by himself and arrived late. A lot of people thought it was really funny (including the Unit Head and some of his buddies) and laughed at the image of him walking into the office on Saturday for some trivial yet necessary work.

Nevertheless, during the next two years that I worked on the handbook, he never promised anyone to have the handbook ready before the six-month timeline.

It’s 9:05 PM, five minutes after my shift has ended.

Me: “Can you come and cash me out now?”

Boss: “No, you’ll need to stay a bit later. We don’t finish until everyone has finished.”

Me: *Looking him in the face.* “Sorry, not going to happen. I need to leave on time, and I have a contract stating that time.”

Boss: “You need to have some flexibility.”

Me: “Awesome! Could you ask the 9:20 PM bus driver for that same flexibility? The bus comes once an hour, so that would be great.”

Boss: “Fine… just this one time.”

I made sure it was just that one time, every time. They eventually fired me for “not being flexible”. The complaint I made to HR forced them to explain that “not being flexible” actually meant “not willing to be forced to unagreed work overtime,” and it ended with my boss being fired instead.

I’m working 2 AM on a Saturday night at the gas station. Two guys start brawling by the pumps, so I call the police, who arrive pretty darn quick (it’s that type of neighborhood). The police officers do their thing and discover that one of the brawlers is also wanted for some violent crimes and happens to be driving a stolen car, which complicates things, apparently, with more officers arriving to do whatever they need to do.

After things have calmed down, one of the officers takes a personal call inside the store. He sounds like he’s arguing with a spouse.

Officer: “No, I had to deal with a fight at a gas station.”

Arguing sound from the other end.

Officer: “You don’t get it. This guy’s a big deal. We gotta process him and—”

Louder arguing from the other end.

Officer: “—I’ll try, but I can’t promise when I’ll be home. Think of the overtime though and… hello… hello?”

He puts his phone away; the other end having hung up. He looks at me with a pained look.

Me: “Trouble at home?”

Officer: “The girlfriend is mad that I’m working late on a Saturday. Never be a police officer, dude. They make you work nights, weekends, and you never see your family.”

I slowly look around at my place of work.

Officer: “Oh… yeah. Right. Sorry.”