I once had a job trying to force me to quit by cutting my hours from over thirty-five a week down to less than fifteen. I knew what they were doing, as it was a common tactic there.

After a couple of weeks of this, I went to the scheduling manager and said:

Me: “Thank you so much for cutting my hours! This gives me the time I need to properly work on my wedding plans!”

The next week, my hours were up to forty hours, even more than before!

After about three weeks of this, my manager asked:

Manager: “How are the wedding plans going?”

Me: “They’re going great! Those few weeks with fewer hours really helped. I’m almost done planning.”

The following week, they were back down to fifteen. I went back to the manager and said:

Me: “You are amazing! It’s like you seem to know when I need my hours cut and when it’s convenient to give me a full schedule!”

The look of confusion and frustration on her face was priceless.

My hours went back to normal when she was fired about six weeks later.

I had a telehealth appointment scheduled at 10 AM with my specialist. I used some of my sick time to take the morning off and get ready. At 9:30 AM, someone from the practice called. I didn’t recognize her name or voice, so I can only assume she is fairly new.

Receptionist: “Hi, this is [Name] from [Practice]. Your doctor is running a little behind, so we have to bump you to 1 PM.”

Me: “Oh. Okay…”

Receptionist: “You’ll get a new email with a new link closer to the new time.”

Me: “Okay, thank you.”

I called my boss and explained what was going on, and he agreed I could just work from home and log my half-day that way. At 12:45 PM, I had not yet received my new link, so I called the office. They were, of course, closed for lunch until 1 PM. I called again right at 1 PM.

Me: “Hi, this is [My Name], I have a 1 PM appointment with [Doctor], but I haven’t received my link.”

Receptionist: *Condescending.* “That’s because it was 10 AM, not 1 PM.”

Me: *Matching her tone.* “Not according to when you called me at 9:30 AM this morning.”

Receptionist: “One moment.” *Hold music plays for a few minutes.* “Okay, we can reschedule you for 3 PM.”

Me: “But was my first appointment rescheduled or not? Because—”

Receptionist: “—You are now scheduled for 3 PM. You will receive a link closer to that time.”

She hung up before I could say anything else. At 2:50 PM, I finally got a new link… for my appointment at 1 PM. So, I called again!

Me: “Hi, I’m very confused by this telehealth system. You called this morning and said my 10 AM was moved to 1 PM, then when I didn’t get the link, you said it was not moved, but you could reschedule me for 3 PM. I just got a link right now for a 1 PM appointment.”

Receptionist: “Okay?”

Me: “If I use this 1 PM link, is it going to work at 3 PM?”

Receptionist: “No.”

I wait a few seconds, thinking she was going to say something helpful…

Me: “Okay, so—”

Receptionist: “—If you have an appointment at 3 PM, the reminder email, the reminder texts, and the link will all say 3 PM.”

Me: “Okay, but—”

Receptionist: “—The link will be provided. Have a good day.”

She hangs up again. By 3:15 PM, I still don’t have this alleged new link, so I give up. Around 4 PM, the doctor calls.

Doctor: “Hey [My Name], I’m sorry about today. We have a new receptionist, and she was trying to be helpful by spacing the appointments out, but… well, do you have time to talk right now?”

Me: “Sure.”

The whole call lasted eighteen minutes, and I was done. I have not heard that receptionist on a call or seen her in the office since.

I work at a hospital, but this is not a medical story.

One of the nurses from a different part of the hospital is VERY chatty. Since we work in different departments, we don’t see each other much unless we happen to cross paths in the hallway. Since we’re both going about our own busy jobs, those interactions tend to be very short, and usually go something like this.

Nurse: “Hey, [My Name], good to see you! I’m just working on [task], but anyway, how are you?”

Me: *Already basically behind her, continuing to walk past.* “I’m well, [Nurse], and you?”

Normally, this is where the ‘conversation’ ends, because we’ve moved too far apart in opposite directions to continue chatting. But one day…

After the usual conversation, the nurse suddenly shouts out loud behind me:

Nurse: “[MY NAME], DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT ME?!”

I pause and slowly turn around.

Me: “I’m… sorry?”

Nurse: “I ask you how you’re doing every day, and you never ask me! I thought we were friends, but I guess not!”

Me: “I have extremely time-sensitive tasks to get done, so I don’t have time to chit-chat in the hallway. I’m sorry you feel that way, but I have to keep moving.”

Nurse: “Fine! Whatever! See you around, I guess!”

With that, she stomps off, and I continue going about my job.

My manager asked me about it later, because the nurse apparently tried to claim that I was creating a hostile work environment. Fortunately, my manager understood that I didn’t have time for anything more than a polite passing greeting and promised to back me up if the nurse ever tried anything else. 

The nurse hasn’t tried talking to me since then. Instead, she makes a big show of turning away and ignoring me when we pass each other. No skin off my back.

It is 1999. A project manager is talking to our tech support team (whom I manage) around mid-December.

Project Manager: “We need your team to be available 24/7 for Y2K.”

Me: “You mean New Year’s Eve?”

Project Manager: “I mean the whole weekend. We’ve been building this project for two years, and we need to make sure it’s not derailed by Y2K.”

Me: “We’ve implemented every recommended fix, but if you think it’s this important, then let’s figure this out.”

We did sixteen-hour shifts for the whole weekend. Food was provided. There was a hotel nearby to crash. We sat there collecting our overtime, eating Chinese food, subs, and whatnot for three days. We got four actual tickets among the twelve of us. 

Later, the CFO was berating the project manager and me about the overtime spent.

Project Manager: “We’ve been prepping for two years, may as well spend the budget. If nothing happens, it’s worth it. If everything hit the fan, it would have been MORE than worth it.”

I will always remember my first meal of the year 2000 (Chinese takeout) and remember it tasting delicious, and free, and free of guilt!

After about half an hour comparing all of the in-depth specs of two prepaid phones with a customer, she finally exclaimed:

Customer: “Oh! I’ll get this one! It comes with a one-year warranty, the other only comes with twelve months!”

After the customer leaves:

Manager: “That one’s on us. We should have standardized the warranty terminology instead of assuming customers were… well… smart.”