Being the boss can really suck.
I've done it a few times.
One of the worst things is terminating people.
It might sound glamorous and it can be a slight power trip.
But in the end it sucks.
Even when people deserve it, being the messenger is stressful.
Nobody wants to ruin another person's day or life.
Let's see who else agrees.
Redditor sirdigbykittencaesar wanted to hear from the bosses of the world about the terminations they wish they could take back, so they asked:
"Bosses of Reddit, have you ever seriously regretted firing someone, and if so why?"
It must suck when you're duped into firing the wrong person and then you find out too late.
That Day
Kids In The Hall Comedy GIF by CBCGiphy"A long time ago I was asked to fire a salesman. He was kind, but not good at selling. It was a week before Christmas. I told my boss I would fire him on Jan 3. The boss said no and fired him that day. I regretted not giving him the holiday."
Tootalllewis
The Picker
"I had an assistant for about a year, who was a pretty good assistant for a difficult working situation. My boss, the district manager, hated him, though. She kept trying to catch him screwing up when I wasn't around. The trouble was, the company paid poorly, so talent was hard to come by, training was difficult, and the hours were 48 a week MINIMUM. This guy was the only assistant I had who didn't quit in less than a year."
"My stores were so undermanned, if this guy left, I'd be working 80-hour weeks like before I got him. The only reason it wasn't more than 80 hours was because the store's malls or shopping centers actually closed at night."
"Finally, one day, she wrote him up because she said 'a secret shopper' said he was picking his nose. This guy, who at least had SOME dignity, refused to sign the disciplinary paperwork. 'I want proof: I am not sitting in the showroom, picking my nose.' My boss said, 'he won't sign it, insubordination.'"
"'Fire him.' I really tried to reason with her, but she wanted him gone one way or another. 'Either you fire him, or I'll come in and fire both of you.'"
"I had to fire a man for picking his nose. I quit shortly after that because I knew this was just the lowest I had ever sunk in management. I still feel bad about all that."
punkwalrus
This Guy
"Years ago I got a call from a competing engineering company. They screwed up a job and rather than own up, decided to blame a senior technologist as the scapegoat. His immediate boss was against it but the partners demanded it. He phoned us and said 'You should hire this guy.'"
"We did and he was an excellent employee until he retired 20 years later. Our gain, their loss."
"The best part is that the guy who called me (who was a senior engineer) quit shortly thereafter and the company closed down a couple of years later - Karma I guess."
somewhat_random
The Team Member
"Someone else hired someone with no experience after I voted 'no.' I knew he would be in over his head and he had a good job already. They didn't train him or coach him. And then after about 6 months my boss's boss comes to me and tells me to build a case against him... my team member... and to fire him."
"I quit within the next two months. F them... I'm not doing their dirty work to solve a problem they caused and enable them to keep their hands clean in the process."
AdUnfair3836
It's just a puff...
4-20 Weed GIFGiphy"I was once forced to fire an awesome employee for failing a drug test (weed). And just a few years later it was legalized."
PsiOryx
When will we just let people smoke freely?
Bad Vibes
Duck Reaction GIF by PLAYMOBILGiphy"I had to fire someone on my actual last day once. And right beforehand, everyone was making a joke about the person I fired getting fired. That sucked. Not a good vibes last day at all."
backyardvegas
Terror
"I had an employee about 4 years ago now who had chronic attendance issues. I kept her MUCH longer than my boss was happy with because she was decent and very genuine. But eventually, I just couldn't put it off anymore. When we were in the room talking she burst into tears and looked terrified and told me her husband was NOT going to be happy with her. She said he wouldn't hurt her and she didn't need me to call the police for her, but even still I'm worried he was physically abusive. The level of terror was up there."
AlisonChained
Merry Christmas
"About 20 years ago I was running a bar Christmas Eve - chaotic night as we were incredibly short-staffed due to heavy snow and a lot of our workers being from a different area. Bar downstairs was closing up and the staff was being moved to the upstairs. We were £200 short in the bar and the main manager interrogated three out of the four - conveniently not the supervisor he was having an affair with."
"That supervisor was also in charge of the float and was generally sh*t at her job. That float for one until was convenient £200."
"Main boss wouldn't consider his fling could do wrong (a common occurrence) and he didn't want to deal with it. So it became me (the lowest of four managers) to sack three people for suspected theft. On Christmas Eve knowing I wasn't in any position financially or in terms of job security to say no."
"Only joy was that his wife finally caught him in the affair and his whole life went to sh*t soon after."
geekhalla
Regrets
"I was forced to fire a junior person on my team, my boss gave me no choice, because she had used a competitor's idea as inspiration (working in design). But it was our intermediary boss who told her to use the idea. I wish I would have taken a harder stand but I was afraid of being fired myself, I was only a few months on the job. I still regret it to this day but the other woman has had a good career so that’s a plus at least."
Keyspam102
Awful
"Had an underperforming employee, tried a pip, coaching, moving to a different job role with the team. Eventually came to terms with not being the right person for the job/team terminated employee. A week later her child dies in a house fire where they lost everything. I donated 1000 to the go find me but still can’t help but wonder if my termination set off the events that caused this."
smallboxofcrayons
Phony
That Is All Meryl Streep GIFGiphy"Nope. There's a long process before it gets to that point and almost nobody does get to that point. Except for the guy who got the job using fake identity papers. There was no long process to fire him, it went very, very fast once we found out."
AdmiralBofa
I hated firing people.
There is never a great time.
There are few feelings more frustrating and disappointing than realizing that a job simply isn't a good fit.
To some people, a job is a job, so they'll force themselves to go to work to earn the paycheck until a better job comes along.
Others however will come to the decision that the pay, be it big or small, simply isn't worth the monotonous, soul-sucking, or downright toxic atmosphere they need to report to, and quit with no prospects in sight.
Most people do this after a few months, or even a year, giving ample notice so as not to burn bridges or potentially harm their reputation.
Then there are the extreme cases, who leave the office for the very last time on their very first day, never looking back and not having one ounce of doubt or guilt about their decision.
"Anyone here who decided to leave their job on the first day? What made you decide to run right away?"
Questionable Ethics
"They wanted us to make our first sales to friends and family members."
"F*ck that."
"If your first option is for me to make money off the people I care about most, there's really nowhere to go but down (morally)."- Mxysptlik
Thrown Into The Deep End
"They sent me to a room to do a bunch of on-boarding paperwork and those incredibly dull orientation videos companies love so much."
"Less than 10 minutes into it the manager comes in and tells me they need to cover the sales floor immediately because I was the only person for the department that day."
"No training, no computer logins, no idea where anything in the building was or who any of the dozens of other people wandering around were or even what was really expected of me."
"Just go and solo a department that usually had between five and eight staff at any time."
"I gave it a shot for like 45 minutes, and realized the whole place was staffed by miserable entitled f*cks who went out of their way to avoid work."
"I just walked out without saying anything."- SlothOfDoom
Being More Knowledgable Than Your Bosses
"I'm a fish hobbyist and I got a job in the fish department at PetCo."
"On my first day they wanted me to take out all the rocks (substrate) from each tank, scrub them and put them back in the tanks, one tank at a time."
"Moving substrate releases bad bacteria and can get the fish sick or kill them."
"I explained this to them and said that it was best to just do a water change for 20% of each tank."
"They said, basically, sorry this is what corporate says and you have to do it."
"I was like, 'Okay, I'll do it after lunch'."
"I never came back from lunch."- adura_grounded
Under The Sea GIF by Super SimpleGiphyNot Honoring Their Contract
"They lowered the rate from what was agreed upon and became upset when I spoke up about it."- Wonderful-Job3514
Mis-Management
"Wendy’s."
"There was an assistant manager whose only job seemed to be pacing around behind us during lunch rushes, repeating in a dull monotone, 'c’mon, let’s make those burgers. C’mon, let’s go faster, make those burgers'.”
"When I didn’t make burgers fast enough because my only training consisted of watching a 30-minute video, the manager sneered, 'why don’t you just go wash dishes, then? You CAN wash dishes, can’t you?'"
"That’s when I walked off the job."- LanceGannon
And You Thought YOUR Boss Was Horrible...
"I didn't even last a full shift."
"It was Pizza delivery."
"It was the early 90s; I was 20 M[ale]."
"My first shift was in torrential rain, driving a 1967 VW Beetle (with a flat windscreen)."
"Two orders required me to go back because the pizzas weren't the ones ordered."
"Then I arrived back to see that one of the other drivers had been shot in the leg with an air-rifle by Ricky the Shift-Manager.
I started at noon."
"Quit at 8.30pm."
"Can't remember if I was ever paid; didn't care."- EvilBosch
anna faris pizza GIF by Overboard MovieGiphyKnowing Their Self-Worth
"I was a car mechanic fresh out of school, hit up a local shop that hired."
"Their working conditions were trash, I bailed after the first day."
"Second one wasn't much better, in fact it was far worse, but I saw more potential in the work and needed the experience."
"It was a privately owned bus company that needed a mechanic to service their sh*t."
"It was the middle of winter and the garage had no heat, it was badly equipped, no car jacks so laying on the cold ground, etc."
"Also as it turned out, the fleet consisted of brand new buses that had to be serviced at the dealership to maintain the warranty, so I had no work whatsoever."
"Instead the guy wanted me to do basic maintenance work around the HQ."
"Mind you it was so cold outside that in 10 minutes I couldn't feel my fingers and if I went inside the main building to heat up, he complained that I wasn't working."
"Caught pneumonia after just 3 days, went back a week later when I was feeling better and quit."
"Third time was the charm."- DangerousTrashCan
And Yet, They Don't See A Problem?
"We hired someone to work at a freezer warehouse and he only showed up for one shift."
"He seemed ecstatic about the pay (20/hr for basic material handling, picklines, etc) but seemed to realize that humans hate being treated like machines and that's simply not worth it so we never saw him again."
"He was not the only one."
"My favorite time is when my manager hired 18 new people because he fully expected 80% of them to flake and not show the next day."
"Sure enough, only 3 even showed up."- ASaltyBiscuit
season 8 warehouse GIFGiphyDid They Actually Think They'd Get Away With It?!?
"Was supposed to be an office job, straight salary."
"Got there the first day and it turned out to be door to door sales, commission only."
"Not even people who had expressed interest."
"Just literally cold calling but in person at their door instead of on the phone."
"Didn't even stay to hear the end of their explanation of how really if you think about it this is the job they advertised and interviewed me for, just better because..."
"I don't know, some bullsh*t, as I said, I had left by then."- Zer0Summoner
Not Once, But Twice
"I actually did this twice."
"The first time was because I was a college student and needed a job to pay rent."
"Got a job working in a new call center that had opened up in my home town."
"It was awful.""The atmosphere was toxic, the boss was a horrific a**hole, and there were all sorts of shitty 'metrics' and goals, etc. you had to reach."
"I just never went back after the first day."
"Called them the next morning and told them it wasn't for me."
"The second time was a deal where I interviewed for a job that I was pretty excited about where I was going to be leading a team dealing with advocating for some issues in international politics."
"I was super excited."
"The interviews I had were done in a cafe."
"They sent me the address of the office and I arrived for my first day and it was some decrepit, barely standing office with the most outdated computers and office equipment."
"The 'team' I was going to be leading had been referred to as 'a small team' in the job interviews."
"In reality it was one lady who didn't speak either of the languages I speak."- mejok
Third Time Definitely Wasn't The Charm
"$20 for parking wasn't included in for being an employee."
"This was when min wage was 11.50.so you work 2 hour and pay your employer."
"F*ck that."
"Another place I worked open kitchen caught fire."
"All the customers could see this."
"They didn't make anyone leave."
"They kept putting food out!"
"They expected me to clean up their now burnt kitchen."
"Nope nope nope."
"Another place had defrosted chicken by leaving it outside of the fridge over night."
"On the floor."
"During the summer."
"Rats scurried away from it when we turned on the light."
"Called the safety department on that one."- Elfere
Inconsistent Would Be An Understatement
"Slowly started changing the terms of employment during the day."
"Started off '10 hour days 5 days a week £8/hour'."
"Shifted to 'sometimes you have to work weekends too'."
"Then 'actually it's crunch season right now so we're going to expect you to work Saturday and Sunday this week."
"Then 'actually we'll need you to stay Saturday and Sunday most weeks'."
"Then 'You'll be working Saturday and Sunday for the foreseeable future'."
"Then 'We'll need you to stay a few hours after work today'."
"Then 'Actually you'll be working 12-14 hours a day 7 days a week for the next 6 months'."
"Yeah nope."- NewRoundEre
Bye Bitch Get Out Of My Face GIF by Becky GGiphyWe've all had jobs we've hated, which we muddle through just for the money.
However, one's self-worth is always more important than a paycheck.
And when you notice your self-worth or safety being threatened, always best to act on it immediately.
We love the shows and movies that entertain us with bosses from Hell.
Working Girl. Horrible Bosses. The Devil Wears Prada. Abbott Elementary.
But the gold standard of bad bosses is Michael Scott in The Office.
That is classic. That is comedy.
THAT IS TOO REAL!
People laugh at these characters to release the pain.
Redditor Supersmaaashley wanted everyone to discuss the bosses who remind them of something out of television.
So they asked:
"Do bosses like Michael Scott actually exist? And if you work/ed for one, what's your craziest story?"
Michael Scott is not a hero. He's funny. But not a hero.
He was the principal...
The Breakfast Club Rockstar GIFGiphy"I had a boss sneak up behind a middle-aged female employee and pick her up, then immediately drop her down saying 'I didn't think you weighed that much!' He could not stop laughing. He was the principal. This occurred during passing period in a crowded middle school hallway."
jezebellrae
$2 per time...
"I had a boss once who spent all morning locked in his office. He asked me to come in after lunch and he showed me a handmade graph. He then proceeded to explain that this was a chart of all the sex he had ever had in his life. 'See, here it is blank until I joined the army. Then I went to a sex worker here.'"
"Then they sent me to Vietnam where they only charged $2 per time. That's where you see the big jump. I was on two tours but then got shot in the face. I came back home and you see how it just drops to almost nothing. 'I was astounded.'"
Bolaixgirl_105
between our desks...
"I had a boss that used to watch me through a gap in the glass partition between our desks. She wanted to see if I was paying attention during meetings. One day, I put a large folder to cover the gap and she freaked. I still laugh when I think about it."
harperv215
So Hot!
"Never have worked for one myself, but my dad told me a story about his boss who was giving out awards to everyone in honor of how long they've worked there, and he would give speeches for each person."
"A woman employee received her award and he gave a speech about the story of how she came to work there. And he said, 'At first I didn't want to hire her because she was so hot.'"
"My dad's not working there anymore, but I love that story because I will never not picture Michael Scott giving Pam a Dundie and saying that about her."
Who said that?
ginger GIFGiphy"I had a redhead boss who made us all sit down and watch a training video about how we shouldn’t refer to him as a 'ginger' because it is bullying. No one had ever called him that."
I'm having PTSD flashbacks.
I declined...
Staring Episode 2 GIF by The OfficeGiphy"My a** boss insisted his daughters be flower girls in my wedding. I declined. At the reception, he told me I was spending too much time talking to one person, and I need to work the room more."
holmen-2001
Fluffer
"I once worked for a family company (not my family) where my boss often had loud fights with her husband, mother, and sister (an addict with a penchant for stealing) in the halls. I have a million wonderful stories about that workplace but one that stuck out to me is this..."
"Once for someone’s birthday, she decided it would be fun to buy an anatomically correct, male blowup doll. She took this doll into the office, blew him up, and dressed him in a construction vest (the company was a contractor). When I walked by, my boss was trying to manipulate the position of the blowup penis, and asked me if I wanted to be the 'fluffer.'"
Bananabreadandchill
Fool
"I literally had a boss who would stop us in the middle of our work and hold company-wide meetings talking about 9/11 truther conspiracies and chemtrails. Mind you we were furniture-making company. He would get so caught up in his conspiracy theories that he forgot to order wood to make furniture one month."
PAzoo42
Feedback
"We had an anonymous feedback program at work, and our boss was livid with the results, particularly with several comments that he frequently lost his temper in meetings and would yell at us."
"The more he talked about how incorrect and unfair and hurtful these comments were, the redder and angrier he got, until he finally pounded the table and shouted, 'I DO NOT! SCREAM! IN MEETINGS! OKAY?'"
BigShoots
I can relate...
Awkward The Office GIFGiphy"He held a meeting with our whole team less one person to discuss said person being gay. We all knew for well over a year, and never made a deal of it. So yes, they are out there and that is why the show is so funny to me. I can relate."
lala710
Michael Scott/David Brent moment...
"I believe every manager in the world has had a Michael Scott/David Brent moment; that is what makes it so hard to watch at times. I have had nights where I have often wondering how many I have had and how badly was I viewed as a result."
"My worst I think is telling someone they got a job (in a warehouse) and then realising I had told the wrong person and having to tell the him 30 minutes later that he didn't have a job after-all... dreadful."
ell_wood
Not Funny
"In real life it's not funny. I had a boss like that in my retail job."
"He was annoying, constantly making bad jokes, and then he ramped it up when he decided he wanted to get me to quit. For the most part I just ignored him, until he started a rumor I was hooking up with an underage coworker. Then I confronted him, and he backed off."
"Eventually he got fired for sexual harassment."
moak0
$50
Pass Thumbs Down GIF by TinasheGiphy"I had a boss once offer me $50 if I came in to cover a shift for him. Instead of paying me cash he gave me a comic he claimed was worth $50. It wasn't."
ClioEclipsed
Fridays
"I've never watched The Office but I had one former boss who was a bit odd. He was department head for a group of adults ranging from mid 20s to mid 60s, and in staff meetings he said on a number of occasions that he needed to go 'potty.'"
"He'd occasionally not bother doing things like managing or coordinating and instead would take on some of the tech's jobs (IT) like preparing new laptops for staff or other stuff which more often than not had to be redone from scratch because he f**ked something up."
"Occasionally on Fridays he would come to work dressed in these very poofy white long sleeve shirts as if he'd just walked off the set of Pirates of Penzance and accessorized this with a puka shell necklace."
DarthContinent
Happy Thanksgiving!
"I used to work stocking shelves at a grocery store. Thanksgiving was coming up and we were slammed. We were getting a massive shipment in, almost twice as many pallets as we normally get. After we unload the truck, we're all scrambling to get things done so we can leave on time."
"Well our manager calls an emergency meeting. We all get into the back office and he proceeded to have a 45 min meeting about this is a big shipment and we can't waste time. I thought it was a weird joke but he thought he was giving us a pep rally."
Lefthandfury
The Worst
Angry Season 9 GIF by ShamelessGiphy"I filed a complaint about my manager with corporate over very unsafe (mentally and physically) work conditions. My boss responded by holding a meeting and telling us she could slit our throats and not feel bad about it. The worst job experiences ever and it wasn’t even a big deal job, I was a f**king maid."
theoriginalsauce
week to week...
"Late to this party... I told him we were pregnant, but it was early and we weren't telling anyone (we had had a few miscarriages), so he emailed the entire agency congratulating us. After the baby my wife had a little belly. Nothing major just a Pulp Fiction 'pot.' A year or so after the baby was born he congratulated her in the parking lot on being pregnant again. We were not. His wife was there and was mortified."
"A year later he congratulated me again saying he saw my wife and when were we due. This was in front of all the ladies in the office. Again, we were not pregnant. I once made him cry bc I told him a client didn't really like him and would rather deal with me."
"He had one of those yoga balls he would sit on instead of an office chair and he would bounce up and down while taking to you. The list is exhaustive. This was at the height of the American Office popularity so it was downright amazing to see it represented so accurately on a week to week basis."
doordonotaintnotry
Michael
"They certainly do. That's why the show's so funny. Had a general manager give a line that sounded exactly like it came out of the mouth of Michael. He wanted to say 'be there or be square.' He started the phrase wrong, but his brain knew it was a rhyme. So he said 'be here or be queer.'"
squatsquirrel
This character is funny on screen, but a nightmare in real life.
As desperate as people are for a job these days, sometimes you realize real quick, this place ain't worth it.
Yes, we need to make money to survive, but some work opportunities will only ever lead to toxic drama.
Listen to your instincts.
Just politely say... "I'm sorry. I just had a death in my family. I must go."
Then run. I promise there are other jobs.
Redditorsheepofwallstreet86wanted to hear about the reasons why they knew a job was not going to work right from the start. They asked:
"What happened during an interview that immediately made you realize you wouldn’t take the job no matter how much they offered you?"
I once thought I might sell steak knives. The orientation was five hours. For steak knives. I wanted to stab myself with my product.
Negative Much?
Bored Season 3 GIF by The OfficeGiphy"Three of four people who interviewed me spent the entire time talking about how bad the company was and why I really don't want the job. The fourth was the CEO. His story was different. I didn't take the job."
IAmDotorg
I still felt terrible...
"I tried getting a job as a telemarketer once. The interviewer had me go into another room and call her, and she would pretend to be a person I'm trying to get money from. I started into the script, and she said, 'Oh, but I'm just a poor college student with no money!' Even though I knew she was just pretending, I still felt terrible. I knew that I could never do that work in real life. I told her that my coming there was a bad idea and I had to leave."
CapnFang
The Resume
"Back when I was unemployed long term, I was applying for roles anywhere I could find really. Got an interview for a retail position, not great but better than nothing. First interview is a group one, I get through that fine. Second interview is with the manager of the store. He spends like 10 minutes telling me how sh*t my resume is."
godzillastailor
Pants on Fire
"The amount of lies discovered during the interview itself. They tell you one thing online and in emails, only to see something different when you show up and go through the interview. If there was already that much lying and falsehoods seen during the interview, no telling how much worse it actually can be. Could understand why the person left."
Lostarchitorture
Pass
Bye Bye Goodbye GIF by Mickey MouseGiphy"They called me back for a… 5th interview… after that I had enough and told them it was getting a bit much and I’ll take a pass."
kyle71473
Seriously. How many interviews do you really need? Nothing is changing from meeting to meeting.
Smarter than the Average Turnip...
epic fail falling GIFGiphy"When she started explaining that my 'role' in handling payments would involve depositing 'client payments' into my own personal account before transferring it to 'the company'. I may be a dumba**, but I didn't fall off the turnip-truck yesterday."
asstyrant
Excuse me, what?
"Asked me if I would be willing to take a three month deferment while under a 'Probationary' period. If after 3 months, they didn't like me, they'd let me go and give me a check for $0.10 on the dollar for every dollar/hr worked. If they kept me, I'd get a check for all my hours, plus a bonus of $500 for office supplies, but I could only buy out of their selected catalogue. I almost laughed in her face."
FreeSpeechMatter1776
Always trust your gut...
"After 2 panel interviews, was invited for a lunch with the team - I pretty much knew I had the job, the offer was just a formality by that point. Went to a random buffet restaurant at a forgettable hotel miles from the job site (which was really odd). Carpooled with the team and it was a very weird vibe during the ride and getting to the table - everyone was walking on eggshells around the manager, laughing too loudly at her jokes etc."
"As soon as we sat down, the manager went up to get her food, and the rest of the team stayed at the table - when her phone started ringing (she'd left it on the table), they were panicking to be the first one to get it before the 2nd ring. They were so deferential (almost comically so), and so worried about what might happen if the manager got upset, I just couldn't see myself working there. I turned down the offer when it did come in the next day. Saw the job advertised again a few months later, wasn't surprised. Always trust your gut."
bassgirl23
20%
"This was a grad school interview, so slightly different, but still fully convinced me to divert my focus to other programs and interviews completely. I was asked to prepare a five minute presentation that I would give via zoom at the start of the interview."
"About a minute into the presentation, the interviewer got up and walked away from her laptop before returning about a minute later. She missed 20% of my presentation. I kept giving my presentation because there was also a student representative on the call, but the faculty interviewer neither apologized nor acknowledged leaving during my presentation."
"If I am not worth five minutes of your attention as a prospective student, then your program is not worth my tens of thousands of dollars. Lucky for me, I was accepted into my first choice program that same day."
JimboSliceCAVA
Sorry 3rd Lady...
Nicki Minaj No GIFGiphy"I was told the person I would be supporting as an Executive Assistant was on his third wife, he has 6 kids and that I should include the wife in certain decisions so that she doesn't feel insecure (being the 3rd wife and all). Ain't nobody got time for 3rd wife insecurity drama."
SSOJ16
3x times a charm...
"I remember making it to the third interview round for this organisation only for them to tell me that I don't have the particular background in the sector that they're looking for. This is after a general recruitment test, a case study assignment and two interviews. Needless to say, it was super frustrating."
PM_ME_YOUR___ISSUES
"taster session"
"It wasn't an interview but a 'taster session' where I had to work there for 3 hours then make my decision. A lot of the hardware didn't work, the guy training me was away and had to train me over a video call so whenever anything went wrong I was fucked and he would loudly sigh every time I needed something explaining. Because how dare someone need something explained to them on their first job."
TheNameless00
"no excuses"
"I interviewed at a "no excuses" charter school. They gave a scenario where a student comes in to class and doesn't have his homework done. He says it's because he spent the previous night in the ER because his brother was shot. School policy is that unfinished homework is a mandatory detention. I could not, in good conscience, answer that question the way they wanted."
fxcassell
Game Time
"Stupid interview games. The d**kheads put me at a low table with a low chair, placed water in a carafe with an empty glass - all just out of reach so that I'd have to stand and reach for it, and then interviewed me as a panel of six employees sitting at a tall table with tall chairs."
"The questions were all more about my character than my skills. The whole thing was so obviously staged to make me feel uncomfortable. An interview is a conversation, not an interrogation. Treat it like an interrogation, and I'm freaking out. It's a clear sign of a toxic workplace - I've yet to see an exception to this rule."
fargmania
2 of us...
job interviews GIFGiphy"It was a low paying retail job, but I’ve been interviewed at the same time as someone else. The issue I had with this is that it pits two people against each other and it becomes incredibly awkward. I was interviewing against a woman who had lost her job and was talking about supporting her kids."
"I felt like I had to make a stronger case saying that I didn’t know how I’d afford college without the job. If an interviewer doesn’t have time for 2 separate interviews then just walk out because things will only get worse."
Future_Classic_
Someone better...
"After the job interview they said they will call me in one week. A month has passed and I still didn't get a call so I decided to call them myself. They said 'oh yea.. we remember you.. yea.. Um sorry about that we completely forgot to call you back. We already found someone (better).' Turns out That that someone then turned the job down and so they contacted me again to see if I was still interested after two months. I said 'No thanks. I already got a job.'"
Redittoranian
It was a full time job...
"I went to interview for an entry level marketing position in the film industry. Two hours in the boss slipped in that I wouldn't be paid for the first few months while they trained me. It was a full time job. He also wanted me to start immediately that day using my personal laptop. I made up an excuse and left shortly after."
thecylonstrikesback
1997
"This was during a phone screen rather than an interview. Time frame was 1997, during the height of the .com boom. I'm a programmer. The screener told me that they were a 'fast-paced company' and I asked for some clarification on what exactly that meant. After some evasive answers, I asked more directly what kind of hours people worked and found out that many people were working 60+ hours a week. I politely declined."
"The company did have an IPO in early 1999 that could have been lucrative for me, but I had an 18 month old daughter and another on the way - I was changing jobs to be able to spend more time with them, not less. I feel very good about that decision."
stevedonie
It's a Cult
Dance Flowers GIF by A24Giphy"Wasn't the interview per se, but I caught a glimpse of a whiteboard in HR that had a bullet point list that seemed to be things to talk about to convince people to join the company, and one of the items was, 'Not a cult.'"
poe_todd
Damn You John!
"My brother once had an interview for a cooking position at a local restaurant. He walked in and immediately ran into a female employee who was crying and yelling 'F**k you John!' John was the guy who interviewed him."
Arcinbiblo12
Again... just get up and run.
There will be other opportunities.
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People Break Down The Double Standards They're The Most Tired Of Seeing
Nobody is better than anybody else. Why is that such a difficult concept for so many people? One person doesn't get a pass for certain things that another person would be scolded for "just because."
Even in family dynamics, double standards are at play. Why should sons get a later curfew than daughters? Why can't a man vacuum? HOW are we still having these conversations?
It's time to break down the constructed hierarchies that have been imposed upon society. Let's get it all out there, so that we're all aware, so we can do better.
RedditorWistfulNightSkywanted to discuss the most unfair issues we all face on the daily, by asking:
What double standard are you tired of?
One of the worst places where double standards are constant is in the hospitality industry.
Take my time...
email GIFGiphy"My principal taking days to read and reply to my emails, if ever, VS me being told at 8 in the morning that I should have known something because he sent me an email at 10 in the evening the night before."
- mljb81
"bend"
"Politicians who come up with dumb to asinine laws, and vigorously enforce them upon all of the regular citizens, but somehow find ways to exempt themselves from being subject to the same obligations to keep and follow them, as we are."
"Easy. Big corporations and the rich, using legal bribing through lobbying to "bend" the rules in their favor more and more as time passes."
Bullies
"Defending yourself. The fact that someone can punished for defending themselves when no one else would, in my experience worse, is bullsh*t to me. Example a former bullied kid that punched back and got screwed."
"In my case, I got beaten up, didn't retaliate at all. Bully had rich parents who supported the school. So I was the one who got in trouble as I allegedly swore and instigated it, meaning him beating the crap out of me was apparently self-defense."
Speed Racer
"Speed limit laws bother me the most on this. You're telling me, on a road on which there are no cyclists or pedestrians, that I have to drive 25mph, but the mayor can drive 40mph to a press conference that he's late to and abuse the privilege of a police escort. See: NYC Vision Zero.
"They also use this law to increase red light cameras. For further context: in NYC a yellow light means "slam your brakes now"/"stop now" more than it does "slow down"/prepare to stop as it does in other parts of the country. Meanwhile a counter study (I will try to find he source later) showed that increasing the length of a yellow light by something absurd like one or two seconds would decrease the amount of red light violations significantly more effectively because people would have adequate time to stop while still allowing for a flow of traffic."
"Obviously, it's all a money grab. Meanwhile the mayor regularly is caught on camera flaunting this traffic regulation when he finds it inconvenient. It's infuriating. NYC has enough congestion as it is, so knee-capping people when they can finally move is just insulting."
Finding the Best
Job GIFGiphy"Entry level jobs" that require experience."
- Arctinii
"They think it weeds out the ones with no experience, but it just gives them candidates who are prepared to exaggerate or lie."
How does one acquire experience without being given a chance to earn it? Quite the conundrum.
Check the Clock
Seth Meyers Time GIF by Late Night with Seth MeyersGiphy"Your boss getting angry if you're a couple minutes late but then expects you to have no problem regularly staying on 2+ hours after your shift is meant to end."
People Describe Their Best Chance Encounters | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Are chance encounters really serendipitous or is it part of some grand master plan? While we may never have an answer for why we come to meet certain people ...Liars
"To borrow from Matt Haig: people being ok with mental illness until someone shows symptoms of one."
"100%. People like to talk about being cool with it, act all understanding, and then get super hostile if someone with untreated mental illness shows up. They don't mind it when they can't see it, but can't handle it when they actually see it in action."
All out Assault
"Customers being able to verbally and sometimes physically assault workers while the worker just has to stand there and take it or they'll be fired."
- lydiaj02
Nurse here. Almost every single one of my colleagues has been physically assaulted at some point in their career. We are often discouraged by upper management not to press charges or contact the police. We're also often asked what we could have done differently."
- tbaymama
In my Mouth
"Why is dental insurance different from "health insurance" aren't teeth part of my overall health wth!!"
- talwen69
"The dentist lobby game is strong. They've pushed for decades to not be considered part of the health industry and they've banked because of it. Sure I understand it's a specialty, but my teeth are attached to my skull."
The Bad Dipper
"My boss dipping out on a Thursday afternoon to go get messed up at the golf course, but I ask for one Friday off every few months and he's like AAHHH CMON MAN I NEED YOU TO BE A TEAM PLAYER!!"
Just Wait
"I have to be exactly on time for an appointment or risk a fine and no appointment. Yet a doctor can make you wait hours sometimes without even a "thank you for waiting" or "sorry about the wait." ~ cutiegirl88
"I can't stand that. Then, they only spend maybe five minutes with you tops. I have asked to do video or phone check ups, and was given a big no, but it's not like they even look at you these days. Why can't we do that on vid chat?" ~ Rightfoot27
Against the Norms
"Some people I know who are strongly against gender norms told me that I shouldn't have a say in my wedding since I'm a man… and that my fiancé alone makes the decisions It was pretty freaking confusing." ~ vajapocalypse
"This sounds a lot like my husband and me. I've always been a planner and my husband is very laid back, but we planned everything together. People always say it's the bride's day, but that's such BS. Our wedding was done on a low budget, but it was themed to Star Trek vs Star Wars and in a planetarium. So it really felt like we were planning a costume party more than anything lol." ~ Tiki108
Swipe Never
"The tinder attitude of "impress me," and "I have standards," "Be funny," "Don't be boring." "Meanwhile person is boring." ~ solvent_causis04
"All. The damned. Time. There's also "I just want someone to travel with and get lost on trips with." Yeah, I wish I had a lot of money too. Oh wait, you don't have a job?" ~ OPossumHamburger
Lawless
Donald Trump Water GIF by Election 2016Giphy"Politicians being able to openly violate the law and nobody does anything." ~ TheGrandExquisitor
The Star Effect
"Star student athletes are nearly untouchable. If they make the school look good the school will almost never take action against them." ~ HonoraryCanadian
"As evidenced by the fact that at my college, several of the football "stars" would literally just park wherever they wanted and never get towed/ticketed. I'm not talking about things like parking in the faculty lot, or where you don't have a pass. I'm talking things like parking on the sidewalk in front of the student union, after driving over a curb and 20ft of grass to get there." ~ ender4171
Calling HR
"How it's perfectly okay for a potential employer to ask your salary expectations even before an interview, but a candidate asking what the job pays is somehow a red flag for HR and a big no-no. Like, if all the employer cares about is what I will cost them (before learning anything else about me), then I should be able to freaking ask too. But no, I'm branded as only caring about money. And you don't you corporate prick?" ~ CrieDeCoeur
For the children...
"When company's say they are family friendly but don't want you to work from home or help with child care." ~ Pewcachan
"Mine's championing "work-life balance for everyone in the country" while also dragging us back into the office for no freaking reason. Working from home saves me an entire work day worth of commute each week. Leave me be!" ~ obscureferences
Plastics
"Consumers are expected to curb the use of their plastic waste and carbon by corporations and regulatory bodies alike while Nestlé will destroy a natural habitat to make bottled water in plastic bottles and dump the waste into your grandma's urn if its affordable." ~ Aledeyis
Being Me
Confused Excuse Me GIF by GIPHY NewsGiphy"Struggled with social interactions growing up. Half of my life was people telling me not to take things so personally. The other half was being told to conduct myself a certain way so I don't upset people." ~ Cuesport77
Learn about it...
"People that say 'don't worry about what other people think, be yourself' but make judgments about people based on behavior they don't understand. If you don't understand something, ask about it. Learn about it. Talk about it to gain an understanding. I wish more value was placed on learning/understanding people's intentions vs what you see on the surface. And don't say things unless you really mean them." ~ wheresmywang710
Nows we know better. I hope. Be a better boss and a better person. So we can be a better society.
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