In theory, a workplace is where people set aside emotions and make rational decisions in pursuit of profits. Reality is really never that simple. Rules are vague and arbitrary, bosses have an ego that can blot out the sun, people are petty and life is, at the end of the day, often just downright chaotic.
Someone asked managers to share the weirdest thing they’ve gotten scolded for at work and people didn’t hold back. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to add your own horrible work stories to the comments section below.
#1
I once was scolded (at a review!) for reading during break times, as it showed “workplace disassociation”. This was the straw that got me seriously job searching (and I took all lunches off-site for the rest of my time there).
Lana Kane:
My husband was reading in his break room and was asked “Why are you reading?”. Not what…why.
Image credits: ChemistbyDay
#2
My first job was at Zellers (a now-defunct Canadian department store analogous to Wal-Mart) and I was reprimanded for being “too happy”. It was apparently demoralizing to the other, older workers.
Image credits: Kate
#3
Having too short a surname. “People can’t hear it properly when you say it over the phone.”
Image credits: Monosyllabic
#4
Clicking too many times (:
Worked with ancient software where if you double-clicked instead of single-clicking, it would break everything. But, the software was so laggy that you had to hold down your single-click to make it register. Got a lecture about being careless for double-clicking instead of single-clicking.
Image credits: No Tribble At All
#5
My calendar when I was 21 in my first job was colour coordinated in different shades of pink. This was a third party lab for car testing, a very old school boy’s club.
I need to stress my calendar wasn’t public facing, and you could only see it on my profile. The Lab Manager hated it and kept on trying to get me to change it. Told me I’d never be more than the tech writer there because of that (not my lacking of engineering degrees)
I have aggressively kept a pink colour coordinated calendar all these years, and degrees later, where I’m a director of an engineering department.
Image credits: Viki
#6
I was recently promoted to a supervisor position. A few weeks in, my manager reprimanded me for helping a team member work through an issue he was having with a project and how best to research it in our database. Silly me thought part of the supervisor position was providing support and assistance to team members when they had questions or got stuck!!
Image credits: WG
#7
Similar to your Coach notebook — When I was in college, I drove a (used) Audi A4. One summer while home on break I temped at a small business in my hometown, and the owner and his son (who was the managing director) both had Audis. When I parked near them in the lot one morning, the owner was waiting for me, and he explained that I was “too young” to have an Audi, and that it “sent the wrong message.” I don’t really know what he wanted me to do – park down the street? Sell my car?
Image credits: Former Summer Lifeguard
#8
I was marked on my first year review (which no one else on staff had BTW) a 2 out of 5 for “works well with others.” After several low marks (worst review I ever had in my life before or since), I questioned the validity of this and was told, “Well, you never go to lunch with everyone else.” My boss’ boss raised his eyebrows.
When I said that I thought lunch was my personal time, my boss didn't have an answer, and her boss’ eyebrows went up even further. He couldn’t be bothered to support me though. Neither did he support me when I got a 2 of 5 for attendance where her examples were 1. the time you were gone 2 days for your friend’s wedding (which was approved before I was hired), and 2. the morning I took off to run a 5K (You mean the *company sponsered* 5K?)
Image credits: Nova5155
#9
Telling dad jokes. Apparently they were too juvenile?
Image credits: Cindy Pao
#10
I replaced a paralegal at a law firm who was reprimanded (and later let go) for making his password some number and symbol variation of Lawyers Suck. Because it “would be inappropriate if a client knew”.
Image credits: alldogsarepuppies
#11
Using post it notes. I had recently had a change to routine work so I had two regular sized post it notes with reminders attached to my monitor until it became a new habit.
A head corporate boss was visiting. He came in and read me the riot act. He was super condescending and said “I’m sure you’re qualified for this job since you were hired but I am having doubts” immediately after coming in to introduce himself. We had not spoken about the job at all. He looked at me as if I were vile. I got a lecture about using calendars or reminder apps on my phone. Later my coworker told me “oh yeah, he hates post it notes”.
Image credits: Angie
#12
I was reprimanded for not smiling enough while wearing a mask.
Image credits: Sheworkshardforthemoney
#13
Being too quick to answer my work phone when it rings.
Answering emails too quickly (not wrong, just how quickly I am responding).
Being TOO efficient.
Being TOO organized.
Oh. My recent favorite: being TOO professional on the phone.
Image credits: TheGrinchess
#14
Sighing. Not even consciously sighing, but just part of regular breathing/occasional sigh.
Image credits: GrettaCatts
#15
Working too fast and ‘showing everybody else up’. No, honestly, a complaint was raised about me in exactly those words, as if they thought I was doing it deliberately rather than just – you know – keeping my nose down and working instead of socialising, which was what everybody else was doing.
Image credits: Not Australian
#16
At a previous job, I was scolded multiple times for my desk being too tidy. Apparently having an organised desk not littered in files and stacks of paper meant I wasn’t busy enough. I kept an empty pile of file folders on the edge of my desk for 3 years just to keep my boss happy.
Image credits: Beammi
#17
Not smiling. I was in high school working as a cater waiter. I turned on my customer service face front of house, but not back of house. The chef chastised me for not smiling, as my grandpa was in the hospital with near-fatal cardiac issues (he survived and is still kicking now 20 years later).
Image credits: StopTellingWomenToSmile
#18
I got written up for buying colored file folders (with my own money) because “it looked too extravagant and sent the wrong message.”
I worked for a small nonprofit that generally had multiple projects at different stages underway at the same time. It was my job to interview and track dozens of applicants for each project, so I asked if I could get color-coded file folders to more easily distinguish between the three projects. My request was refused because it was “too expensive and wasteful,” so I bought my own folders — for under $12, mind you.
My boss then wrote me up because “it looked extravagant to have colored file folders and we might lose donations because of it.” This finally escalated to the board of directors, who sided with me because, yes, color-coding was more efficient. I still don’t regret it, and I used those folders over and over.
Image credits: anon
#19
I had a coworker who complained to our boss that the other cleanroom tech and I were having conversations that weren’t “intellectual enough” in the clean room.
Yes, while we sat around waiting for the 2000L bioreactor to warm up (at least an hour) the other gal and I had chatted about her upcoming wedding.
This was after we had completed all the work that could possibly be done until the thing warmed up – it was chat or sit in silence.
So the next week smart-ass me decided to ask Mr Grumpy if he’d like to talk about Russian literature, would that be sufficiently intellectual?
#20
I got scolded once because I was making it “too obvious” that I was working too many hours and I was making the other managers “uncomfortable” by talking about how tired I was or how many hours I was working…..I was working 12+ hour shifts 6 days a week and on that 7th day we had a mandatory managers meeting so I was literally in that building 7 days a week….I was the only regular floor manager working these kinds of hours.
It will probably not surprise many of you to know this was the restaurant industry lol.
Image credits: meowwwe
#21
I had a client once complain to my boss that they hadn’t seen me walking my dog lately!
Image credits: TiredVet
#22
I like to drink very cold water, so I have a reusable water bottle I pack with ice and bring to the office with me, and fill from our water fountain here (we do not have an ice maker in the building). I have never, not once, ever said a word out loud about this preference or drawn attention to it. Because who cares, right?
My grandboss saw me refilling my bottle the other day, and heard the ice rattling. I explained my ice-from-home system, my very cold water preference, and she became very upset! She told me that I need to stop bringing ice from home immediately, because very cold water is rubbing my good teeth in the faces of people who have sensitive teeth or cannot afford dental work, and by doing so I’m “acting classist.” Thankfully, she just walked away after that and I didn’t have to think of a response.
This person makes twice as much as I do, and last I heard, opted us out of having dental insurance at all for the sake of saving a buck. I want to write “Expensive Tooth Juice” on my bottle just to round out this weird cosmic joke, but I will not, as my teeth and I are professionals.
Image credits: RichToothJuice
#23
Some of my coworkers got scolded for building snowmen. One winter, we had some colleagues visiting from another site who were experiencing snow for the first time. A few people took them out (after work hours) to build snowmen on the back lawn of our building. The entire group was scolded the next day for “unprofessional behavior” by our office admin. These were standard snowmen – not inappropriate snow sculptures, not built on the clock, not blocking any sidewalks, and while they were on work property, our building was not open to the public and the snowmen were not visible from the street. No one with any actual authority had complained, and our department head even stopped to take a selfie with the snowmen on his way into work that morning.
Image credits: Ann Onymous
#24
Graphic Design intern: I was sent on a Starbucks run for the two owners and a handful of employees. One of the owners told me he didn’t want anything. So I had the gall to get him nothing.
Returned to a snippy “Where’s mine?” and the other owner scolding me, without a hint of shame or irony, that “when he says ‘no,’ of course he means ‘yes.'” I had to drive back to Starbucks, off the clock, to get this grown adult business-owning man the order he said he didn’t want.
Image credits: Lynnerd
#25
I was scolded for using the restroom too much while pregnant, and told I should have just used it during my break. I did. It didn’t matter if I just used the restroom an hour ago on my break, I need to pee again. This was awful during the last month or so of my pregnancy with the baby pressing on my bladder constantly. This was a retail job, so probably a surprise to no one, but I’m not sure what they expected me to do. It’s not fun to have to pee all the time.
Image credits: Bast*
#26
I was reprimanded during my annual performance review for being “too well liked” in my department, and, in particular, by people who were more junior to me and/or who I managed. There were no actual issues coming from this. My projects got completed on time and got excellent results, juniors followed my instructions and also felt comfortable suggesting changes, I dealt with any issues quickly and discreetly, and saw multiple people who I line managed get promoted.
Image credits: Louise
#27
I had a client (mental health) complain because I… went to the same restaurant she went to. My boss liked to take all client complaints very seriously (which I truly do appreciate, too often people with severe mental health issues are dismissed) so she tried really hard to figure out what I did wrong, but I didn’t speak to the client or engage with her in any way and can’t help it that the restaurant seated us in the same section.
Image credits: K
#28
Having my coat hung on the wall where it is visible outside my cube. It was on the coat hooks installed on the wall that were already there when I was hired.
Image credits: HailRobonia
#29
I got scolded by a manager for referring to my boyfriend as my partner. I retaliated by keeping a list of weird similes at work to use instead. Nobody called me out on it. That manager left, and I had an odd conversation with my new manager where the new manager confirmed that there was no ban on the word.
Image credits: Rabbitgal15
#30
A gushing nosebleed.
I’d had sinus surgery, and had uncontrollable nosebleeds for a few years after. I worked at a picture frame warehouse,* pulling matte board and packing it for delivery. I couldn’t bleed all over the product, so I paused what I was doing until the bleeding stopped, and got told off for “taking an unauthorized break.” Okay SUZANNE, I’ll just go back to pulling boards worth between twenty and fifty dollars a piece with an uncontrollable BIO-HAZARD DRIPPING OUT OF MY FACE.
*At this date, I’m happy to name and shame: do not buy from Frame Specialties in Elkhart, IN, their business practices are borderline illegal, and highly unethical/a**sive.
#31
At my partner’s new IT job, their supervisor was complaining vehemently about how slow the new scanner was and how it was slowing down all their paperwork processes. My partner, being IT, naturally went into the settings, fixed the problem, and told the supervisor it should be faster now.
Supervisor gasped in shock. You can’t change the printer settings without approval from [2 bosses up]!!! You change that back right now!!!
Unfortunately, this was indeed indicative of the office’s standard vibe.
#32
As an intern at a national wildlife refuge (over two decades ago), one of my tasks was to go through the local and regional newspapers to look for references to our facility or any relevant environmental issues. I had to cut out the articles, photocopy them in triplicate, file two of them and make sure the third got sent monthly to DC. There was quite a backlog of old papers to go through, in addition to new papers coming every day. One of my supervisor’s peers complained to their boss that I was lazy because they saw me reading the paper all the time. I’d love to read a paper at work now, but 19-year old me hated it. I was livid for being accused of laziness.
Image credits: Bunch Harmon
#33
I once worked in a basement, facing the wall, in a corner so tight I could barely squeeze in. Every so often I’d pop out for a walk around the block, 5 minutes max. One day I bumped into my manager (who was having a smoke break) and he asked me why I was out. I told him I was taking a break and stretching my legs as all health advice advised; wrong, apparently. It was (according to him) OK to take a break out of the office if I wanted to smoke. A break out of the office for my actual mental and physical health was Not On At All.
I still can’t quite work out the logic there. Anyway, I was out after three months.
Image credits: London Calling
#34
I had forgotten about this but you’ve reminded me: I once worked at a bar where we had a pretty rough shift right after I started and, being new and wanting to make a good impression, when one of the bartenders asked me how I was doing while closing I tried to just be upbeat and said it wasn’t so bad. A different bartender overheard this and made me stay after closing so he could go on a rant about how very dare I not also be miserable after a shift that made him miserable.
#35
For telling my ex-supervisor in private that the word she meant to use was “depository” and when she told me to create a “suppository” for everyone to use, it didn’t mean what she thought it meant. Oh boy. She went off the deep end. Screamed at me that she knew what she said and she said what she meant, and she didn’t need someone like me correcting her.
She continued to tell people I was creating a “suppository” for everyone to use for another seven weeks.
#36
More from the ex-supervisor:
-the time I got yelled at for wearing flip-flops. I don’t own any flip-flops.
-the time I was accused of insubordination for asking if I should convert a spreadsheet to a database.
-the time I was accused of being “uppity” for returning to school to pursue a graduate degree.
#37
I have a coworker who will NOT let it go that I don’t match colored hair scrunchies to my outfit. I bought a pack of 6 scrunchies a while ago, and with a fairly limited color selection I obviously can’t match anything exactly, so I decided to go for completely opposite colors of scrunchies to my shirts to make it a ~creative choice~ instead. She simply will not stop commenting on it in annoyance! She tried to pull me aside for a lecture about how “distracting” it was… She even tried to go to management about it, to which she was told to let it go (she hasn’t).
Obviously, with all the drama surrounding it I mismatch the scrunchies even harder now lol
#38
I work in an office doing project management. My absolutely banana pants boss was also extremely sexist. He decided that I was not accessible enough, claiming that internal customers should feel comfortable approaching me. I’m very pleasant and after working retail for years, I am very approachable. Just not to my boss because, well, he was sexist and I pushed back on that routinely. So one day he came by my desk, and I had my wet umbrella opened to dry in the space where people can pull up a chair and talk. This was completely unacceptable to him. No one would feel comfortable coming to talk with me because my umbrella was open. Of course, the entire floor was filled with umbrellas open to dry, but only mine was a problem. So I was lectured to never leave my umbrella open like that. When he finally walked away, my coworker popped up in his cube and asked, “Did he really just yell at you for an open umbrella?” Yes.
#39
Drinking from the wrong vessel. I drink a LOT of water through the day, especially when working in the inner depths of a Victorian building with barely-opening windows. I always brought a 750ml water bottle, and when I’d finished it (usually mid-morning) there was a chilled water fountain (the type with the massive plastic bottle on top) in the hallway.
I got told off for refilling my water bottle from the fountain, told to use the cups. I asked if there was a daily limit per person – obviously not. I pointed out that the amount of water I was going to drink was the amount of water I was going to drink, and surely making one 750ml journey every 90 minutes was better than four or five repeat 200ml visits. Nope, apparently not….
#40
I got chastised for my preferred commute. Old Boss lived in the same general area I did, but I opted for a longer but more scenic route to the highway. I didn’t feel like how I got to work mattered as long as I was there on time. I did try their way but found it to be more aggravating and not any more efficient due to traffic and lights. It came up a few times over the years and while I was never in “trouble,” they made it clear they thought this (and other choices I made) were inferior.
#41
I had a dean’s assistant who wanted to be the ruler of the whole entire world tell me that faculty were complaining that I was reading a magazine at work — but it was my job to skim the magazine for articles about the faculty members’ design work for the bibliography of the annual report on which I was working. I knew the faculty hadn’t complained because as she was telling me this, she had a crooked, sneaky little smile on her face AS IF I COULDN’T SEE HER!
#42
I love to bake and love to share what I make with co-workers. Many years ago, I worked in a call centre on a specialized team. I worked dayshift and didn’t always see some of my teammates.
When I brought in baked goods, I did my best to make sure everyone got some even if I wasn’t there. One Christmas I made cookies. I offered them to everyone who was there and made note of those who had that day off. If someone worked a different shift, I messaged them to let them I had cookies and offered to set aside some for them. The next day, a co-worker who had the previous day off came in. I took the tin of cookies over to them and offered them to them.
I found out much later that Another person on the team who had gotten cookies the day before complained to our supervisor that I didn’t offer them any and a note went into my HR file. I didn’t find any of that out until I was removed from the team and asked to see my file. It was filled with complaints that I was never told about. I was fired a couple of weeks later.
#43
My first job out of college was at a small nonprofit. Very shortly after I started, the long-tenured operations director retired. All the staff were invited to the retirement party at the nonprofit’s wealthy founder’s apartment. Board members would be there too. The nonprofit’s executive director asked who among the staff wanted to give a toast. A few people who were senior at the nonprofit/had worked with the operations director for a long time/were comfortable with public speaking volunteered. Our executive director apparently thought not enough people had stepped forward and demanded that every staff member give a toast – no matter how junior you were, no matter if you had only worked with this individual for about two weeks (as was the case for me). Even interns were expected to give a toast. We were told that this was mandatory, not optional.
During the actual party, the wealthy founder overruled the executive director, probably because she didn’t want a bunch of obviously nervous and annoyed junior staff making half-hearted toasts in front of the board. But I very much remember the executive director scolding me for not volunteering to give a toast for someone I barely knew.
#44
I had a job once with, lets say, questionable, reimbursement policies. For example, they allegedly wouldn’t reimburse you for tipping uber drivers, but would for tipping at meals. Inconsistent at best.
Well, one interesting policy was you got an incentive if you split ride shares/cabs with coworkers if you were going to the same place. So if you both were going to a conference at staying at the hotel, the idea was maybe you’d wait a bit at the airport and split your uber, and you’d both get a $25 incentive payment. I found that fair.
Apparently though it was ONLY for airports. I worked in the home office, and there was a time when me and a coworker had to do a site visit for a client. Neither of us had cars, and it was pretty far from where we lived. A good $60+ uber ride. So while we each went separately in the morning, we decided to split an uber back. She paid and got the reimbursement. I put in for the incentive. I was basically scolded because “that policy only applied to airports”. So I made them say out loud that they would rather have had me take my own separate $60+ uber than pay me the $25 incentive because “it was just for airports”. Once she said it out loud, she realized how ridiculous it was, and then it became “well, we’ll give it to you THIS time.”
#45
Walking on the floor! This was when I worked retail and yes, the floor had just been mopped but the supervisor told me to go and do something at the other side of the shop and then snapped at me, “don’t walk on the floor!” How…she expected me to get to the other side of the shop without walking on the floor I still have no idea.
#46
I was scolded for not using the handy candy decimal chart a coworker had been using for years to type in wire lengths on an excel spreadsheet, and just typing in the fractions, because “that might not be accurate”. (The decimal chart was not correct, btw.)
Same job thought I installed extra things into excel because I used the “delete duplicates” button, and we weren’t allowed to install any add-ons.
#47
Early in my current career I was once scolded for going over my break time. I recieved a phone call, the day of, from my Grand-Boss saying: “I noticed you were a minute late coming back from your break, can you explain why? and how you’ll prevent this in the future?”
ONE MINUTE–This guy was normally amazing, and I have NO idea what got into him that day, and how he knew I went over my 15 minutes.
#48
Closing the blinds on my door at work. I strongly suspect this was really more because I was the only one at work wearing a mask on my hoteling days, so I’d close the door (the only way they’d let me do that) to be able to take it off, eat, etc.) and they didn’t like it.
I got written up four times for this because “what if someone wants to come to you for help?” and that I was “shutting them out.” Me: (a) the lights are on so you can tell someone’s in there, (b) they can knock at the door, which is what people did and it was just fine, and (c) the blinds were perpetually at half mast, NOT closed. I didn’t even look behind me or care about closing the d**ned things in the first place.
Eventually I had to just open them WIDE and pull them up entirely every time I was in there. And toward the end of my job, they had a door decorating contest at Halloween, which obviously I could not participate in. My coworker decorated the door anyway, so I had to keep the door open all day, point that out to them, and keep the mask on all day so they didn’t write me up for “closing” it again.
#49
I worked as a bag boy at Safeway as a summer job, and the store manager scolded me for putting my hands in my pockets. It was unclear to me if her objection was based on cleanliness, the appearance that I wasn’t doing work if my hands were in my pockets, or just some sort of perception that it was unprofessional.
The problem was that my default standing position was hands-in-pockets (even while walking) and I was putting my hands in my pockets unconsciously. This culminated in her (lightly) slapping my wrist when she caught me with hands in pockets.
Sadly, 18 year old me was too stunned in the moment to tell her to keep her damn hands off of me.
#50
Starting emails to academics with ‘Good Morning so and so’ instead of ‘Dear so and so’.
Apparently ‘Good Morning’ is not respectful enough.
Academics are weird.
#51
I was dinged on a performance review for … completing projects by their deadline. I was told I should always be turning in projects ahead of their deadlines. I said I thought we might have a difference of understanding about the point of a deadline and asked how far ahead of the deadline would be acceptable (so that I could mentally create new ones). She told me she just went by feel.
That was only one of many problems I had with this manager, who was later let go as part of a two person layoff. I inherited her office and her files and OF COURSE read my file with great interest. In the back of the folder she had taped a plain white envelope and inside the envelope was a list of all the times I had ever missed work with my stated reasons in quotation marks like I’d made them all up. Easily verifiable stuff like “car ‘hit a deer’ and needs to be ‘inspected for safety.'”
Note: I regularly worked 60-80 hour weeks in this job and had four weeks of leave time paid out when I eventually left, so I think it’s fair to say I did not have an absentee problem.
#52
My boss (an attorney) was horrified to find that when I save documents related to a specific legal issue/case, I save them as individual files, organized into folders, with a consistent file naming structure.
He instead wants everything related to one legal case in one massive hundreds-of-pages PDF file. This, he says, makes it easier to find things, because they are “all in one place.”
#53
My ex-coworker was kinda/sorta over me, then later was promoted to full supervisor later – which could be a whole topic on its own.
Anyway, before he was the actual supervisor, part of his duties was staff education in our field. He loved to pass around various magazine articles for us to read – keep in mind this was in the early 2000’s- 2010, they could have been emails. He would put a checklist with everyone name on a post it note on the article and after you read it you were to checkmark your name off, and pass it along to the next employee.
I am left handed. I made my checkmarks the way most lefties do. He scolded me for making my checkmarks “backwards” because it was “too hard to read”
There is a reason I only stayed at that job for about a year after he fully became supervisor.
#54
Wearing earbuds in my cubicle when I was focusing. My boss was fairly old school and said “you don’t see me wearing earbuds.”
I pushed back on it and said I needed to be able to listen to music to focus. She dropped it.
#55
Here are a few from my tech consultant:
I was once told that my blinks were too long during my presentation, giving me the appearance that I was sleepy. This same person was upset that I had a women in tech meeting, and not one for men in tech.
I said “our clients have been liking using the cloud because (x, y, z)”. My boss called me immediately while I drove home, chewed me out for an hour said saying “liking” was bad choice of words and too soft.
#56
At an old job, I got scolded for sitting “too casually” when meeting with clients. I have multiple health issues that make sitting difficult/painful. So, to alleviate pressure on my spine/hips, I’ll tuck a foot underneath me. Also, I’m short. My feet don’t touch the ground even in normal sitting positions in most chairs. Not to mention our clients are children, so I don’t think they really care how we sit.
(Honestly, that whole job was full of getting scolded for the weirdest things but this was definitely one of the more baffling ones.)
#57
I had a performance review where the only area for feedback I was given was that my pen choices (in a software job) were insufficiently professional. In the intervening decades I’ve always tried to have the most unprofessional pen choices possible to live up to that. #scented #glitter #scentedglitter
#58
I used CTRL ENTER in Word to insert a page break instead of just hitting Enter several times. I later used TAB to insert, well, a tab instead of hitting the Space bar over and over again.
#59
I also have gotten scolded for reading during break time. This particular office didn’t really have a lunch room (it was the size of a closet with a microwave and fridge and some filing cabinets, nowhere to sit), so most people either ate/took their breaks outside if it were nice (being realistic, this excludes half the year where I live) or ate in their office. Cars were in a parking garage and a nuisance to get to, so that wasn’t a popular choice.
My breaks were at the same time every day — my half hour lunch was noon, and my 2 15 minute breaks were 10:30 and 2:30. It wasn’t difficult to look at the clock and figure out that I was on a break/lunch, but I had been told that I had been caught “reading at my desk” instead of doing work and that I needed to “be more careful.” Our office also had multiple smokers in the office who used the time to smoke, and in fact, went above and beyond the scheduled breaks (some took smoke breaks closer to every hour as opposed to the 2 allotted breaks) and nothing was ever said about that.
#60
There was a job where I got in two fender benders in 2 months. Neither my fault: people who were behind me didn’t understand the concept of stopping at stop signs or red lights.
My boss decided this was because I had an “unreliable” (Read: old) ford and encouraged me to get – sorry, lease – a lexus.
How much he thought he was paying me is still a mystery.
#61
I wasn’t scolded, but I was let go for reading at a temp gig where they refused to teach me anything I’d been told I’d be helping with. I ended up just answering phones for the infrequent calls and reading, and that was a problem.
Sorry, I refuse to stare at the wall. Fire me, I’m already temping.
#62
This is much less weird than that (on your breaks?!), but it’s related and it still boggles me a little:
We have a security booth at work but the organization stopped actually employing security guards early on during COVID, so instead, we frontline workers take turns every shift sitting in there to watch the security cameras and the front doors (which have a buzzer system to let people in/out, it’s not like people can just waltz in on their own). It is boring as hell and just staring at the cameras or out the window makes us all zone out pretty fast, which is obviously not great when you’re trying to monitor the security of the building, so we all bring things to help occupy our time. Some people watch videos, some listen to podcasts, some play video games, some straight up call their besties and have long conversations on speakerphone. Some of these wouldn’t work for me (e.g., if I was watching a video or playing a game I would definitely not be able to pay as much attention to other stuff), but basically, we’re trying to kill time while also keeping an ear and eye out for anything out of the ordinary.
Whether these time-killers are a good or bad idea is debatable, but strangely, management has no problem with any of them…except reading books. Phones, laptops, Switches, everything else are fine, but books, specifically, are beyond the pale. And somehow physical books are worse–I’ve only received one mild admonishment for using my ereader, but physical books always lead to reprimands. I do not get it. If it was a matter of optics, maybe I’d understand, but a) management doesn’t care about the optics of having loud non-work-related conversations on speakerphone with your feet kicked up, and b) the explanation that’s always given is that books = not paying attention to other stuff. It’s very odd!
#63
In a job that had very much bumped me up their to-hire list because of my role chairing an important organisation in their industry, I got scolded for a social media post from that organisation going out during my lunch break.
Because I apparently couldn’t possibly have written a three-paragraph update in an hour.
They were, in fact, right about that. That post needed whole-committee approval, so it had been in drafting and revisions for a week at that point. I’d gotten full-team sign-off that morning, so took 30 seconds of my lunch break to post it. They changed the subject immediately when I pointed that out.
#64
I had a pretty good 6-month performance review, then practically as I was walking out the door my boss said, “oh, but you do walk around a lot” and just left it at that. No details or context or even like, you need to do something about that, just a weird judgy thing that still rings in my head every now and then.
#65
I had a more senior coworker complain that my tone was too happy when I got to the lab and said “Good morning”.
#66
At my last job, we went on strike for what ended up being approximately 3 weeks. The unionized members of the communications team had been running strike communications like instagram and flyers. Upon our return, the communications team was promptly called into a meeting with HR, the CEO, and our bosses and told off because our comms had been “too effective” and we had “created bad press” for the institution! Personally, if you’d have asked me, I think our bad press could’ve been reduced by not making us go on strike for 3 weeks, but they didn’t seem interested in that feedback.
#67
My coworker blew up at me over very common, very not-personal edits I made to his work. We’re both editors. This is our job.
#68
I was told by my manager that I asked too many questions and needed to tone it down while I was learning a new role in a job I had never done before in a Quality Assurance organization. It was my job to ask questions as we reviewed documents that went to a government agency.
I had never received this feedback in 20 years in this industry.
It later came out that my manager was VERY insecure of people on their team that they perceived to know more than them. Over the years team members were thrown under the bus to look inferior, my work was stolen by my manager and presented as their own to their boss and other nonsense. They were eventually demoted and let go.
#69
I got scolded because:
Coworker asked me if I wanted to go down to the kid’s reading room to monitor the children or if I wanted to stay at the circulation desk. I said I’d stay at the circ desk. Apparently that was me “refusing to do one of my job tasks” when she narced to management and I got scolded for that and for “being rude and hostile by telling her you’d stay at the circ desk and forcing her to go monitor the children.”
So glad I left the library, it was easily the most toxic, back-biting job I’ve ever had.
#70
After our clinic merged with a hospital-based corporation, they sent a doctor who worked in a wealthy suburb to teach me “proper” coding methods for charging for appointments. They tried to convince me that prescribing a standard antibiotic for a simple ear or bladder infection was “complex medical decision-making” and warranted a higher code that billed out at $450. I noted that our clinic was serving mostly blue-collar folks. Many had high deductibles or no insurance and had to pay out of pocket, I didn’t think it was right to charge so much. Neither of us would back down and the discussion got heated. I was dinged for “unprofessional behavior” and had to write an apology plus take a “re-education” course. I heard through the grapevine that the doc with whom I had argued was calling me a “socialist”. I was SO happy to retire 3 years later.
#71
I used to work in an adult vocational school for a mother and daughter team that were the most insane types of micromanagers. One day, I was called into the office to watch a recording of one of my lectures from earlier in the week, where I was scolded for where I stood (behind the lectern where my textbook was, and occasionally walking down the middle aisle) and how much I moved my arms. One thought my arm/hand movements were “too much and distracting”, while the other one thought I was too stiff and wooden and needed to move my arms/hands more to “add more visual interest for the students.” They got so distracted by this argument that they dismissed me and told me that would let me know their decision on appropriate movements in and around the classroom.
That should have been the cue to find a new job ASAP, but for some reason I stayed for another nine years, and every week was some new bulls**t to be scolded for.
#72
I had a job where I had to process applications sent in by medical centers. This was the late ’00s and my org hadn’t upgraded to online applications yet, so each medical center sent in a paper file that was as thick as your average book.
Part of my job involved scanning the paper files so we’d have an electronic copy to send to reviewers. The scanner was in the breakroom. Sometimes we’d get several applications at once, so I’d spend an hour or two in the break room scanning files. Our Executive Director was kind of controlling and he liked to walk around to make sure people were working. He saw me in the breakroom multiple times one day and made a comment that I was spending too much time in there. I’m not sure why he thought I was just standing next to the scanner for fun, but whatever. I told him I was scanning applications and he reluctantly let it go, but I could tell he wasn’t happy I was spending so much time away from my desk. He was a jerk in many ways, though, so this was par for the course.
#73
An HR person told me I was “acting too smart” and “coming across as elitist”. I’m still holding a grudge over that.
#74
If I didn’t ask a coworker for information before asking my boss, my boss scolded me for not doing so. When I did ask a coworker for information, my boss scolded me for not talking to her first. If I sent an email reply too quickly, I hadn’t reviewed all details/considered all contingencies first; but if I took my time to do all that before sending the email, I was taking too long. I could go on and on, but you get the idea (I definitely considered writing in to AAM about that boss many times). Hand-off micromanager is how I’ve described this person. Thankfully, my new grandboss read the room after joining the department and did a bit of housecleaning 2 weeks in.
#75
Rotating a table. In a library, I was asked to submit a ticket to get our maintenance staff to rotate a heavy table 90 degrees. It previously had equipment on, but once we moved the equipment, we wanted it to align with the other tables and let students use it.
Turns out there was another librarian who felt that table was theirs and that the antiquated equipment that had been on it (and unused for years) was necessary for their work, so they had a public meltdown/screaming fit about my submitting the ticket, despite that we had talked about doing so for months without a complaint.
#76
I was a hostess and I got screamed at by a customer for not knowing their hotel’s phone number by heart when they called to make reservations for their guests.
#77
My profession it’s pretty common to have to move for jobs. Had a position that was vacant in January, took until July to make an offer to someone due to HR taking so long on each step. Person was moving from one region to another in the U.S., so asked for like a 6 week out start date. No problem, wasn’t an urgent position to fill, gave it to them. HR emailed me back, clearly annoyed asking why the start date was so far out and anything beyond a couple weeks needed HR permission. No hiring training or guidance beyond basic paperwork, had hired before, was never told this.
Luckily I was leaving, and just told them “they’re moving from three states away”. Nothing they could do about it since I had already signed and returned the offer letter to HR.
#78
I was out of work for several weeks for a pretty major medical procedure. After I came back, my boss and I were chatting while walking between buildings, and she asked me about my recovery.
A few days later, the HR Director called me into her office. “Someone overheard that conversation and complained to me that you were over-sharing your personal medical information at work. They were eavesdropping on your conversation with your boss, so I can’t really do anything about their complaint. But they made a formal complaint, so I also can’t do nothing. So I’m going to ask you to be mindful about what you’re discussing and where you’re discussing it, and to make sure this isn’t a problem I have to hear about again.”
Much later, I told my boss about the conversation. She rolled her eyes and said “people have far too much time on their hands if that’s what they’re worrying about.”
#79
My first job at one of those giant movie theaters, my manager’s manager had all of use concession workers in for a giant meeting so she could chew out everyone because they’d gotten in trouble with the health inspector since we didn’t all have food handlers permits. They did not require or ask about food handlers permits in any way during the application. The illogic of blaming us for that confused my innocent teenage brain so much.
#80
I worked a retail job where customers often had specific questions about the items we sold (video games). I was behind the counter with my manager and a customer was asking about some specifics with regards to a console they were interested in. I happened to own one and considered myself somewhat of an expert on it, so I answered his questions and this did result in a sale (credited to my manager as she was the one actually doing the checkout. After the customer left they brought me into a backroom and chewed me out so hard I cried because I “jumped in on their sale” and “that was their customer”. We didn’t make sales commissions and even so, the manager got the credit for it in the system anyway. I thought I was just helping the customer that was in front of my face make a decision and build a friendly rapport with them. That was one of the worst jobs I ever had and so many more things happened that completely demoralized me that I quit without notice a few months later because I couldn’t take it anymore. I was hoping the company would be out of business by now but alas somehow they hang on, thanks to meme stock investors I think. (Also if it is relevant, and I think it is, I was a woman in my early twenties at the time).
#81
I once worked as an accounts receivable and engineering assistant in a small electrical company. I was also the receptionist, so front desk. There were a lot of areas in which my role had to coordinate with the accounts payable / purchasing person, whose office was down the hall in the back of the building. Importantly, the Big Boss’ office was on the hall between the two offices, so we had to pass his open door when we needed to confer. Typically this involved passing job files back and forth.
We got in trouble for “walking back and forth all day just to chit-chat”. (This was also one of those places where if you seemed to be enjoying your conversation, you were obviously just socializing and not working! Do not visibly smile at your coworker! But still be pleasant and personable!)
So we learned to take an extra file folder or stack of papers, along with the file we were actually delivering. That way, we would always have something to bring back with us to our desk, and it was obviously a Work Errand. As long as we weren’t empty-handed, Boss wouldn’t scold. (This is a technique I’ve carried with me to multiple jobs. Have a file in your hand and walk with purpose, and you can get away with a LOT.)
