My friends and I always talk about the film Office Space. I think we find it extremely hilarious because we can all relate to how much bs the characters in the film have to put up with.
Every day at my job I have to put up with people who have bad attititudes. They are extremely unprofessional in their behavior and set a bad example for their peers. For example today I called a sergeant and got another one that doesn't like me and she informed me that the person I was trying to reach was gone and called my rank and name in a very snide manner.
Some people act like you are disturbing them, or that you're the biggest pain in the ass when all you are trying to do is do your job.
Is there anyone else out there that has a job that deals with people a lot? And if so are you constantly faced with professionals who wear a uniform or position of prestige and authority, yet they act like babies when you make them get off their ass and do their job? And if so, any advice on how you deal with these types?
Sorry, it's just another monday I suppose.
Post Edited (06-07-04 14:41)
this is such a coindence chopper the same thing happeing to me with some officers and cadets in NYPD academy. i had a "sergeant" call my house. she told me to come to the police academy and have my paperwork. so i went thier not only she wasnt there but a police officer had attitude saying i dont know why iam here when i told him why. then i find shes not even a sergeant but a cadet! now that a big difference.
i wasted a trip to manhattan and i dont live close i live and work in queens. now i have plenty of stories of NYPD police academy morons(to be honest i only encounter this stupidty at the police academy the rest of the department are well trained and are the best at what they do). my advice is to make sure if they do something wrong bring it up to thier superiors. i know it sound like being a rat but when other officer called me i said that the cadet ID herself as a sergeant next time this "sergeant" called me she ID herself as "cadet".
"I know I know ive been exposed permeant psychoses..
at least the colors are nice"- Aeon Flux
You know what they say: "90% of the work is done by 10% of the people."
Actually, a big motivator to my leaving my last 'job' and starting my own business was the crap at work. I hated that job. There were approximately 100 employees, and you could count on your hands the number that if they left, you'd miss em (not personally, but for productivity reasons). There really were only about 5 out of the 100 that were hard chargers who you really could count on.
Ideally, the best solutions: (1) do YOUR job as best as you can. (2) Let them burn out on their own negativity. You can control you, but not others.
It's really tough when their crap hinders you getting your thing done.
Good Luck.
Wow self-empolyment ulthar, I admire you. The phrase alone sounds like the closest thing to utopia LoL.
So how did you come about getting self-employed? Any degree you could recommend? Any secret societies or cults I can join? (j/k).
yeah rich i hear you. in all government run organizations you will be faced with this stuff. i'll probably just tell my commander if it happens again. but he's already been briefed on this certain organization's s**tty attitude in the past.
Had to deal with this crap in the Post Office all the time....so glad I'm out of that place. It wasn't that some people wouldn't work, though there were definitely quite a few who didn't, but the social BS that went on with managers playing favorites.
There was also a lot of abuse of laws like FMLA, etc. If you had a child or dependent parent or could get a doctor to say you had some kind of medical condition [migraines were the most popular] you could call in sick to your heart's content and not have to worry about anyone saying anything. One lady was our superviror's favorite and could complain about the rest of us not doing anything when she would seldom work a full week and when she did she would look busy while the rest of us did the real work.
Now that I'm out of government service things haven't changed too much---there's a little more accountability for people's actions, but still a lot of rude behavior and people not being aware how much their not paying attention to things like being at your work station or coming back from breaks on time affect everyone else. It's more of a problem with the younger employees, though there's one older lady who is just as bad. The big problem is that management could really have the power to do something in this situation but they are too passive and choose not to do anything--guess it's too much hassle for them, and I guess it probably is better to just try to work with someone instead of taking a chance on hiring someone else that you'll have to train, etc.
I work in retail at a book/music store. My biggest pet peeve though is rude/stupid customers--also the various con artists who try to run scams, steal, etc. But neither of those really make up a big percentage--it's usually just on the weekends when unpleasant things happen. It's in an upscale shopping center--neither I nor any of my co-workers make enough money to be able to shop at any of the other stores, though that doesn't keep customers from thinking we should know about every single store in the place.
Still prefer my current job to my old postal one, even if I now make less than half what I did then. The hours are much better, the people are much easier to work with, and the junior high type stuff is probably not any worse than it was at my old job. It was more ridiculous at my old job because there were forty and fiftysomethings acting like 12-year olds. It's a little more understandable when it's 19 and 20 year olds doing it. Still irritating, though!
I just read, in a FOP publication, that 90% of Police Officers who were polled, said that if they were to leave the field, it would be due to poor supervisors. I get on well with most of the officers on my shift, and I've really lucked out with my Division command. So, as far as co-workers go, not many problems. That may have to do with the fact that we are highly dependant upon each other.
However, sometimes it is a constant struggle not to stick my size 12 Bates Oxford up John Q's ass!!! I like people( in general), and most people are thoughtful and considerate and easy to work with. But some people....ya just want to hammer-punch in the clavicle!! I think some of the other PO's on the board can sympathize with me! I imagine that anyone in customer service or any profession that involves a good deal of interaction with the public, can also relate.
I hear you, man. The maintenance people are the worst. Their big joke in my building is whenever anyone asks them to do something they say: "What? For free?" It was funny the first half dozen times. By the thousandth time you just want to say, No jerkoff, not for free - for your hourly freaking wage.
There's a guy on my team who is a piece of work. He likes being in the job he has and likes to swagger around like he's one of the head bulls in the office when in fact, he never produces anything. He's always condescending to anyone with less time in even though people on the job less than a year generally produce more (and better) products than he does. I am now his arch-enemy since I was made team lead. I have found the worst office archetype there is: the passive aggressive lazy-ass. Anytime I talk to him he's all gung-ho talking like he's about to go out and climb Mt Everest. I come back a week later to find none of the work done and it's one excuse after another. My boss is slowly moving toward the conclusion that this guy needs to go. I'm trying to push him in that direction, but not too hard lest I be labeled myself.
That is a rough decision Eirik. But what's this guys deal? Does he have a family or anyone else to support?
"I imagine that anyone in customer service or any profession that involves a good deal of interaction with the public, can also relate."
Believe me Deej can we ever, although I must admit you probably deal with a lot more stupid people on a daily basis that most of us. Clavicle huh? I'm more of a bridge of the nose kind of guy!
Self employment is not for everybody. There are down sides like everything else. But for me, it is about as close to utopia as I think I will ever find. I love it. Sometimes I think about going 'back to work,' and the thought causes me stomach aches.
Part of the secret is to do something you love. Also, as I can say from experience learn about business stuff and plan very carefully. I've been self employed for four years now, and I am having to seek some outside assistance with some of my 'business matters.' It seems I'm pretty good at what the business does, but have a lot of business stuff to learn. I'm told that's very, very common.
Overall, it's great. For me at least.
Self employment is not for everybody
It's a fine line between self- employment and unemployment
Jay wrote:
> It's a fine line between self- employment and unemployment
Very true. Very, very true.
"Is there anyone else out there that has a job that deals with people a lot? And if so are you constantly faced with professionals who wear a uniform or position of prestige and authority, yet they act like babies when you make them get off their ass and do their job? And if so, any advice on how you deal with these types?"
since im a resident doctor.............................. every single day of the week, and it looks like it will be that way everyday of my life till the day i get retired.
Post Edited (06-08-04 16:54)
even in retail people have bad attitudes. maybe there all friendly out on the floor, but in the back they can be rude.
I just smile and try and do my work the best I can.
I've come to realize that work is nothing more than replaying grade school all over...except you dress nicer. I even get graded by auditors...how do you like that?
"That is a rough decision Eirik. But what's this guys deal? Does he have a family or anyone else to support?"
The guy does not have a family or anyone to support, but frankly that wouldn't enter into my calculations if he did since lives can be at stake when people in my line do their work poorly. He needs to go find something else to do for a living.
>I've come to realize that work is nothing more than replaying grade school all >over...except you dress nicer.
Hell, at my job we don't even do that...in fact, the managers are often the sloppiest dressers in the entire store! The head honcho dresses business casual but all the other supervisory types wear jeans/t-shirt just about every day...sometimes they even wear sweats.
maria paula wrote:
> since im a resident doctor....
Didn't know you were a doc. My wife is a pediatric resident.
Sometimes she thinks the other docs would question our taste in movies. I myself have brought up "Sorority Babes in the Slime Ball Bowl a Rama" at a doctor party...that was fun, and the looks I got....priceless.
:)
then im sure she knows what im talking about .................................... anyway.
i havent heard about this movie, it sounds pretty weird, im doing researching so its better not to tell to my other co-workers that one of my fav fims is "reanimator"
i suggest you send them the eric bana flick CHOPPER and act like it's the greatest flick in the world.
that'd keep me away, or at least motivate me to stay on your good side.
for real: i worked for a german engineering company that was OFFICE SPACE to the Nth degree. i just up and left after five years of ladder climbing and have had several jobs since, just trying different things. i am now in a position to help as a producer on indy films...gotta start somewhere
LoL. yeah either that or a Mario Van Peebles film festival, i'm sure both would be sufficient torture. well that's awesome that you're getting to work on indie films, i wish you well in your career. that's the inspiration i hold onto to get through my job, everyday i tell myself: "one day, i'll be doing something better than this!"
a good way to get involved is find work at a film festival, they usually need volunteers. they are also well attended by independent directors. often the festivals are organized by directors. for a small indy dvd of 70 min. or so, the amount needed to be a producer, and i use that term a little loosely because you'll probably wind up doing a lot of miscellaneous tasks, isn't really that pricey. small films often have well over ten associate producers.
take care.
Post Edited (06-12-04 11:41)
awesome. thanks for the info mr. henry. i've heard that producing is probably one of the best ways to break into the film industry. but one day when i'm out of the service i also want to go to film school and quite possibly go into cinematography. poor indie filmmakers always need a great DP, but being a producer sounds nice also, you still get to help a lot of people get their projects off the ground.
I had to leave my last job because the managers I worked for thought 'organization' was an online version of the game "Operation".
Now, I am no saint - I have plenty of organizational problems and I can admit that. But when I was struggling to keep myself motivated, and my supervisors would NEVER call back customers with issues and I was the only person they remember speaking to, it got very tiresome. My supervisors were not computer savvy, and the program we inherited to "streamline" the office screwed up about 800 accounts that I had to fix. By hand. One night I stayed there until midnight to try and catch up. 10 months of that crap was all I could stand.
Funny thing, once I quit, the branch manager got fired a month later!
I work in a PD and, for awhile, things were getting better. The old, lazy guys were retiring and, in the process, weeding out the really irritating ones. Then we hired a new dispatcher and a few things changed:
1- We are, apparantly, back in high school. We are hearing high schooll prases being used about high school problems. Mind you, she's only 3 months younger than me, but apparantly grasping tightly to her glory years.
2- Because she was the princess growing up, she must now be the princess here. All must love her, adore her, and cater to her every need. She must be coddled and is NEVER to be disciplined.
3- Life is HER show. Her life is a Drama. Therefore, my day at work is now a Drama.
There is enough to deal with in this place without her crap. She's giving me nightmares.
I feel your pain Kory. I'm currently in a situation where a couple of geeks I thought were my friends have ditched me for a girl they haven't even known for 1 month. Oh and she's engaged to a man back home (she's only here temporarily). There's a lot of other dramatic facts that are going on here, and I'm sorry to bore everyone with such remedial issues, but like the subjects we have all been talking about: it saddens and amazes me how people in the real world still behave like they are in high school.
Post Edited (06-16-04 16:37)