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No matter how hard we try to lead productive professional lives, drama seems to find a way to seep into our work. After all, offices are the ideal ground for things to get way too complicated and chronically misunderstood. Employees tend to spread rumors, air grievances, rant about wrongs, lash out, and intentionally exclude others — the list goes on.

While water-cooler whispers can sometimes build up to a boiling point, workers also engage in hilariously petty gossip. A month ago, a Reddit user we will call ThatYoungster asked, "What is the small scale work drama happening in your office right now?" Well, be sure to pull your chair closer because people just had to open up about the dirty details of their coworkers' behavior.

"When people work closely, they get to know each other like family and the boundaries become blurred," Marlene Chism, a consultant and executive educator told Bored Panda. But while we’ve all had colleagues who inject drama into every situation, it seems that not all gossip is harmful.

Executive coach Kaley Klemp added that any energy people spend on rumors is not available for the "real" work. "Whether big or small, drama takes away from the culture and productivity of teams." Continue scrolling for the whole interview and hit upvote on the funniest low-scale drama stories you can relate to all too well!

#1

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now Asked the HR manager for my pay to be raised to minimum wage (I’m 25), she said I would be fired if I asked for it. Fortunately I recorded this conversation.

Sent the recording to the Legal Manager and now all s**t is going down

RepresentativeSwan78 , Soundtrap Report

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#2

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now Some a**hole changed the mouse setting on this other a**holes computer. Extra large jumbo cursor, trails across the whole screen, super slow so have to move the mouse across the whole desk to move the cursor halfway across the screen, switched the button orientation so you right click to left click. AH2 doesn't know computers he had to call IT and has been pissy every since. The office about died laughing but can't prove it was me.

co_snarf , maar gaming Report

#3

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now Our operations manager fell through the ceiling of the conference room. He wasn't invited to the meeting and wanted to listen in.

charming-wallaby-602 Report

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Marlene Chism, the author of Stop Workplace Drama and No-Drama Leadership, explained that while not all gossip is toxic, it is destructive when people use it to harm others. "For example, when you make assumptions about someone’s intention instead of asking them directly, or when someone spreads rumors because they haven’t had the courage to confront the issue directly," she said.

There are several explanations why people often get drawn into these little disagreements and gossip. "One reason is to be part of the 'in crowd' and another reason is boredom," the executive educator stated. "In addition, social media makes it more likely to engage in distractions simply because we have become undisciplined, and we easily take the bait when we get triggered or feel misunderstood."

Chism told us that these distractions ultimately get in the way of our mental health and productivity, so it takes more discipline and courage to identify them and refrain from engaging in them.

#4

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now We've just received our pay increase and bonus figures for the year, except HR sent a number of letters to the wrong people. Some of whom work together, doing the same job, but with different rates of pay and bonuses. Bedlam.

no_sugar8791 , Wes Hicks Report

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#5

I work in a hospital in acute mental health. When the vaccine mandate was implemented, a lot of people with seniority didn’t take the jab. Overnight, I suddenly had the most seniority out of everyone in my unit. That meant I had a chance of getting the coveted day shift my friend used to have. Wed, thur, Friday 7am-7pm every week. It’s awesome. I get every weekend off. This caused a s**t storm of drama and I f**king love it.

deepstaterising Report

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Red
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hospitals are a cesspool of drama. My friend started working at the city's health department. She's a goth, a bit too rough and is there to work, not to make friends. Some of the other nurses hate her and started doing stuff to get her fired, picking on her, making up stuff, complaining to their supervisors about things that never happened... Sure, she's my friend, but I know for a fact she's really good at her job and a valued professional. When her contract ended she applied to have it renewed, many of her coworkers asked city councilors and other people for help on getting their contracts renewed and new people applied to work at the health department. My friend was terrified but was one of the first to be called to get her contract renewed (for four years, double the regular contract), was able to chose where she was going to work, with better hours and is in charge of her unity, so better pay as well. All that effort to harm her could have been used, idk, working.

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#6

Trying to get workers back in 3 days per week. Nobody coming in. Forced pregnant lady to come in. Midwife found out and noted pregnant woman was high risk and is demanding companies procedure and evidence or who and why this woman was told to come back. Its glorious to watch them scramble and panic. Lawyers getting involved.

Supersix4 Report

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Tiger Pearl
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They chose the pregnant lady to force back because in their eyes she was least likely to refuse… whether they considered her weaker or that she has something more to protect and not in a position to lose her job. (Again this is speculation on what they may have been thinking.) I can’t stand people who try to bully those they think are weaker than them and abuse their positions. Edited for the misuse of then/than. It’s been a long day. 😊

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We also managed to get in touch with Kaley Klemp, an expert in small-group dynamics and leadership development, and co-author of The Drama-Free Office. She added that so many of us spend a significant amount of time at work, and "because that work is meaningful both in terms of our sense of contribution and financial wellbeing, it’s easy for things to take on additional symbolic meaning, which can lead to drama."

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People often take part in office gossip when there isn’t a culture of candor and feedback. "When people don't approach a person quickly and directly, little misunderstandings can escalate. There can be a short-term energy boost when engaging in gossip, but it doesn’t last and, in the long run, usually undermines trust," Klemp noted.

#7

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now One of my colleagues is really s**t at his job, and he has thus far ducked out of any responsibility by blaming others.

Yesterday the students found out that he failed 80% of them, and there were gangs of them marauding the corridors in search of him.

It. Was. Fun.

Beatplayer , bark Report

#8

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now Some Jacket that was in the exact Same Spot for about 10 years vanished, people are going apes**t crazy

level 1 Robot_Bees , kemal alkan Report

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#9

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now We have a jigsaw puzzle on one of the spare desks to give people the opportunity to sit down for five minutes and de-stress. However, there's a piece of this puzzle missing, and everyone is pointing fingers at each other and trying to work out who has stolen or hidden the piece. My two cents is that it's just a missing piece, but it's fun to sit and watch the madness unfold.

thehoetone , Sigmund Report

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Drama often finds a way to turn into big arguments or long-lasting bickerings. However, no matter how it manifests, it can be a highly disruptive force inside a company. Chism explained that where we put our attention is where we put our energy. "Building habits of engaging in drama ensures that you build more networks in the brain to focus on and foster drama. It doesn’t take a white paper to know that workplace conflict causes stress and stress affects productivity."

"The need to be right is a sign that the ego has taken center stage. What’s missing in our world right now is the willingness to consider another point of view, the willingness to be curious and the willingness to be wrong. I always say that it’s not disagreements that ruin relationships, it’s disrespect. Most of us don’t know the difference."

#10

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now 2 of my coworkers have proposed to me in the last 2 weeks. not a lot of people know but the ones who do are invested in the drama and its hilarious.

level 1 throwawayra_03 , Austin Pacheco Report

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#11

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now My boss rearranged all the tables so that he can see what we are doing on our computers from his office. Since it's an open office workspace, it's very loud, so we got noise barriers. These blocked his vision, so he said we don't need them anymore. It's 12 people in one big office room on the telephone talking at any time. I can barely understand my own words. Everyone is angry.

derdeutschetyp , Israel Andrade Report

#12

I work in a Law Firm. The Senior Partner thought that the Junior Partner was sleeping with the secretary, but she was actually covering for the Junior Partner being gay. It's a whole thing.

legallygoose Report

If you’re already wondering about ways to stay out of such drama, Chism argued avoidance is not necessarily a good strategy. "In fact, avoiding may make a drama-filled situation even worse," the executive educator said and added she dives deeper into the topic of the cost of avoidance, especially for leaders, in her forthcoming book From Conflict to Courage.

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"There’s a difference between setting a boundary and avoiding. You can set a boundary and say, 'I refuse to gossip about other people,' which is different than avoiding the subject when it comes up and allowing the behaviors to continue."

#13

I work in a collision repair shop and we all think our painter might be colorblind...

Nolander001 Report

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Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Easy, just have a Mystery Color paint job selection and let him go nuts! I'd love to have a unique-colored vehicle, it'd be easier to find in the CostCo parking lot

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#14

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now Everyone just had their end-of-year reviews and received their pay raises starting next month. This week, everyone who's not in upper management is starting to take turns 'having the flu' as we do interviews at other companies. Everyone is looking for the door right now.

jorbam , Sebastian Herrmann Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well Mike, what can I say? Your commitment and loyalty to the firm hasn't gone unnoticed by upper management. So I'm proud to tell you that after 5 years of hard graft, all of your work finally has paid off. Yes, you get a raise of 5 cents per week before taxes. That's how we reward our most valued employees.

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#15

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now One colleague refused to sign another's birthday e-card, and now they won't speak to one another.

parrotchild , Crazy Cake Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A lot of grown ups aren't adults. Just because you are 43, 53 or 76 doesn't mean that you're not a toddler. As proven by the former US president.

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"Rather than perpetuating drama, I recommend looking for ways to constructively work together to understand and address the source of the situation," Klemp added. "Anytime there is drama, it’s worth getting curious about your own role, and how you can most skillfully navigate it. Ideally, companies are able to create norms around raising disagreements and a shared vocabulary and structure to do so, such that they can be constructive learning opportunities for all involved."

#16

A guy slept with 2 different girls and they both got pregnant

Plot twist? He's married his wife is a trucker so she travels alot he had to take temporary leave because one of the girls went out of her way to call the woman and she........freaked out and broke his arm in like 3 places

He's actually in pretty deep s**t tho one of the girls lied about her age on her job application and she's actually 17 so he might get charged with molestation depending on how her parents choose to react

The others 28 and looking into adoption agencies

The bosses have actually been very hush hush about the entire thing but I ended up trying to console the 17 year old when her doctor called her on her lunch break to confirm the pregnancy and she started sobbing uncontrollably and she basically unloaded it on me

3milyBlazze Report

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NsG
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure this is "small-scale" drama - this reads like an episode synopsis from Hollyoaks/EastEnders/insert appropriate soap opera.

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#17

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now The old manager wrote a list of pros and cons for each employee for the new manager. She left it out where it could easily be read. There are three to five cons for each person and one to two pros. She hasn’t left yet. Everyone now hates her.

pantsyo_dog , Elisa Ventur Report

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Spiral Agent
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Make a list for her. 12 cons and 1 pro. The pro being she will one day be gone from this world.

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#18

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now My colleague with kids commented on me booking all of the Easter holidays off from work. FYI, I do not have kids. Just because he has kids doesn't means he has first pick on the school holiday weeks. If you want it off, then book it first.

orangestrong , Guillaume de Germain Report

#19

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now Two coworkers applied to be supervisor. One has the right degree but is apathetic to everything. The other has good instincts and is highly motivated but doesn’t have the degree. Guess who got the job? Now the go-getter is learning to let the apathetic one fail.

cayseybee , Kojo Kwarteng Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some employers have a talent for putting the wrong people in the wrong positions. They also have a knack for wondering afterwards why so much suddenly goes wrong.

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If you want to create a drama-free culture, you must first understand what’s in your control and what’s outside of your control. Chism said that while you can’t control other people, you can manage your own behavior.

"If your culture is full of drama, consider finding another place to work. It’s very difficult to swim upstream. In the meantime, you can get clear on your values, and then behave according to your values."

"Others judge you not by what you say you believe but by how your actions align with what you say you want. Be the change you want to see and stop justifying your behavior based on what everyone else does. If you want peace, be peaceful. If you want kindness, be kind," Chism concluded.

#20

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now Our bookkeeper has been losing checks, 2 in the last 2 weeks. She blames everyone but herself even though her office is constantly covered in piles of paper and we have paper trails to prove she received them. We got a replacement check today and she took a video of the check in the envelope to be deposited with all of our banking papers in the background as “proof” she didn’t lose it again. Then sent the video to my coworker and myself…but it wasn’t me. Just a random number in her contact that now has all of our companies banking info.

livingmayhem , Jeffrey Beall Report

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#21

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now There was a little drama last week when somebody left literally human s**t in the fridge before going to the doctor. In plastic see-through cup. With his name written on label.

Always_Jerking , Darrien Staton Report

#22

I let slip that Im having issues with my anxiety meds. And my boss is now taking the opportunity to throw it in my face at every opportunity.

God what a c**t

Thoraxe123 Report

#23

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now Someone at my office is a note writer. You know, the kind that loves leaving laminated notes around the office saying things like, 'Please finish milk before opening new bottle.' They're everywhere, and a new one pops up every week. The kitchen is almost entirely made out of notes now. Now someone has started leaving reply notes on their notes with pictures of Dr. Evil from Austin Powers saying, 'NO.' I don't know who's doing either of them!

lilu_cat , Paper Textures Report

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Callie Ge
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If Everyone would Adult properly notes wouldn’t be needed.

Jace
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Could be fun. Make a story out of it and see who writes it with you.

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#24

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now My coworker was texting my old number thinking it was me, asking if I could cover a shift. The person who took over my old number replied to her saying, 'Gargle on my balls,' or something like that. I almost got fired for it.

liquid4618 , Siora Photography Report

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BorPand8
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If someone was gargling your balls doesn't that mean they'd have to swallow them? Doesn't sound like fun. Reminds me of that South Park episode: "Present them."

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#25

Dunno if small scale but everyone is being asked to work in the office starting April. We were working from home for the last 2 years and delivery was not affected whatsoever. Of course everyone is now looking to apply to another company even before April starts lol

JnthnDJP · Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's what you get when the need to control obscures that you've been doing great without it.

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#26

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now Someone's been eating people's sandwiches at work. They only take the sandwiches. I'm legit invested in this because I wanna know...why just the sandwiches?

crispylilchickenwang , Léo Roza Report

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River Webb
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

put cannabis or laxatives into the sandwiches, you'll find that sandwich theif in no time

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#27

No-one gets along with our boss, so the company hired another “boss” to be our point of contact - he’s her deputy. The original boss has started gate crashing Zoom calls, she’s calling people on their days off and writing emails saying they’re unprofessional for not picking up (on their day off!) and told a pregnant lady about to go on maternity leave that she’s not happy about the pregnancy. A WhatsApp group has been made up where everyone is voicing their concerns to the deputy boss and things are getting out of hand quite quickly.

JazzyBee1993 Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The madness of the company shows in their decision to hire someone to act as a middle man instead of firing a boss who is obviously too incompetent to build a good rapport with her team.

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#28

I bid into a new position at work, and my previous job was a very sought after position. The guy who was in the lead to take my old job ( our bids are awarded based on senority) is a total asshat. He was a sure thing to get it much to my entire crews displeasure when all of the sudden our beloved home boy from the yard came in at the last possible minute and put his name in and will be getting the job. Asshat is going to have a total meltdown when he gets the news. Our crew is very pleased.

DirtyD_InTheMorning Report

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Nowyermad
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's awesome! I hope your beloved home boy does well in his new position.

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#29

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now The playstation got stolen. For f**ks sake. We used to do an F1 tournament every friday but the playseat ain't no fun without a playstation.

I will find out who the f**ker was.

Disappointless , Sora Khan Report

#30

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now 72 year old woman won’t stop gossiping about other coworkers. It’s about to turn into large scale drama because she’s gotten homophobic

baevatien , Tatiana Zanon Report

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Nathaniel
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why is she still working at 72? She should be at home watching Doctors and Countdown.

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#31

The forks all vanished recently, so they were replaced with new ones. Now the second batch of forks are missing, and the white board notes are getting a little aggressive.

thehoetone Report

#32

The loose ceiling tile above my desk that inches its way down every passing day unnoticed by osha or quality assurance inspectors that will eventually hit me over the head causing me serious neck pain and brain injury that I would need a considerable amount of $ to be compensated for the trauma it has caused me.

JianniBoy Report

#33

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now A new hire lost the master set of keys for the entire building. If we can't find them, then we'll have to replace every single lock, which will cost thousands of dollars.

niplies , Pablo Viojo Report

#34

I teach.

Our team (teachers of the same grade level) is going to send home colored paper note sheets for parents to write encouraging comments to their students for state testing coming up. We want it to be a surprise for the students. We decided to try to see if the office could give us half size manilla envelopes to use. We found out they could! (Very exciting as a teacher to get office supplies!) The secretary went into the locked closet to get us some envelopes.

Another grade level team found out that we got envelopes from the office. Now THEY want envelopes because it’s not “fair” that we got envelopes and they didn’t.

That’s the drama. Plus, one teacher that basically hates kids and her job and maybe everyone else will finally retire next year (but we all were hoping it would happen sooner).

eastcoastme Report

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#35

We had to show up for work every single day during Covid, work overtime to cover all the sick people and take on more work. The suits just announced that they were sending a gift to all the poor office people who had to work from home…

DubiousPeoplePleaser · Report

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#36

Patricia stole my stapler and is denying it

CptYoloWaffle Report

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Mouse
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If they take my stapler then I'll have to, I'll set the building on fire💀 Now I need to watch the movie

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#37

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now One coworker has an anal fistula and won't stop telling people about it. Another coworker was already in the office when I arrived, and I strongly believe she slept here after a night out. Another coworker is leaving and has spent the week making spreadsheet art instead of doing any work. I admire his creativity.

hopsinduo , Richard Elzey Report

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gay insomniac assassin panda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

An a**l fistula is an infected tunnel between the skin and the a**s, the muscular opening at the end of the digestive tract. Most a**l fistulas are the result of an infection in an a**l gland that spreads to the skin. Symptoms include pain, swelling, and discharge of blood or pus from the a**s. Surgery is usually needed to treat a**l fistula. in case you were wondering what that was. : )

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#38

My direct manager and 4 other members of my team are all female. They all have beef with one another.

Coworker A is looking for new jobs internally, since our mgr has a somewhat short fuse and they clashed, which escalated to HR

Coworker B clashed with Coworker A, since Coworker A is under qualified for the work being asked of them.

Coworker C is on her way out, but she's passive aggressively aggressively passive. No one likes her.

Coworker D, bless her, keeps making mistakes but no one wants to do her job so we tolerate it

I'm the only guy in the team, and they all independently tell me their beefs.

level 1 gnomeythe Report

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#39

Our department is struggling with retention, so the admin bought a popcorn machine to try to boost morale. Think movie-theater-popcorn-style popper. Guess what no one does? Clean the damn thing. Emails are being sent and checks are being made at the end of every shift to make sure it's been cleaned. It's a perfect example of a good plan backfiring, since now it's just one more thing to worry about. I give it a month before it gets put in storage.

50m3body Report

#40

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now So last October, our printer ran out of ink. More had already been ordered, but with COVID running rampant at the time, the shipment was super delayed. One of my coworkers got really mad over the fact that she couldn’t print the reports in the department and instead had to go upstairs to print them. She claimed that since I was the supervisor (I’m not) that I should’ve been the one to go up and print them despite the fact that it was 4 a.m. and my shift doesn’t start until 7 a.m. She still isn’t talking to me

frostedfishbone , Mahrous Houses Report

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#41

IT sent out an phishing email and the (old) accounts payable clicked on it and filled it all out lmao. Now she’s claiming what they did was illegal and she’s got her lawyer. She threw death threats at the IT department too. All because she’s in the wrong. For extra spice, she told one of the IT guys (who’s a volunteer fire fighter) that she hopes he has to go into a burning building and have to lift someone her size out of it (she’s a bigger person lmao) and “dead man walking” too me this is one of the most funny things that’s ever happened here at work. I love it

LeDankMemer78 Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It ain't illegal until IT starts using her account info to steal her money by buying stuff on the internet.

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#42

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now We have a serial toilet clogger. Someone uses a half a roll of toilet paper to wipe and clogs the damn toilet at least twice a week. It's gotten so bad that the poor maintenance man had signs made up that say, 'Please flush after two wipes.' Apparently, she can't read, because it keeps happening

april_minx2001 , Marco Verch Professional Photographer Report

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#43

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now One of my coworkers is always trying to one-up me. I brought in some homemade cookies for National Cookie Day, and she brought in a cake that was almost twice the size. I'm petty, so I brought in a cake twice the size the next day.

ragenival , Jacob Thomas Report

#44

Coworker broke his ankle recently, call him L. Takes the bus to and from work every day. Due to his shift ending late at night, the only bus he can catch towards his home is between a 20-25 minute walk normally. His bus shows us 30 minutes after his shift ends. The guy that takes over when L's shift ends, call him N, offered to drive him to his bus stop, which to drive there and back takes 5 minutes. Did that for a week before management realized. The problem is that technically N is leaving work during his shift to drive L (shift change is at 8pm, gets back to work by 8:05). This leaves the other guy, call him M, working alone in the building watching over multiple machines, which is a big safety violation. The whole department is up in arms ATM, half wants to let N drive L to the bus stop, the other half wants N to stay and help M. There have been threats of fights and firings going on.

Moon_Friend5 Report

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#45

Tom and Marie think they're being sneaky with their liasions. They are not.

nsap200 Report

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Mouse
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I get the feeling that Tom and Marie are known to read bored panda and will know this is about them. More drama in the office 😁

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#46

Narc coworker spent 2 and half hours in the office with HR everyone is speculating who got name dropped.

Niznack Report

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#47

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now We just went back to the office. Some people forgot about the dress code, so my manager sent out a strongly worded email about it. One of the girls took it way, way too personally and confronted my manager about it during our re-entry onboarding meeting. It’s only been a week since we’ve been back.

shesallthat0 , Chiara Coetzee Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People have gotten used to not working in formal attire and they discovered that it doesn't affect their productivity. Ridiculous dress codes will be very difficult to enforce.

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#48

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now One lady is getting married and invited everyone in her department to the wedding, except for one coworker. And she asked the others not to tell. So obviously everybody in the building knows.

unabletoremember , Aleksandar Cocek Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We don't know what reasons the bride has. There can be a whole history of bullying, teasing, undermining and gossiping that led to her decision to ban that person from what is supposed to be the happiest day of her life.

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#49

I was asked to start working 6 days a week, for 10 hours a day, as a waitress only working for tips. (They don’t pay servers minimum wage.)

I simply told them I’m not going to do that, and I’ll be happy to work 5 instead. Now I have a few co workers that want my shift for one day a week, but manager refuses. Wants me to do it.

I don’t think I’ll get fired, but now we just all dread the manager coming to whine about money and hiring people.

[deleted] Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Every single word in this story would scream "illegal" and "hefty fine" in Europe.

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#50

I used to work in a warehouse that got shipments of used books from secondhand stores. One day someone pooped inside of a napkin, folded it up, and put it inside a book. My coworker was the unlucky one to discover it and notified management.

All day they were trying to find out who the secret pooper was. Later on, I was talking to another coworker and expressed how bad I felt for our poop discovering-coworker. He said "all I'm saying is, [name] has an incident like this every few months and it doesn't happen to anyone else here." Even just a few weeks before this, he had discovered poop on the men's room floor. I still don't know whether he is just extremely unlucky in poop or has been the secret pooper all along.

level 1 ourzvnuteasgk Report

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#51

There's a note on my managers desk that just says "coworker is allegedly touching himself" in plain view of everyone.

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#52

Not an office, but there's been an old mashed up bike locked outside a Tesco supermarket that i go in most days. Its been about 10 years and today it's gone, so obviously its the biggest thing happening right now.

jmd2125 Report

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Christina B
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm guessing the person who took it was wearing the jacket mentioned earlier :)

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#53

Our boss let us pick our team leader but didn’t like that we replaced her old choice with someone new and is now mad that we replaced her “best friend” and now the best friend is constantly crying and won’t talk to anyone.

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#54

My boss has been sleeping with a married sergeant and a new boy fresh out of the academy. Neither know about the other. She just found out she's pregnant.

haroyne Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

DNA test will show who is the father. Let's just hope that it's an Apache combat helicopter.

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#55

There's 82 people in my office. 9 of us are pregnant. It's ridiculous.

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#56

I drive a truck, so, I'm rarely at the office and--with truckers--there's usually always some kind of drama going on with someone, so, I try to stay out of it.

That being said...I have heard that our 20 something year old secretary has been using one of the supervisors (married guy in his mid 60's) as a sugar daddy.

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The Starsong Princess
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She’s the one using him supposedly but if she wasn’t cooperating, who would lose their job? Hint - it’s not him.

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#57

I’m spending my weekend collecting every single bit of evidence I can find that my boss is a worthless piece of s**t so that I can turn it all over to HR on Monday.

He’s an idiot who was promoted into a position he doesn’t deserve and 7 people (in a branch of 18 total) quit on the spot because they couldn’t stand the thought of working under him. No one was granted an exit interview. He finally sent me into a full blown panic attack yesterday and it derailed my entire work day. I’m sick of this s**t.

(And for anyone saying “just leave” it’s a lot more complicated than that, but I’m working on it.)

Barfignugen Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

HR knows the reason why 7 out of 18 people quit on the spot. Documenting what they already have proof of is a waste of time that OP could use to work on their exit strategy.

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#58

My friend's workplace has an employee with a stalker that calls and sings songs for her (very creepy)

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#59

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now One of my coworkers came in three minutes late on Monday of last week, and my other coworker has been pissed at her ever since.

fairiebutt , Eric Lewis Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What business does this co-worker have being mad about someone coming in late. It's not like they have to pay or are missing wages because of it.

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#60

HR lady f**ked a web developer at the office, security camera got them. Security guy is a braindead who shares things. No idea how they are going to live with this

philips112 Report

#61

40 year old woman is mad that those younger than her know what they’re doing better than her and proceed to not listen to them (even if they have been there longer/are supervisors) and is continually rude to them. She also “hates technology” and throws a tantrum the second she doesn’t understand how to do something on the computer.

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Mushroomlover
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She must be older than 40 because I’m 40 and fully understand technology. All of my 40 year old friends do too. Remember 40 year olds were born in the 80s, not the 50s!

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#62

Project that company has sunk 5 years of time from 30+ expensive people and 10s of $millions into was unceremoniously canceled. Woopsie.

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SoozeeQ
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The person responsible for pulling said project sounds like they'd be successful in politics! /s

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#63

Our hgv mechanic threw his phone on the floor and said f**k this job and left. He’ll be back and probably get a pay rise.

He’s back in Monday, so he’s just had a long weekend off

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because he's in an occupation that a lot of people looked down on. There was a time when every kid wanted to be a computer technician. Clever kids became plumbers, car mechanics, electricians and carpenters. These people now have the power to decide where they'll work and what they are going to get paid.

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#64

One of our drivers quit (delivery/fast food resturand) and in doing so, everyone is trying to take his shifts for the next week (he only gave one week notice). He's not getting a single shift of his own because everybody is harassing him for the shifts.

Oh and one of our older workers slipped and scraped her knees while on a delivery and is now trying to sue us. She sent a faked letter from her "lawyer" saying if she didn't receive 5k, she was going to take this to court.

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#65

Gluten intolerant chick giving everyone the silent treatment cause we went to burger King on our deigned "go out to lunch during break instead of bringing food from home" day instead of going for sushi * again* like she wanted.

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Chich
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have known exaclty two people who were actually gluten intolerant. But have known people wo are "allergic to gluten" but happily eat seitan in their vegan diet.

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#66

35 Petty, Absurd, And Juicy Drama Happening At These People's Offices Right Now A guy was made redundant at work over a year ago, and he still laugh reacts to every post the company makes on Facebook.

queen_of_cat_island , Hannah Busing Report

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Mouse
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This feels sad, work must have been his social outlet and he's lost it

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#67

Someone was pulled in to HR today about keeping their personal life away from work due to lots of recent over-sharing. The air was thick with tension as this person remained silent for the rest of the day.

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#68

We have more business than our small team can handle. So product quality is going down and everyone is stressed. People are getting pissy a lot more often.

iBeelz Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We all know how it's going to end. Increasing sales, decreasing quality, increasing complaints, bad reviews on the internet, decreasing sales, getting stuck with a shedload of junk, no sales, going bust.

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#69

We have a shared spreadsheet, someone keeps changing the filters, but no one will own up to it!

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#70

Dude just got promoted to a supervisor and he keeps using his kids as an excuse to not show

Car_loapher Report

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#71

Coworker A put an iced coffee carton in the work fridge. It sprung a leak after her shift ended and made a mess in the fridge.

Coworker B recently cleaned the fridge and refused to clean up the new mess. (Fair enough.) It sat for several days and she interrogated multiple people about whose coffee it was. She did not find the culprit.

Coworker A meanwhile had a death in the family and hasn't been in the office to even hear that this occurred.

Someone else cleaned up the mess and Coworker B has placed passive aggressive signs on the fridge now.

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#72

Manager screwed lower level employee and everyone knows except the boss. We all blackmail for raises and time off.

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Candy_Sneke!
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nice. I mean, you might be able to go to jail for that, but as long as you are getting what you deserve from your job, very good!

#73

Manager resigned and now the entire team is contemplating the same

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unless the new manager is better for his team than the old one.

#74

Erm the small drama is my company just made 800 people redundant. Unlawfully.

Well I suppose that means I’m not in that company anymore, so the small drama is I hurt my toe…

Tech_Assassin Report

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Lou Davies
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

P&O by any chance ? Don't know what we will do about a ferry to Europe now cos we won't be sailing with them !

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#75

One of my co-workers has got a chest infection. Or so she’s told me, 83 times!

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If someone told one of my co-workers they had some illness, he'd totally agree and tell them that they did look a bit pale. He than would tell them about his uncle Jim or Bob or John who didn't feel good with the exact same symptoms, went to work anyway and died on the spot. It usually took him 5 minutes max to convince the sick person that it would be in their best interest to go home immediately and visit a doctor.

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#76

They're installing new furniture and people are NOT PLEASED about the new floor/seating plan.

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Management never asks people what they think about a new floor plan, color scheme, furniture or the tools that they daily have to use. And that's how IT people end up with 15" slow budget laptops that take 6 minutes to start up.

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#77

The attorney who owns the law firm and the managing paralegal (both rarely there) had a meeting with all the other attorneys(that are there daily) to tell them to not assign work to me from them so i can focus on their work. No one has said anything but I can feel the tension of everyone hating me on why I cant help.

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#78

I refused to go back in the office after Christmas break. Asked to stay remote as a pointless commute made no sense to me. It was a scary uphill battle but they basically let me be remote while they look for my replacement. I got a second job and went from making $45k to $115K at both jobs. It was hilarious my toxic boss trying to strongarm me into doing what she wants when she has zero power over me. The whole system breaks down if you're not scared of being fired.

I was a hero for a few weeks then everyone got bored and moved on. I've been working two jobs for two months now.

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#79

40 year old doctor flirting with a 25 year old Analyst… sounds bad but they’re kind of cute together and I’m rooting for them.

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#80

My teams computers are being unreliable. I'm the only one in the group with a working computer (our IT can be a bit slow on fixing computers). I'm feeling the pressure of getting the work designated to me and its getting pretty old doing the heavy lifting.

My computer did the same thing recently so i understand, but when I went through that nobody covered my work flow. So it all piled up while i waited for my computer to get fixed.

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#81

The kids love me, my admin hates me, and my school head is staying out of it. Typical.

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#82

My immediate redundancy. Escorted to my car, surrendered all electronics, no chance to even say goodbye to my colleagues.

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#83

There are not enough forks in the staffroom. Some people are getting quite upset.

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#84

A project team failed to meet a HUGE requirement in time for a deadline (sucks, but it happens) but didn’t tell anybody they wouldn’t meet it until right before said deadline even though they’d known for weeks (yikes).

Zolo49 Report

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#85

Manager is leaving and left chaos in her wake, including poor scheduling so people are looking for others jobs including me.

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#86

We dont have enough treatment rooms for staff, so we all have to share a room with someone on opposite shift. The person I share a room with will never make the table when she's done with the room. I always have to do it when I come on shift and it takes away from my set up time.

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Stop making the table yourself and leave a note that from now on you'll leave the room in the same condition as you found it.

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#87

Working at a bar, stared dating my coworker. We broke up after 4 months and she was very upset. We still work together and 2 of her best friends have also been hired. She’s building an army I think.

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Mouse
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just don't date her friends now, women united in hate against a common cause are powerful and somewhat terrifying

#88

I work as EMT/security (picture security with medical training) in a retirement home. People aren't telling us very important things that we need to know. People just write it down somewhere or tell someone they think is gonna tell us, assume it got to us or will get to us, and get pissed off at us when something goes wrong.

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#89

I’m leaving and no one knows what to do about it.

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#90

OMG, "That's not part of my job!" My co-worker in a VERY understaffed restaurant.

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#91

One of my co-workers handed in her notice. Our boss needs her to stay on for an extra month than her 28 days notice and is now treating her super nice because he needs her to stay but you can also see how pissed he is that she's leaving

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#92

Minor downsizing means the two of us on temp contracts will have to reapply for a single post at the end of the year, so one of us stays and one of us goes.

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It also means that the one who stays has to do the work for 2 for the same money he got last year. You'd be a fool if you stayed.

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#93

My coworker continues to complain about resource management while actively creating hazardous work conditions.

The boss is either dead or so negligent we rule ourselves.

I havent checked my email in a week.

(I am in college. My cat is my coworker. He meows at the bathroom door whenever I want privacy. He thens gorges and vomits so I clean have to clean. My dad hasnt called me all week. Spring break is really boring. Email inboxs are scary, their might be a f**king email in there. Not worth the risk.)

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#94

We got a large project sprung on us out of nowhere. We sent a very strongly worded letter to their upper management telling them it was a bad idea. The issue is very unpopular and will be a lose/lose. But, job security I guess.

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#95

We can't retain anyone and the new people we do get are trash.

Slow to pick up the routine, late to work, doesn't do all their duties on shift.

Been 3 in a row now like this and we're so desperate that instead of firing them or giving them less hours, they just quit with no notice. It's been bad.

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abby smink
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sounds like the job I just left. Take it from me, allowing the trash is WHY you can't retain anyone. I got tired of busting my ass while others were allowed to get away calling out every week and doing jack s**t.

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