"As for me, not only did I get a promotion a few weeks later, but my spreadsheet became a bit of an office legend."

Something is fishy in this story, and it's not anything to tank lightly… This self-proclaimed fish enthusiast was allowed by their employer to keep a fish tank at their desk, something that brightens up their day, the tank supplied and financed by themself alone. Their coworkers, however, latched on to the idea, proclaiming that it would be more fun to open up the fish tank to everyone and make it a communal office engagement project. Their lack of knowledge and unwillingness to learn about the…

These CEOs didn't care about their companies: all they cared about was a giant paycheck and a cushy job. Too bad they CEO'd too close to the sun and ruined their companies instead! Do you ever daydream about being the CEO of a company? It sounds amazing. For a lot of them, a “workday” consists of coming into the the office one a week at noon. They might take a few phone calls or meetings, catch up with their secretaries or other leaders, and then head out to lunch by 3 PM. Then, their workday i…

Experience vs. Education

How's that for security?

Sometimes, the only way to prove that you're a valuable employee is by showing and not telling. After all, most folks need to see things to believe them, and this employee had spent the better part of the last five years at their company automating systems so that tasks were far easier to complete for everyone involved, including their technologically challenged coworkers. However, clearly, their value was underseen, unnoticed, and not reflected in their salary. After an office Karen decided th…

Next, read about this person who has “decided I will no longer host any more of his family holiday dinners ” after their husband's family finally pushed them over the edge.

When you are looking for a new job opportunity, everything seems so high stakes, and every small stumble can end up with you losing your one big chance. It mostly feels like you can never make a mistake because hiring managers usually need to sift through hundreds of candidates, so they wouldn't mind letting go of someone even for the smallest of things. However, it is one thing to lose a job prospect because of a mistake you made, it is entirely different to lose it because of a mistake of som…

You can't pick your coworkers, and sometimes, it feels like the universe is playing a cruel trick on you with the folks management decides to hire. Whether you're a new employee facing the harsh reality of your new incompetent coworkers or you're a seasoned vet taking in the absurdity of yet another unfit new hire, you know this struggle a little too well. You might've gotten stuck with the colleague who swoops in at the last second and takes all the credit for your work, or the colleague who t…

Oh great, your least favorite coworker is in the office today. I bet just by reading that sentence, a person popped into your head. Maybe it's the dude who insists on taking personal phone calls all day long, repeating himself over and over. Or maybe your least favorite coworker is the woman who takes off her socks and shoes to rub her sore feet, leaving everyone else in the office mortified. Maybe you even have one of those dreaded coworkers who does literally nothing all day long, yet still c…

Part of every job, no matter what field, is to take part in something companies like to call ‘team building’. It might sound incredibly silly to some people, and it is quite time-consuming, but companies absolutely love to find ways to make the team ‘bond’ and explore skills they would never use on a daily basis. I am a competitive person, and there is something about those team-building exercises that makes me thrive, especially if it involves puzzles and riddles. I enjoy taking charge and lea…

For every great boss in an organization, there must be a boss of equal and opposing terribleness. Sometimes, these bosses work together at the same level, or one above the other in the chain of command, or sometimes one will follow the other in the same position. It's uncanny the amount of times in your career that you'll have the most amazing and empowering boss only to have the worst boss you've ever experienced immediately after. With these bosses making you repeatedly question just how comm…

Communication, communication, communication

Sometimes, there is only so much poor treatment one can take. It is an unfortunate reality that in certain workplace environments, employees have to expect a certain level of vigilance from management that can, at times, border on micromanaging or even callous. However, the greatest indicator that a workplace is run by decent folks is how they treat their employees when they are going through hardship and need support. In this instance, we have an employee who was in the midst of a health scare…

Working as a server sounds fun in theory; the free food, cash tips, and you basically get paid to talk to people all shift. But then you get stuck working the dinner rush, when all chaos breaks loose, and you find yourself dripping sweat as you run from table to table while getting an earful from the non-avoidable Karen customers. Some customers are lovely and understanding, but then there are the ones who turn a small mistake into a full-blown screaming war. We’ve all seen it—the over-the-top…

What does management expect when they don't have the backs of their employees?