It's even worse when they're your manager. Where I worked virtually everyone was a manager apart from the clerical staff and nearly everyone had someone who was their manager. A long time ago when I was a junior manager I had a horrible bloke for a manager called Barry. He was even shorter than me which seemed to upset him but not as short as his manager who was not only the shortest person in the department but was also almost comically horrible.
Barry's manager was Portugese and was called the "malignant midget" by people who hated him, which was everybody including even his boss who hated him more than anyone else. People hated him because working for him was like having a horrible disease. The malignant midget's very senior boss was well over six foot and very friendly to nearly everyone apart from the people who thought he was useless at his job.
Naturally the malignant midget has done very well for himself and I notice he appears on TV during emergency situations, speaking as the expert the TV stations have to go to for a comment.
Anyway, as I say my boss was Barry. He was an ex-buddhist monk who was gay. Nobody cared that he was gay and there were loads of other gay guys in the building. There were so many gay guys on one floor, people used to say you had to be gay to get a job there or at least pretend to be one. I don't know how that worked and didn't want to know. I never worked on that floor anyway.
What a lot of people didn't like about Barry was he could be horrible but only to people of a lower grade than him.
Even though I lived the furthest from the office, I used to arrive early so I could leave early. One day about 8 am a fax was coming through on the machine. I didn't bother looking at it because it wasn't my job to fetch and carry peoples' faxes. Barry came in and was obviously in a bad mood, it was probably too early for him because he usually turned up after 10 o'clock. He noticed the fax and said, "Well how long has that fax been there ?"
I said, "I wouldn't know, mate." He said, well it's for me. I shrugged and looked away. Leaving the fax in the machine, he came over and said, "Why have you left it in the machine ?" I couldn't be bothered to answer and stood up to walk away. He stepped in front of me and looking up at me he said, "I'm your manager." I just looked at him and tried to stop smiling. I said, "Yeah, I know."
There was nobody else in the room. He said, "Is the reason you won't bring me the fax because I'm gay ?" I said, no it's because I don't have to, if I had to I would. I couldn't care what he did in his private life so long as he didn't frighten the horses (an old joke). He was going very red in the face which was unusual because he usually looked as white as a corpse. He said he was going to have a word with Ferdinand (the malignant midget).
Nothing happened of course although he continued to be horrible to work with. A few weeks after he moved to another office, I was at a party and talking to a friend. He said, "Do you know Barry ?" I said, "Yeah, he was horrible to work with because he could be a right - " I said a rude word with a heavy emphasis on the first letter. I said he also had a scraggly beard which made him even more horrible, if that was possible. My friend gestured with his chin and I looked round. Barry was standing right behind me. He said, "Oh, isn't that music noisy, you can't hear yourself think." Then he quickly moved away to talk to someone else, looking upset. I laughed.
I say all this because a lot of people make it awful to work with them. When they leave they are often replaced by someone who is a much nicer person, I don't know why it works out like that but it very often does. They make it much harder to do the job properly because you spend a lot of time hating having to work with them. With nicer people I find I am much better at my job because I don't spend any time thinking about then and can get on with the job and am nearly always happy.
In my last few years I worked with very senior people who were nearly always very good to work with because they were rarely horrible to people. But even though I liked the work a lot and was very busy indeed at times, I have never once regretted not working there because you never knew when you would get somebody who would decide to be horrible to everyone below their grade.
I much preferred working on the roads for the local council but I got ill and had to leave and get a job in an office.
Barry's manager was Portugese and was called the "malignant midget" by people who hated him, which was everybody including even his boss who hated him more than anyone else. People hated him because working for him was like having a horrible disease. The malignant midget's very senior boss was well over six foot and very friendly to nearly everyone apart from the people who thought he was useless at his job.
Naturally the malignant midget has done very well for himself and I notice he appears on TV during emergency situations, speaking as the expert the TV stations have to go to for a comment.
Anyway, as I say my boss was Barry. He was an ex-buddhist monk who was gay. Nobody cared that he was gay and there were loads of other gay guys in the building. There were so many gay guys on one floor, people used to say you had to be gay to get a job there or at least pretend to be one. I don't know how that worked and didn't want to know. I never worked on that floor anyway.
What a lot of people didn't like about Barry was he could be horrible but only to people of a lower grade than him.
Even though I lived the furthest from the office, I used to arrive early so I could leave early. One day about 8 am a fax was coming through on the machine. I didn't bother looking at it because it wasn't my job to fetch and carry peoples' faxes. Barry came in and was obviously in a bad mood, it was probably too early for him because he usually turned up after 10 o'clock. He noticed the fax and said, "Well how long has that fax been there ?"
I said, "I wouldn't know, mate." He said, well it's for me. I shrugged and looked away. Leaving the fax in the machine, he came over and said, "Why have you left it in the machine ?" I couldn't be bothered to answer and stood up to walk away. He stepped in front of me and looking up at me he said, "I'm your manager." I just looked at him and tried to stop smiling. I said, "Yeah, I know."
There was nobody else in the room. He said, "Is the reason you won't bring me the fax because I'm gay ?" I said, no it's because I don't have to, if I had to I would. I couldn't care what he did in his private life so long as he didn't frighten the horses (an old joke). He was going very red in the face which was unusual because he usually looked as white as a corpse. He said he was going to have a word with Ferdinand (the malignant midget).
Nothing happened of course although he continued to be horrible to work with. A few weeks after he moved to another office, I was at a party and talking to a friend. He said, "Do you know Barry ?" I said, "Yeah, he was horrible to work with because he could be a right - " I said a rude word with a heavy emphasis on the first letter. I said he also had a scraggly beard which made him even more horrible, if that was possible. My friend gestured with his chin and I looked round. Barry was standing right behind me. He said, "Oh, isn't that music noisy, you can't hear yourself think." Then he quickly moved away to talk to someone else, looking upset. I laughed.
I say all this because a lot of people make it awful to work with them. When they leave they are often replaced by someone who is a much nicer person, I don't know why it works out like that but it very often does. They make it much harder to do the job properly because you spend a lot of time hating having to work with them. With nicer people I find I am much better at my job because I don't spend any time thinking about then and can get on with the job and am nearly always happy.
In my last few years I worked with very senior people who were nearly always very good to work with because they were rarely horrible to people. But even though I liked the work a lot and was very busy indeed at times, I have never once regretted not working there because you never knew when you would get somebody who would decide to be horrible to everyone below their grade.
I much preferred working on the roads for the local council but I got ill and had to leave and get a job in an office.