The big “M” and I were watching the “Grinch Who Stole Christmas” the other night and the Grinch reminded me of a story about bad bosses written by Al Lewis in The Denver Post. With Christmas just around the corner I thought that you might like to read about some really bad bosses, and ask yourself if your boss qualifies for an entry in the online “My Bad Boss Contest”? This is sponsored by Working America, a group that has ties to the AFL-CIO. The contest is in its second year, and looks to be a favorite site for internet surfers.
Here are some examples of bad bosses that you can compare your boss to and see if he or she is bad enough to even qualify for an entry.
An entrant from Colorado wrote that his father passed away unexpectedly and “when I advised my boss that I would need Saturday off to attend the funeral, he refused, and I missed the funeral. I did get bereavement time- a week later.”
A woman who worked at a pizzeria wrote, “My boss used to go out for lunch at the same time every day. The day I went into labor, he was getting ready to go out. He told me, “Don’t you dare close the store! Wait until I come back from lunch, and you can go to the hospital.” I stayed and waited on customers and made pizzas between contractions.”
Can you beat this one?
A woman from Missouri told how she got treated when she needed time off for radiation treatments. “When I went in to tell the boss, she slammed her fist down on the desk, looked me in the eye and screamed, ‘This is not a good time for you to be having cancer!’”
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Continued from page 3- From Maryland comes the story of a person who wanted some time off because her landlord has been murdered and her home burned by arson. When she called her boss to tell her what had happened the boss asked, ‘Will you come in later today? How about tomorrow?’ She says, “I had to get the homicide detective to call my boss and tell her I was not lying.“
Hey, can it get any worse than that? How about Jamie from New York who had a boss who never understood why she laid around so much, “When I awoke from the coma, I learned that I had been fired for chronic absenteeism.”
I don’t know if this comes under the heading of being a bad boss but another woman said that: “I had been invited to lunch with my boss, along with several of my co-workers. Our boss was known for being cheap. We all prepared ourselves for a fast food lunch. We loaded up in his vehicle and he began to drive. He passed up several good restaurants and all of the fast-food options as well. What could possibly be our destination? A discount warehouse store! And we were treated to a fabulous lunch of… free samples!”
How about an example of a boss who literally stinks? This participant wrote: “My supervisor needs to take Gas-X, Beano or anything that would help. She always says ‘It’s a natural thing,’ but her co-workers think otherwise, She passes gas in our cubicles and leaves. It’s horrible. This goes on every day. All we can do is use spritzers, air fresheners and burn candles.”
So does your boss measure up? Maybe we should thank our lucky stars we don’t have a boss that even comes close to the ones mentioned above. Or do you?
Do you suppose that these bosses gave their employees a Christmas bonus?
Jerry Skrzynear
