Who are some of the worst people you’ve ever worked for? I’m not talking about jobs that just plain sucked due to low pay, bad work environment, customers, co-workers, etc. I mean, who did you have to grit your teeth the most for when you said, “Yes, Sir”? Just wondering if we can get some funny, outrageous, or maddening stories. I’ve had two so far. Here’s my first one:
In the summer after I graduated college, I went to work for a microbrewery/restaurant for a very short time. Now, a little back story: My two best friends had been roommates for 3 years while we were all in college. One of them decided to go to grad school in New York City, leaving the other without enough money to make rent, so he ask me to move in to take our departing friend’s place. I was looking for a more permanent job, but my friend’s landlords gave him till the end of the summer to make a decision, so I, wanting to help him out, was kind of stuck.
When I first applied to this place, I asked the general manager if they were hiring, he said they were and gave me an application. Now, this was in the middle of the day, so the place was pretty empty. Nonetheless, I asked where he wanted me to sit. He gave me a dirty look, told me to find a friggin’ open booth instead of asking stupid questions, and if I wanted to work for him, I needed to get my head out of my ass and get some situational awareness NOW! That should have been a red flag, but I took it as a test to see what my commitment to getting the job was. I was a soup sandwich, undisciplined screw up as a kid, so I was used to getting kicks in the ass and being told to unf*** myself. Anyway, I fill out the app and get a job offer a few days later.
So I get through orientation and start my on the job training with a waitress/host who is very nice. My second day in, I see the GM and, since we have some down time, I go up to thank him for giving me the job. He gives me a dirty look and says (paraphrase): The time you took trying to bullshit with me could have spent looking for something useful to do. What did I tell you about situational awareness?
So I go back to my post and ask my trainer about him. She just kind of hesitates and says, “Uh…well, how do I put this? Working for him…he has very, VERY high standards that very few can meet. That’s about all I should say.”
The next day, I do most of the host duties while another trainer observes. This trainer, IIRC, was dating the GM and was his female equivalent. Very cold, if I tried to make conversation under any circumstances, she’d tell me to shut the hell up and mind my own *ing business. So, for the first customers of the day, I greet a family, bring them to their table, tell them the specials, and they seem happy. I get back to the host station and she points to the dry erase board with the table layout. Crap! I forgot to cross off the table where I was bringing them! I say, sorry, my bad. She gives me this EXTREMELY annoyed look and says, “You were told that this was the procedure in training.” I said I know, it won’t happen again. She says, "Look, get everything right the first time. We TOLD you how to do this job, so there’s no excuse for any f ups. I don’t want to hear that you’re learning from your mistakes. I want to hear that you’re not making any to begin with." Okay, so I know I’m a lifelong screw up who has yet to impress anyone I meet, but this seemed a bit ridiculous. The rest of the night goes fine, and I go home and call my dad about this, and he says, “Well, try paying attention to detail and maybe you would be screwing up like this!”
So two days later, I come down with a bad case of bacterial pneumonia. I had about a 103 fever, I couldn’t stand up without getting dizzy, and my cough was uncontrollable. I had to go in and take the host entry test, which basically asks you about everything on the menu and every procedure. It’s also a short answer test, so no multiple choice or hints. I’m sitting there, shivering with a fever, half awake, trying to figure out this test. I finish it and go home. The next day, at my parents’ insistence, I go to call out. The manager asks if I’m contagious; I say no, at this point I’m on a Z-pack so I’m not contagious. He says take some ibuprofen and get in here, I don’t want any excuses.
So, I go in, sweating as my fever breaks, barely able to stand or breathe. At one point, I had to sit for a second to regain my equilibrium. The GM sees me sitting and shaking my head to clear it says what the F**K are you DOING? I tell him and he says, “No sitting at the host station! I already told you: No excuses! Why is it every time I see you I have to talk to you about something??” He leaves and 10 minutes later, I’m greeting guests, feeling a little better at this point. In front of the guests, he comes out with my test and says, “[My name] just so you know, your test was PATHETIC! In all my years I’ve been here I’ve never seen anyone with a worse score. I mean, did you not study or are you just plain stupid? You ought to be ashamed of yourself and your parents ought to be ashamed of you too! You’re a disgrace!”
Two days later, one of the other managers calls me in and tells me that, after seeing how I worked for only five days, the GM wasn’t even going to bother having me do a retest. Get out and don’t come back.
So, I know most of this was my fault. Like the manager said, don’t make mistakes; get it right the first time. But still, this was the worst, most destructively critical boss I’ve ever had.