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Stand-offish AND rude. Say "good morning" and you're hit back with a growling "if you say so!" Rudeness and disrespect to the support staff ran rampant in my former office. Or, one of the managers would speak to one admin with a cheery "good morning!" and then walk past the next admin with a stony glare. It is enough to put one on nerve medication!
That's always bugged me too. Everybody at work acts fake. People are afraid to ask questions or say the wrong thing in fear of offending someone or appearing incompetent. You can tell that none of them are being themselves. That's what bothers me the most.
Most act superficially cheery and laugh after every other sentence for some bizarre reason (my doctor's appointment ran over yesterday *hahahahaha*, I don't know why I can't get this document to scan properly *hahahahaha*), and none of these corporate types have any level of depth to them. About 75% of the conversation topics are about material things- the latest Iphone, the timeshare so and so bought, a new car model coming out. The other quarter of the conversations are about their kids or sports.
What's also funny is how different co-workers act around people at their level and the higher-ups. The guy who sits next to me at our audit site frequently gripes to me about our micromanaging boss and how boring the work is. Otherwise, he isn't very friendly. Quite often I will say something to him and he won't respond. Well, when the boss comes to visit us, he turns into a completely different person. He just chats up a storm with the boss about the football game last night, asks him how the home remodeling is going, invites the boss out to lunch, and pretends to be interested in the work that we are doing.
Most of my co-workers are politicians, more or less. Personally, I couldn't give a rat's ass about playing the corporate game. I have too much self-respect. I just keep my head down and concentrate my job, and if they fire me for not playing office politics so be it. I have a substantial amount of money saved up since I don't spend foolishly to impress others (like most of my co-workers do), so I could weather it just fine.
Most office type jobs are full of pathetic weaselly characters, there just trying to keep themselves in a job at all costs - constantly calculating, scheming - its almost amusing to watch how much a person's behavior/personality can be modified for a salary.
Most office type jobs are full of pathetic weaselly characters, there just trying to keep themselves in a job at all costs - constantly calculating, scheming - its almost amusing to watch how much a person's behavior/personality can be modified for a salary.
It is sort of twisted form of job security, isn't it! When a manager knows they have a sure-fire snitch in their pocket, the manager will make sure the snitch gets all the rewards to keep them there -- i.e., unbelievably flexible hours, come and go as they please, can talk to a co-worker at their desk for 30 to 45 minutes about their love life or new marriage (which happened on a daily basis) with no repercussions whatsoever, pick and choose what work they will do and won't do. <ok, I'm venting.......sorry >
This is what's happening up here in the Dakotas as well. Personally, I'd prefer a more futuristic house versus the stuff they're building here. Take the typical McMansion: 4000 sq feet with brick trim around the front face of the house (WTF do they do that?) only and a garage that's as big as the house itself. No front porch, just a back porch to check out the back porches of the McTrashy neighbors on the other side. Inside the garage there are usually two seperate vehicles: one is a McVolvo crossover thing that is brand new, cost $40,000 from the big bad dealership, weighs 5000lbs and gets 14mpg in town (but it's green because it's a hybrid!). This is used by the wife-droid to cart around the nasty kids that were the result of a late night romp in the bathtub after too much liquor and Adult Swim during college. The other car is a McHonda Civic thing left over from the husband's college days that's used as a commuter car. Gets 40mpg on the highway and has to be taken to that stupid Honda dealership every other week to fix the crap falling off it. Inside the house, the kitchen has stainless steel appliances that together cost as much as a new car. The sole reason for purchasing said stainless steel appliances is somewhat to make cooking that weird mango-salsa tapioca chicken recipe somewhat easier and mostly to impress the pea brained next door neighbors when they visit every other day (just for the free food nyuk nyuk nyuk). The kids have the latest Made-In-China electronic trinkets in their rooms to either shut them up or for them to throw at each other (look out for that flying LCD!) and the bathroom has HIS and HER toilets, bathtubs, sinks, closets, and anything else you can cram into the bathroom. Don't forget the stupid dog that every cookie cutter suburban home has to have (here Fido, play catch with the Freightliner).
The husband, who is the main source of income for the family, works as some sort of engineering position at some company downtown designing some plastic trinket that will be MADE IN CHINA and sold at Hobby Lobby or something like that. He drives 20 miles to work and works in a cubicle with a computer and a mound of paperwork (I thought that the office of the future wasn't going to have so much paper!). The boss lives a similar lifestyle but has a bigger cubicle and fancier benefits. After 9 hours of boredom, office politics, and a funky office potluck, the husband drives home to meet his wife-droid who spends a good chunk of her time either on Ebay selling plastic trinkets similar to the ones hubby designs or she's with the other wife-droids talking about either what stupid show Disney is showing on the Disney channel (when is Disney going to go R Rated?) or some drama with the kids acting up all the time (time to bring the kids to the Geek Squad to tune them up). He plops down on the couch to watch Fox News/CNBC and listen to some talking head drone on about the most pressing news story in the world...how did Jessica Simpson fit that butt into those jeans? He eventually turns off the TV, goes with the family to eat dinner, sticks the dog in the freezer for the night, sends the kids to bed, and he and the wife go into the bedroom and argue about how they don't have any money left over after the bills are paid (or not paid depending on spending habits). Sometimes you can hear the lamp or something hit the wall...scary!!!
The point of my rant here is to show that the whole corporate lifestyle is really sad...and kind of scary. I'm not surprised that more people aren't dropping out of this stuff.
This really cracked me up! It is sad and I can't wait until this s*** goes out of style. Someday, SOMEDAY, people will look at this lifestyle and react to it the same way the baby-boomers reacted to their parents lifestyle. Someday people will realize how boring this all is.
It is sort of twisted form of job security, isn't it!
Its all about picking a salary every month, and leaving at 5pm on the dot - never be fooled by any of the BS, or people who tell you they enjoy it all - its mostly about trying to gain the moral high ground.
Stand-offish AND rude. Say "good morning" and you're hit back with a growling "if you say so!" Rudeness and disrespect to the support staff ran rampant in my former office. Or, one of the managers would speak to one admin with a cheery "good morning!" and then walk past the next admin with a stony glare. It is enough to put one on nerve medication!
I get the responce of "what" or "do you have a question " spoken in a very condescending tone if I dare make small talk when one of these types who thinks they are better than you
I have been working as a contractor for many well known financial firms in the Boston / providence area. This type of stuff doesn't bother me since I am taking antidepressants and adderall for ADHD but this behavior that everyone is talking about is much worse in this industry and capacity
That Minnesota nice, smile in my face then stab me in my back.
I like to know where I stand with people.
It's also why I avoid small talk. I won't be rude to you, but at the same time I don't have the patience for someone who just talks to me for the sake of talking to me.
I get the responce of "what" or "do you have a question " spoken in a very condescending tone if I dare make small talk when one of these types who thinks they are better than you
I have been working as a contractor for many well known financial firms in the Boston / providence area. This type of stuff doesn't bother me since I am taking antidepressants and adderall for ADHD but this behavior that everyone is talking about is much worse in this industry and capacity
It isn't just in the financial industry..... trust me. I detest the condescending and the "holier than thou" attitudes, especially to those in subservient roles. I am older than many of the associate "bosses" at my former job, but if I tried to contribute or join in a conversation (that wasn't work-related), whatever I'd say would be "dumbed down" and joked about like my contribution was made by a 1st grader. It became so bad that I found myself eating lunch in an empty office with the door shut so I wouldn't have to listen to their inane conversations about the latest POS YouTube video or their effed-up court case.
Finally, someone that feels the exact same way that I do.
I am 27 years old and have been working in corporate America since I was 22, so I've only been in it a little over 5 years and have HATED every minute of it. In the 5 years I've bounced around to three different jobs, because after about a year and half at each job I could no longer take it, so I moved on... The problem is, every job that I've moved on to I grew to hate more than the last one. Each time I get a new job, there has always been an increase in pay, and I technically am climbing the corporate ladder, yet it all feels contrived and fake... I literally B.S. my way through the work day, the work week.
I one of those employees, that will smile in ur face and "pretend" to work or do as little work as possible to keep my job, yet somehow I will always tell them what they wanna hear, so they keep me. In fact, management loves me...because I play their game so freakin well, yet I make myself sick, cuz at the end of the day I am literally chompin at the bit, watchin that clock to hit 5pm.
My car door isn't even closed all the way and I already have the pedal to the floor, racing out of there as fast as I can. The politics, the gossip, the plain old hum-drum boring setting, the fake "team-work" posters they have displayed on the walls, the fake laughing at jokes is exhausting! The "corporate lunches" that make me wana stab myself in the eye with a fork, the fact that everyone is so fake and laughing at lame jokes and acting friendly to ur face when u know damn well they cant stand u and u cant stand them..... These people bore me, their life story bores me, I dont care. The company's mission statement bores me, I dont care about the company i just want my paycheck.... I use them and they use me
I act like I give a *****, when in reality I counldn't care less. I would watch my office building burn to the ground if I could. Watch it burn with a bowl of popcorn in my hand...
I'm currently looking for yet another job,...another job I can clock watch, because I am a job hopper... even in this bad economy I have switched jobs twice....both to higher paying positions...I should be grateful, right?? well, I am...but at the same time I can't effin stand it. I wake up in the morning....do the three "S's" drive to work...and sit there like a corpse at a desk in front of a computer...waiting for my lunch break, then I wait to go home after lunch. All the while going into meeting after pointless meeting to listen to some yahoo talk about nothing, I'll occassionally chime in with something generic so they know I'm alive....
When I was in college, I used to think corporate jobs at large office campus' were so cool and that really meant "success." I wanted a corporate job. They were glamorous, u got to wear nice business suits with cool sunglasses, drive nice cars, have lots of money, HA! little did my naive self know.
Get what you need out of employer. Always be aware that job is not secure regardless of what they say. Do your job and go home. Only associate with those you share common interests with. Otherwise, sit in cubicle and do not talk to anyone. Eat your lunch alone in the corner.
I hate to say it, but this is the wisest advice I've seen yet on this thread.
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I detest the condescending and the "holier than thou" attitudes, especially to those in subservient roles. I am older than many of the associate "bosses" at my former job, but if I tried to contribute or join in a conversation (that wasn't work-related), whatever I'd say would be "dumbed down" and joked about like my contribution was made by a 1st grader. It became so bad that I found myself eating lunch in an empty office with the door shut so I wouldn't have to listen to their inane conversations about the latest POS YouTube video or their effed-up court case.
