Biggest things you hate about work

[gravenewworld]

1.) Ego tripping scientists/supervisors that won't listen to you because of your lower amount of education. Quick story: within the first month of me being hired the production of our product comes to a crashing halt. The very first week this happened I suggested immediately that the problem is likely from the reagents/starting materials we are using. But of course the finger at first gets pointed at me,because I'm the new guy and I am assumed to have no idea what I'm doing by my supervisors. My bosses then go on this ridiculous charade of getting SEM pictures of our starting materials, ordering lot after different lot of starting material, modifying procedures, worrying about the humidity and reaction conditions. 5 months later, hundreds of orders on backorder, and hundreds and thousands of dollars in waiting, my boss FINALLY decides to purify our reagents even though they came with analytical data claiming to be >95% pure. Wouldn't you know it, our reagents from China are hoffically impure. We then order our reagent from an American company and problem is totally solved. This would have been completely solved in less than a week if my boss(es) would have just taken my suggestion of gettin $20 NMR samples of all our reagents. I came across the strong sense that they wouldn't take my advice simply because I got hired as a lab technician, or because I only have a BS. Now my bosses want me to do 2x's the work to get these orders out by Xmas so we can catch up on all of our backorders.

2.) Other thing I hate is not being properly equipped. Now that I am being forced to scramble to catch up on back orders, my comany expects ridiculous production while not providing proper equipment. I told them to get me a larger rotovap which will save me oodles of time but they don't do anything. I'm forced to rotovap basically 40 liters of solvent 500mL at a time. It is a ludicrous waste of time to have to do this when I could do the work in half the time if I had the right equipment.

 

[Jack21222]

I work at a mattress store. The biggest thing I hate is the solitude 11 hours a day. There are some days when no human being other than myself walks through the door. That can be soul-crushing, especially since I work on commission, and if nobody walks in, I work for free.

The days I see people and help them get a better night's sleep it's a pretty good job.

 

[leroyjenkens]

I work at a mattress store. The biggest thing I hate is the solitude 11 hours a day. There are some days when no human being other than myself walks through the door. That can be soul-crushing, especially since I work on commission, and if nobody walks in, I work for free.

The days I see people and help them get a better night's sleep it's a pretty good job.

People rarely buy mattresses? That's surprising. I need a new mattress right now.
You seriously work for 11 hours some days and don't get paid anything?

I don't see how some of these stores can stay open.
There's a jetski store near me and I wonder how the heck they stay open. Honestly, how often do people buy jetskis?

 

[Danger]

The biggest thing that I hate about work is not being able to do it any more. While I've always been something of a lazy bastard, I'd rather have a job than be sitting around on my *** all day everyday watching TV and playing on the computer as I have been doing for the past 2 years. I'm grateful to Greg and the rest of the PF staff for at least helping me to learn new stuff and for allowing me a creative outlet.

 

[Dembadon]

The thing I hate most about work, hmm. I don't like helping arrogant people, especially those who have no reason to be.

The biggest thing that I hate about work is not being able to do it any more. While I've always been something of a lazy bastard, I'd rather have a job than be sitting around on my *** all day everyday watching TV and playing on the computer as I have been doing for the past 2 years. I'm grateful to Greg and the rest of the PF staff for at least helping me to learn new stuff and for allowing me a creative outlet.

I've learned a great deal from your posts, Danger. You aren't as unproductive as you might feel.

 

[Danger]

I've learned a great deal from your posts, Danger. You aren't as unproductive as you might feel.

I thank you for those kind words, but always wait for a second opinion before believing anything that I say. I never deliberately deceive anyone, but I am frequently wrong.

 

[turbo]

I hated to work in a private auction company loaded with nepotism and favoritism. During a staff meeting, I proposed that we use a laptop-driven slide-show to show all the items on large-screen TVs in the auction hall. That would allow us to sell more items per session, and remove the liability involved with having employees lug the items to the front of the hall. Fewer injuries when handling very large objects and less chance of damage for fragile or very valuable items. The GM and the Operations Manager shot that idea down with much derision - of course that threw cold water on any money-saving ideas that the other division managers might have had. Then the two back-stabbers went to the owner with my idea, and he loved it and thanked them in a general meeting with all employees a few days later. The other division managers knew the truth, but the owner was clueless.

 

[Danger]

The other division managers knew the truth, but the owner was clueless.

He should have been told, in no uncertain terms, who's idea it was. Someone once tried to pull that sort of **** on me in order to get me demoted and herself promoted. When I pointed out the truth, she was fired.

 

[turbo]

He should have been told, in no uncertain terms, who's idea it was. Someone once tried to pull that sort of **** on me in order to get me demoted and herself promoted. When I pointed out the truth, she was fired.

You think the boss's brother-in-law would have been fired? You don't know that family.

 

[Jack21222]

People rarely buy mattresses? That's surprising. I need a new mattress right now.
You seriously work for 11 hours some days and don't get paid anything?

I don't see how some of these stores can stay open.
There's a jetski store near me and I wonder how the heck they stay open. Honestly, how often do people buy jetskis?

People buy a new mattress on average about once every 10 years. There are generally about 8 places to buy a mattress within any given 10 mile radius around here. During a weekday, people rarely buy mattresses. The stores in my area average about 2-3 sales a day during a weekday. But, it varies a lot. Some stores will make 5 or 6 sales, others will make zero.

On weekends, far more people buy mattresses. In the stores I work, it's not unheard of for more than 50% of the sales to occur on Saturday.

But yes, there have been days where I've worked for 11 hours and didn't get paid anything. On the other hand, there have been days where I've worked 11 hours and made 800 dollars, so it balances out somewhat.

 

[Danger]

You think the boss's brother-in-law would have been fired? You don't know that family.

Right, then... it's time to move on to stage 2: assassination.

 

[Lacy33]

Not kidding. biggest thing I hate about work is getting paid. I hate being paid for what I do. No matter what it is. I work better, much better when the job is not connected to money and I know others like that too.
I don't want to talk about how people need to work to live and so on. This much I understand. The question was the " things you hate about work."

 

[turbo]

Not kidding. biggest thing I hate about work is getting paid. I hate being paid for what I do. No matter what it is. I work better, much better when the job is not connected to money and I know others like that too.
I don't want to talk about how people need to work to live and so on. This much I understand. The question was the " things you hate about work."

I find that I am much more satisfied with unpaid work, but I am in a situation in which my previous works' pay allows me that luxury. This summer and fall, I have been spending many of my days as a carpenter, helping my neighbor build an addition on his house, so that his daughter and her two daughters can have the extra bedrooms/living room, etc. When not building, we were often pulling logs out of the woods and sawing them into framing lumber and boards on his large portable sawmill. Good healthy physical labor with visible progress and a sense of accomplishment.

 

[Lacy33]

You know Turbo, I was actually thinking about you and others when I wrote that. We are lucky in that sense but I think a lot of people feel this way and that is why volunteering is so big. Is it big all over the world? I have never been off the block.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Leaving at the end of the day.

 

[lisab]

The last two years have been brutal at my work. 40% laid off, pay cuts, benefits slashed.

The biggest things I hate about it...hmm. The big one, not knowing if it will get better or if it is, in fact, a death march.

Also, all the empty offices .

 

[gravenewworld]

The last two years have been brutal at my work. 40% laid off, pay cuts, benefits slashed.

The biggest things I hate about it...hmm. The big one, not knowing if it will get better or if it is, in fact, a death march.

Also, all the empty offices .

I already went through that...until I finally got the ax.

 

[Mathnomalous]

A) Personal Gossip:

I'm not interested in what Bartholomew Ebenezer does outside work; that's his private life and I choose not to talk about it.

B) Workplace Intimidation:

I do not appreciate hearing I/we "might lose (y)our job(s)" anytime I come to work. If you need to get rid of people, simply do so; If you cannot motivate your employees in a more efficient manner, you are screwed anyways.

C) Supervisors who do not stay within professional boundaries:

You are my supervisor, not my spouse/parent/master. You do not dictate how I live my private life nor are you entitled to know about my private life, unless I choose to tell you. Outside work, you are not my supervisor, you are just another private citizen, just like me; behave as such.

Protecting my rights and defending myself correctly is not insubordination but common sense. I will not allow unfair treatment towards me just because you, the supervisor, think that you are my master and I am an indentured slave.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

My two office cats have decided they own the place.

You are my cat, not my spouse/parent/master. You do not dictate how I live my private life nor are you entitled to demand feeding unless I choose to feed you. Outside of the office, you are not my supervisor, you are just another cat, just like the other cat; behave as such.

Protecting my rights and defending myself correctly is not insubordination but common sense. I will not allow unfair treatment towards me just because you, the cat, think that you are my master and I am an indentured slave.

 

[rootX]

My two office cats have decided they own the place.

You are my cat, not my spouse/parent/master. You do not dictate how I live my private life nor are you entitled to demand feeding unless I choose to feed you. Outside of the office, you are not my supervisor, you are just another cat, just like the other cat; behave as such.

Protecting my rights and defending myself correctly is not insubordination but common sense. I will not allow unfair treatment towards me just because you, the cat, think that you are my master and I am an indentured slave.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Management chains full of people who can all say 'no' while lacking anyone with the authority to say 'yes'.

 

[Loren Booda]

I appreciate having a good job too much to hate it.

 

[hypatia]

Out dated equipment would be number one on my list.

 

[jmason52]

I work in government contracting. I can unequivocally say it's the inflexible, inept, and totally smothering beaureaucracy. Sometimes I think that if I hear the phrase "Because we've always done it this way" ONE MORE TIME, I may go postal. lol

 

[mugaliens]

The only thing I ever hated about work was when a boss made illogical/inconsistant decisions which required unnecessary additional work.

 

[Mathnomalous]

My two office cats have decided they own the place.

You are my cat, not my spouse/parent/master. You do not dictate how I live my private life nor are you entitled to demand feeding unless I choose to feed you. Outside of the office, you are not my supervisor, you are just another cat, just like the other cat; behave as such.

Protecting my rights and defending myself correctly is not insubordination but common sense. I will not allow unfair treatment towards me just because you, the cat, think that you are my master and I am an indentured slave.

+1 Internet for you!

 

[gravenewworld]

How does one deal with a clash of culture at work? Currently I work for a Chinese company (in the US) and most of my co-workers are Chinese. During lunch some of the guys I work with routinely hack and spit out phlegm and loogies (for lack of a better word) into the kitchen sink in the cafeteria while I eat. They also rinse their mouths out and spit into the sink after eating. None of the other Chinese co-workers seem to see anything wrong with it. But really come on, do you really have to spit all over the place every single day where we all wash our dishes and prepare our food? I'm thinking about saying something, because I find it highly annoying to sit there while eating and have listen and watch it happen everyday, but as I am usually the only person there who isn't from China, I know i'd probably be simply ignored, argued with, or maybe even fired.

 

[Dr Lots-o'watts]

I try to make it a game to be as efficient as I can possibly be, and sometimes I amaze myself. But others don't necessarily notice, and I don't like it if I get the feeling that such efforts go unappreciated (whomever they are from), or that others take advantage of it. Simple politeness goes a long way here. I also don't like it when I am asked to do more than I can. But all in all, I have found ways to deal with these issues, and enjoy my job very much overall. It's important to me to have a lot of freedom, and to get the opportunity to show that I can get the job done without having someone over my shoulder all the time. I also like to finish a job before being given a new one, but I understand that customer orders have random nature.

One thing I noted though is that the level of education is only a factor in what sums up to be trust. Your (OP's) boss makes his decisions based on what he considers to be the most reliable information. Level of education, experience, years, body language, personal relations all come into play when your boss makes a decision based on the information he receives from you and from other sources. So indeed, between trusting the new guy and trusting his own boss or usual counselors, the new guy is at a disadvantage. The new guy is still somewhere between an unknown and a reliable old colleague. It's not something to hate, it's something to understand.

Danger, it's always nice to have you around here.

 

[arildno]

3) Deriving my money from it.
It makes me feel like a salaried slave, rather than as a gentleman of independent means.

 

[russ_watters]

Out dated equipment would be number one on my list.

That's the only real bad thing about my office (though it is starting to change). I had a to raise a big stink to get one of my guys a new montior - it had a big blurry spot about 6" in diameter right in the middle. It was barely readable, but he'd been using it like that for a long time.

 

[Astronuc]

Out dated equipment would be number one on my list.

and outdated software, which results in incompatibility with clients, or interferes with fulfilling obligations.

 

[lisab]

Out dated equipment would be number one on my list.

At my work we have an instrument hooked up to a dot matrix printer . I keep it under a piece of plastic when it's not in use, so visitors won't see it. Oh the shame.