By now we can all probably agree that it would be unpleasant at best to wake up and find ourselves in the charge of Naomi Campbell. Or, retroactively, Leona Helmsley. Or Schopenhauer, who apparently hurled his seamstress down a flight of stairs just because he was peeved by the sound of her voice. You don’t have to see the world through a master-slave lens or live by the Stanford Prison experiments to acknowledge that the hierarchy of workplaces can be rife with opportunities for abuse. 
The most typical of which being employer-employee abuse, surely, but I’ve also been privy to invidious antics from those who climbed up the workplace food chain rather quickly, and with staggering results. I’m not sure what kind of voodoo these PAs were working, but their recalcitrance was bold, perhaps cruel; however, the brazen attitudes behind these quips was often noticed and rewarded by one of the higher-ups’ higher-ups, and suddenly these PAs’ initials were reversed and they abandoned their craft service duties to some properly broken poor dear. Leaving the rest of us to wonder: is taking a proactive stance against one’s employer always thusly honored? Would love to hear from anyone who has had—or been stationed proximally to—any irreverent assistants.
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When I first started my job in April, my assistant was about 35 years older than me and we started out on a pretty good foot. After a few months (and some delegating on my part), she would constantly get her back up on projects we were doing and at times fully dismissed any of my emails or messages and wouldn’t do her work. It got to the point where either she was leaving or I was. Luckily, she was fired. However, I didn’t really consider who would be doing her work once she left… because now that person is me!
Oh well, at least I can work in peace!
posted by Kate on 10-23-2007 at 11:31 am
Had a supervisor who was trying to get me kicked out of the Army, for no discernible reason, other than perhaps, a personal dislike of anyone that was a better soldier than he was. He pretended to be my buddy, while constantly stabbing me in the back. A friend of mine in the Army legal department alerted me to his antics.
One day, he came over to my room after getting all sweaty and nasty at the gym. (He was grossly overweight and at risk of being booted out, himself!) I asked if he’d like some water, and after sitting his nasty self down on my bunk, asked me for water. I ran the sink, dipped his glass in the toilet, and then turned the sink off and took it back to him. He drank it down like it was Evian.
Abusive supervisors beware: Sometimes, the abused will strike back. In SPADES!!
posted by Frank on 10-23-2007 at 1:16 pm
Frank, you are my hero! Oh, the people I wish I could do that to…
posted by bryn on 10-23-2007 at 1:52 pm