Reprimanded for working too hard.
Back in 2000 I had a shitty admin job in a pokey little un-air-conditioned office surrounded by noisy building work. The workload was immense, on my first day I was 6 weeks behind and it never let up. The phones never stopped ringing and each call was an angry customer or financial advisor demanding their bit of work took priority over everything else. The female office manager was a 1980’s throwback, all shoulder pads and Hilary Clinton hairstyle, she was also a complete cunt who would tell me that she never expected me to clear my workload, but would then drag a piece of paper out of my in-tray and demand why it had not been done.

For the first 3 months I worked my bollocks off, I would come in early, work through my lunch break and leave late. I worked and worked and worked through this Kafka-esque nightmare just to try and get on top of my workload. I did so many unpaid hours they forced me to take a day off every month so that they didn’t break employment laws, which I didn’t want to take because after a day off my desk would be straining under the new untouched work. I honestly didn’t think my work life could get more stressful.

Then one morning, in front of the whole office, I was marched into the meeting room by the office manager. “You’re late! This isn’t good enough, I wont have you letting the team down” she barked at me. My tired eyes rose to look at the clock on the wall behind her. It was just coming up to 8.45am. “No…I’m early” I replied. “You are supposed to start work at 8am” she retorted. “No, I’m supposed to start at nine, but I get in an hour early to get work done before the phones start ringing” I tried to explain.

It was no good; for being ‘late’ I was given a warning that would be entered on my permanent record. An hour later I was back in that office because it was my 3-month review. The stupid bitch acted like nothing had happened and started with, “So, how have you enjoyed your first three months?”

A month later I handed in my notice.
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Thu 24 May 2007, 12:25, Reply)