Too many
With over ten years working for a well-known yet now defunct music retailer and then 5 years with a book seller I have had the pleasure of working with at least a dozen bosses, and been one myself a few times. So where to start? Maybe I should say a few words about all of them or just concentrate on the 'highlights'?

The managers at the Record shop varied between the really good bloke variety and the totally insane bitch variety. The supreme totally insane bitch to whom I had the misfortune to be the underboss probably takes the biscuit though.
She left me instructions on a few tasks to perform on her day off, which included the *Vital* task of throwing out some old paperwork. Although there were more important things to do, like deal with the punters, or whatever, I realised she would throw a major hissy-fit if the paperwork wasn't binned as demanded, so I set to. Normally I would have delegated this to one of the lesser minions, but she had been quite insistent that I did this personally, so again, I got on with it. Getting down the box of paperwork from a top shelf I dislodged a zip-loc bag containg a controlled substance, so being a bit suspicious I decided not to keep the 'shrooms for myself. I mean, who would hide a 'dealing' quantity of drugs in our unused stockroom? This smelt like a plant to me. (well, being 'shrooms, I guess it was!) So I locked the stash in the safe and called the company security lads to tell them. Within ten minutes the guy turns up, (unusual, we normally only saw them in a day or two after calling them) and he and I examine the 'stuff' He agrees that it's a controlled substance and flushes it down the bog double quick. Then, to add to the whole 'set up' nature of this he doesn't record this discovery anywhere, takes no statements from me or the other staff, and gets on his way saying the drugs had probably belonged to 'that lad on your staff who od'd last month'. Well I knew the dead guy pretty well as he was one of the decent souls about the place, and mushrooms were not his gig.
This was such a blatant set up it wasn't true. The dope was clearly planted in a place where only I would find it, and the security guy was obviously in the area when his area covered the whole south of England from Birmingham to Brighton. If I hadn't called him in I reckon he'd have been waiting outside at home time to conduct a search.
The psycho bitch and I had had a row a bit earlier, and she had been trying to catch me out and sack me ever since. Her grand plan failed though, she didn't realise she was dealing with someone she had already driven to the brink of paranoia! I don't think she was too popular with the area manager though as he soon got me transfered to a better location with a sane boss.

Most of the Music shop mangers were cool, but the regional manager was a bit of a cow and tried to sack me a couple of times. (I have this effect on people, but then I've never been a brown-noser.)

I managed a couple of shops for them, but this coincided with my divorce from my faithless wife. As such I went on a three year bender of drugs and booze, and rather lost the plot. I was drinking every lunch time and sleeping every afternoon but I think the staff liked me! Probably because I seldom bothered them! Eventually I got 'headhunted' by the Book Retailer, and then it all went wrong again.

The Boss at the Bookshop was well weird, one minute he was a great bloke, the next he was psychotic. I spent several great afternoons with him smoking weed in Lincoln's Inn Fields rather than working, but also saw him reduce staff to tears through his 'random' violence, and tearing up her contract in front of a girl he wanted to sack. Eventually his temper got so unpredictable that I complained to the Regional manager about him. The Regional manager refused to act unless I made an official complaint. Not wishing to get into even more bother I backed down, and within six months the mad manager had left. I learnt afterwards that the Regional manager wanted to sack him and couldn't wait for an 'official' complaint. If only I'd known! I thought the regional manager was weak for not dealing with the problem himself, but leaving some other poor sod to do his dirty work.
The mad manager was replaced by the most uncharismatic boss ever, who was clearly promoted for his ability to take it up the shitter from his bosses with feigned pleasure. I left, and have been unemployed ever since. It's far less stressful!
(Mr Steve is jobless and fancyfree!, Fri 19 Jun 2009, 16:03, 2 replies)

"This smelt like a plant to me. (well, being 'shrooms, I guess it was!)"
Wrong- that would be a fungus.
( idonthaveafunnynickname Drink-Aware? Sure. I'm aware I want another drink., Fri 19 Jun 2009, 16:48, closed)

Guess that's why I'm not a copper!
So let's all grateful for small mercies then.
(Mr Steve is jobless and fancyfree!, Fri 19 Jun 2009, 22:23, closed)