Thrown under the bus first thing this morning by the office manager.

[Freddy G]

Man....if I ever find myself complaining about my job I'll just come back and read this thread

 

[LPBR]

The thread was going very well until it turns into a stupid argue about who has the bigger dick. Kids...

I am out for good. Ugh!

 

[Ed B]

Sorry to hear this. That's a bad situation. I work in an office. I would have berated her in the office with the boss. You are only as good as your word. She made your word look like sh*t. F THAT! The boss would know from my reaction that she was the one lying.

Going forward, now that you know she cannot be trusted, at all. Get every single request from her in an email or text. Don't be obvious about it. Get your instructions and wait until she is not around. Shoot her an email or text asking a question about it and get her to reply with exactly what you need her to say. It may take some creativity because you don't want to be the guy that doesn't pay attention and needs everything to be explained over and over.

Man, this thread has me heated. People like this make me sick. Absolutely unacceptable.

 

[VictorB]

In fact, it's not too late to trick her.

Get her in a private conversation and ask her why she did that. Record the whole thing.

It's against the law in some states to record people without their knowledge, so you don't want to break the law.




Plant coke in her desk and send an anonymous tip to the police.

 

[lunchbox]

Sorry to hear this. That's a bad situation. I work in an office. I would have berated her in the office with the boss. You are only as good as your word. She made your word look like sh*t. F THAT! The boss would know from my reaction that she was the one lying.

That wouldn't work. She's been there for 10+ years and is a manager. The Boss likes her and promoted her to that position, where she does a lot more than just manage supplies and such.

It doesn't help that Boss was a USMC officer, a helo pilot that was shot down in Vietnam. He doesn't work like your regular manager that team builds. He orders and expects results immediately.

 

[Ed B]

That wouldn't work. She's been there for 10+ years and is a manager. The Boss likes her and promoted her to that position, where she does a lot more than just manage supplies and such.

It doesn't help that Boss was a USMC officer, a helo pilot that was shot down in Vietnam. He doesn't work like your regular manager that team builds. He orders and expects results immediately.

It wouldn't work?

You are the only person that can stand up for you. Your reasons are nothing more than excuses, since you did not TRY.

I don't care who the guy is. If you ignored HIS orders, she is not at fault. That's obvious. If you were right in this situation. You missed your chance to prove it. And you came away looking like a finger pointer.

When you are wrong, being berated can be part of the game. I think this is poor management, but it happens a lot. Take your lumps and try not to be wrong again.

If you think for one minute that your boss wouldn't appreciate you standing up for yourself, you are wrong.

I understand she lied, but you look like the liar here. If I were you I would not accept that. Not for a second.

 

[LPG]

Not to cast aspersions.............but

I work in an office where the business just recently expanded.
Big time.

Our staff was around 16 to 20.
All guys.

Now there were some problems but nothing that wasn't ironed out with a quick sit down or dressing down.
No worries. And very few grudges.

We now have around 60 people employed here.
5 of them are women.

At first it was great.
Helping each other out.
Minor socializing, etc.

As soon as it got to 5.....sides started to get taken, division in the ranks.

And did I mention there's ONLY 5 OF THEM. WTF!

It's actually been fascination to watch, how when the 5th came on board it changed the dynamics of the office group.

I learned a long time ago not to get dragged into or onto any one side of things so I'm safe.

The kicker............My new boss.....he's as chauvinist an SOB as you'd ever want to meet.

He actually just put one of the ladies in "charge" of coffee.
And he expects it on his desk first thing.
Drives them crazy......hehe.

 

[OptimalG33]

Our Office Manager and Office Assts always annoyingly refer to themselves as "Corporate" - Noooo...you're Office Support Staff!! Sort the mail and stock the supplies and get out of our way!!

 

[Byron999]

Tough situation. I would have just did what my boss said most likely, but it's tough going against the office manager. They definitely have power trips. He who controls the paper, tape, staples, toner, new chairs, and pens, control the universe!

Still though, if I went your route and after only 7 months I probably would have just sucked it up and took the ass-chewing. In an office you have to carefully choose your battles. Seven months in, you get the ass-chew no harm, no foul, you're new and sh*t happens. In the future, when you're entrenched and established, if you have a "I'll take care of it immediately" attitude, and you're known to take on your responsibilities and lickings, you'll have much more clout for future issues when it really counts. It sounds kiss-ass I know, but office politics are more strategical than chess.

CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES!

Even if the office manager fessed up, your boss would be pissed off that you chose to listen to that person instead of him/her. It was a battle you couldn't win in any circumstance. Take the bullet, jump on the grenade, fall on your sword, when you have to. The respect will come. Now all that happened is your boss thinks you can't do your job, he/she thinks you're a liar, and you made an enemy of the office manager.

+1 Lot of wisdom there.

Personally, I've never worked for or with many people like that, don't think I could.

I tend to follow the intructions given to me and verify or get clarification when deviatiing from those.

I've had to set boundries for some, we all do at some time. But, always remain calm. If someone is emotionally upset with you that seems out of proportion, they probably shouldn't have that job, and your not their punching bag.

Some one wants to correct me...great, but it will be done professionally.

Your not their child and you don't have to take some unprofessional verbal lashing.

 

[Tone deaf]

In a vast majority of the instances of something not getting done right, most people will try to squirm out of it to escape responsibility. I'm a pretty easy going guy but, I have my standards (these do not apply to ladies encountered after 2am...). If someone is a slimy little buddy-f*cker over little incidences, what is he/she going o do when the sh*t hits the fan?

When I was in my early 20s, I worked for a large banking institution. Little mistakes (like reporting a stock price wrong by a couple of cents) can cause big problems. One day, due to transposing a few digits (most likely a coworker's fault), I overdrew and account by a little...USD$10,000,000.

The sh*t hit the fan, my boss, his boss and his boss' boss were all having conniptions and running around with their hair on fire. They were trying to figure out whom to blame in order to be able to shed responsibility. I told them that whether or not I made the mistake, it was my responsibility to make sure it was right. Therefore, they should blame me. There was dead silence. None of them knew what to make of the scene. Clearly, they weren't used to shouldering responsibility. They all threw me under the bus, right on up the food chain.

Other than people getting pissed at me, nothing happened. I left not long thereafter (although, I was promoted twice after the cock-up) in large part because I didn't like being around people of such poor character who were content with being vacuous d-bags living dead-end lives. I put myself through grad school and started my own business. That was about 25 years ago.

So, when I see little hints of slime, I am pretty sure that there are bigger gobs, they are just hidden from sight...for now. Watch your back, bide your time and bust a move...

Just don't go chasing waterfalls*











*Watched The Other Guys, again, last night.

 

[ErictheRed]

Did you consider going to the office manager afterwards and asking why she threw you under the bus? Politely ask "did you forget about our conversation a few days ago..?".

She might have decided to go back and take some responsibility then. In the heat of the moment it's hard to do.

Just act like an adult, fer Chrissakes. Don't hold a grudge against her, go confront her in her office and have a conversation, explain that you thought that she should have been up-front to the boss about her role in your decision to do what you did, etc.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

The kicker............My new boss.....he's as chauvinist an SOB as you'd ever want to meet.

He actually just put one of the ladies in "charge" of coffee.
And he expects it on his desk first thing.
Drives them crazy......hehe.

Foolish move.

He will be drinking spit or piss soon.

 

[Gin&Pentatonic]

Like others have already wisely stated, make sure there's always a paper trail.

 

[Lungo]

I'm sure it's already been said, but the best advice I have is to ask for things in writing.

When I was working as a security officer for Alyeska at the Valdez Marine Terminal, we had a vehicle breach the security check-point due to construction work and an inoperable gate. The vehicle made it to the next point which was the main gate, which of course got all kinds of panties in a bunch.

Our security captain instructed us in a briefing that Alyeska wanted us to physically detain tress passers as a new policy. They would decide when they could be released. Any of you guys know what level of authority a security officer has to detain people? We said we would be willing to do this if they gave us written orders to do so, and allowed us to post these orders at every security post. They dropped the issue.

 

[JeffBlue]

That pisses me off. I would do everything in my power to set her up for a fall that would devastate her position. I agree with others who tell you to have her email her instructions when she decides to subvert. She will, more than likely, be watching out for you to offer a payback of any kind. Play it cool and someone like her will have karma punch her straight in her puss for her POS controlling attitude.

 

[Dilemma]

Kick her in the box.

With prejudice.

 

[lunchbox]

If you think for one minute that your boss wouldn't appreciate you standing up for yourself, you are wrong.

Have you ever been in the military? You do not 'stand up for yourself'. You do as you're told, period. I didn't do exactly as I was told because I was sidetracked and misled by someone that is in charge for the next step in the routing of the work.

She's also got 'manager' in her title. I don't. I'm bottom of the rung with only 7 months in, 5 more months of probation where I can be released for any infraction whatsoever, and a family to feed.

I think I picked my battle wisely. I'll let them know how I feel on my last day in the next year or so.

Bottom line; I let her sidetrack me when that wasn't what I was told to do. I should have just said no to her and let the boss know. Lesson learned.

 

[mudfinger]

Lesson learned.

Sweet. You're set.

Just for the record, as amusing as some of the ideas on how to retaliate may be...don't bother with that, just carry on.

I think it was Mark Twain who said, "Always do the right thing. It will delight your friends and confound your enemies." Something like that, at any rate. You know what I mean.

 

[SteveGangi]

Office bureaucracy man. Get everything on paper if you can. Instead of discussing something by the water cooler, send her an email instead. That way if shit hits the fan, it's not you who takes the blame.

This is one of the pleasures of working from home, for me. My coworkers and I literally only talk via Skype chat.

Some people will flat out refuse to put it in writing. Thats a ginormous warning sign.


Send an email "memo for the record" detailing EXACTLY what you were told and how you plan to comply. Even better, if you can get the bitch to send a voice mail... record it with the Windows recorder app and attach in an email to your boss... again, keep a copy. Doing that has saved my ass when we heard the inevitable "I never said that". I helped get one lying son of a bitch fired that way.


And most importantly, send a copy to your real boss, his boss, and yourself.

 

[SteveGangi]

I'm one of those guys that is honorable and expect others to be the same. I'm admittedly naiive.

Were I in her shoes; as a manger, I would have supported the employee by admitting that yes, I did say that, and it turns out that it was a mistake that won't happen again. Lesson learned.

But that's me, and I'm a lot better of a person than most people out there in the world.

Whatever. This job is a jumping off point. I have no desire to be there past 1 year. After probation is up, I'm applying at other jurisdictions.

If there is an exit interview (the why are you leaving/transferring questions) that could be a good time to really lower the boom on that moron.