[artwking4]

Originally Posted by Stoofa

Dude, I wish. But then she'd have a heart attack (she's incredibly neurotic) and I'd feel incredibly guilty. I've already tried gently teasing her, she has no sense of humour. Once as a joke I signed her up to bring a "roasted suckling pig" to our very very informal work potluck and she FLIPPED OUT. "I've never cooked a whole pig before?! Where can I buy a piglet? OHMYGOOODDDD." I think she even cried. Bad move on my part. I felt terrible.

That's BRILLIANT! You shouldn't feel bad. People with no sense of humor like that shouldn't be in positions of power anyway. I think it's a sign that she can't handle the tiniest bit of stress. She can't possibly last too much longer before she gets fired.

Anyhow, call one of those local news channels that are "on your side". They eat this kind of stuff up for breakfast. Nothing like a little negative publicity blackmail to get what you want.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by artwking4

Anyhow, call one of those local news channels that are "on your side". They eat this kind of stuff up for breakfast. Nothing like a little negative publicity blackmail to get what you want.

Stoofa, Judge Judy is on your side.

Originally Posted by Stoofa

Luckily she is not my only boss. The Uber-Boss is away right now, when she comes back I am definitely asking her about this iPod issue.

Not that this will sway anything, but who else in your office has entered this contest? Did they have any idea what would've happened if they had won something? Does anyone else you work with know you've won? What if your Uber-Boss had won that iPod? Would he/she have given shit by your immediate boss?

[Stoofa]

Originally Posted by Karmillo

If all else fails you could go out in style, get in your car and drive through the window, then drive into her office and as you pass her jamming down with your iPod, snatch it and continue drive out another window!

Dukes of Hazard style!

Ha! I don't have a car and she's on the third floor. I think it would be better if I drove in through the glass doors on a motorcycle, up the stairs Walker Texas Ranger style, and grabbed the iPod out of her greedy paws.

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Not that this will sway anything, but who else in your office has entered this contest? Did they have any idea what would've happened if they had won something? Does anyone else you work with know you've won? What if your Uber-Boss had won that iPod? Would he/she have given shit by your immediate boss?

I don't know if anyone else at my work has entered these contests, certainly I've never heard of anybody winning one. However, another co-worker often is visited by people from the Office Supply company as well as other companies and keeps the swag (usually new kinds of fancy pens and gadgets) that they give her, she does not have to share it amongst the other employees. This has never been a problem.

Where IS Judge Judy when you need her? Except she might try to get her paws on that Nano too!

Originally Posted by artwking4

That's BRILLIANT! You shouldn't feel bad. People with no sense of humor like that shouldn't be in positions of power anyway. I think it's a sign that she can't handle the tiniest bit of stress. She can't possibly last too much longer before she gets fired.

Anyhow, call one of those local news channels that are "on your side". They eat this kind of stuff up for breakfast. Nothing like a little negative publicity blackmail to get what you want.

Hee! I'm glad you liked the potluck prank even if my boss didn't. The entire office played a different and very elaborate prank on her and it didn't go over very well, either. She was in charge of organizing a Christmas present exchange, we just had to draw a name and buy a present for that person. Anyway, someone pretended they had drawn the name "Tom" just to freak her out. (There are no Toms that work for us.) Boss FLIPPED OUT and other various clueless co-workers wondered who Tom could be, maybe he was the guy who came to pick up the garbage? Etc. Then I started sneaking in cards that said "Tom" on them into her basket of names for the draw so people kept on drawing Tom and my boss got more and more neurotic. She did laugh once the ruse was revealed, but it was a sort of hysterical laughter. (The potluck thing happened in the middle of the Tom prank, I hadn't had enough time to learn that she reacts badly!)

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Stoofa, highly required reading:



Brilliant reading at that.

[Gordon Bennett]

I've been giving this matter a bit of thought. While it is impossible to determine anything specific about the person you're dealing with based on a limited description, I can get a fair idea based on what you have said. People like this are an absolute menace. They are the sort who gain a shred of authority and use it to make everyone around them miserable because they need to assert it in order to maintain their own sense of security. I wouldn't even try to bother pleasing her, as it is impossible.

As for this situation, I would advise against going to a lawyer or the press straight away. It's something to bear in mind, and it certainly would do no harm to make a few inquiries on your own, but I would not bring it up if there are avenues reasonably available to you within your company. Going outside will be interpreted as a threat by anyone in the company, and will alienate them.

I would first talk to her supervisor, or the HR department, or both. Be sure to mention that she chose to hide the ipod from you in the office. This is an utterlay appalling way to behave. Not only is it deeply condescending, it is also juvenile. Adults do not act this way in any situation, let alone in a professional setting.

You should also realize that by refusing to submit to her, and by taking these sort of actions, you will be perceived as a threat to her, and she will likely single you out for further abuse. On the other hand, based on what you are saying, this shouldn't make that much of a difference anyway.

In these situations, the best way to react is to maintain a mature, responsible demeanor, and to be sure that her supervisors are aware of the situation, and know that you need action to be taken on your behalf. You do not have the authority to oppose her directly, but they do. Use that. As long as you act like an adult, and can explain legitimate reasons for your complaints, you should expect them to cooperate.

If you do not find satisfaction within your company, then by all means take it to those outside, but first allow those people whose job it is to resolve these situations to do their job once they are specifically informed by you of your grievance.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Excellent advice, Gordon Bennett. I'll retract my initial advice of tactually mentioning to Stoofa's boss that Stoofa had consulted her personal lawyer, and instead she should go above her boss authority and appeal there.

[artwking4]

I was only joking about the news station thing. But you knew that, right?

[saucyminx]

What a bitch! Go kick her ass. Scratch her eyes out or something.

[Dobee]

why let it deliver to your company address in the 1st place? I never let anything personal deliver to my working address ... heard that if the address lines contain your company name, it may get tricky because your name may be interpreted as "for an on half of the company"...just my opinion!

[nikoniko]

Although you're in an awkward position by being away from the office and not able to attend to this in person, I would address the matter soon even if it means making some uncomfortable phone calls. Otherwise, if you're out from work very much longer, you may find that your iPod is gone forever. You might even consider sending someone on your behalf to pick it up. Although lawyers are accustomed to confrontation, I doubt your boss would want to make a scene in front of a visitor, even one sent by you. I also doubt that any of your higher bosses would want to make this an issue after you already have the iPod in hand, regardless of what official company policy may be. You will likely find your relationship with this particular boss more strained in the future, but I think that's almost a given whether you challenge her on this or not.

[Melanie68]

Is it even worth all of the emotional and mental stress over an inanimate object (granted a nice one but still just a thing)?

[saucyminx]

Heck, yeah! Free IPod!

I don't like that woman already. Bad karma.

[Stoofa]

The iPod problem has been resolved! Last night I sent an e-mail to Uber Boss (I have four bosses, it's confusing) about the iPod and how exactly I had come to win it, and how I felt about having it taken from me by a supervisor who made four times what I did. Uber Boss is awesome and really cares about her employees, but I was a bit hesitant to take it to her because she specifically hired Pain in the Butt Boss to take care of employee issues.

Anyway, I heard through the grapevine this morning that Uber Boss had not been happy about the confiscation at ALL and insisted that I be given the iPod IMMEDIATELY. She said that it was simply not right to take things from employees and that it could easily be thought of as stealing. Plus she thought that it was mean spirited and that it probably ruined my happyness at winning something. I got a call before lunchtime informing me that I could pick the iPod up whenever I wished, or they would be happy to courier it to me.



I'm glad it worked out, but I certainly will extremely careful about entering contests that are even slightly related to my job in the future.You guys should be careful as well.

Thanks for all the great help and advice!!

[saucyminx]

Woo hoo! I'm so happy for you!

(((((Stoofa)))))

[Karmillo]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

Is it even worth all of the emotional and mental stress over an inanimate object (granted a nice one but still just a thing)?

Some people value things more than others, me for example, I am slightly obsessed with collecting things....you could say im a horder.
My room is full of usless crap...like a 3 foot shoe horn, no idea what i got that for, theres a walking stick in here aswell
And if Stoofa didnt neciseraly want the ipod he could have sold it for a good $100 and bought something even better, or made even more money in savings and wise invenstments leading him to a life of riches!

but now that cant happen


***or...erm....I gotta stop thinking to much before typing glad to hear you got it though

[Lucien21]

That's fantastic. Enjoy the IPOD.

Hope your feel better soon as well.


Watch out for the beeatch when you go back to work though. I doubt she'll be all that happy about the outcome.

[saucyminx]

Tbh I can be very possessive over my things. It could be due to some horrid childhood experience... long story that. Anyways, I'd get super mad when someone takes something that belongs to me. Keyword here is "belongs to me". I hate it when people "borrow" my things without my knowledge, so if I were in Stoofa's predicament, I'd probably go ballistic.

But at the same time, I love giving. I hardly ever sell my stuff. I give them away - I keep my things in a good shape so it feels good giving them away because they're always almost as good as new.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

YES!!!!

Stoofa, I'm damn happy for you! In the end this just turned out to be a petty standoff instituted by your immediate boss, who seems to be a pathetic tight-ass with some serious issues.

Enjoy your new iPod. You deserve it. I hope you chose to have it courriered to you front door. Let your damn work pay for it to be delivered! HA!

Hope you'll get better soon!

EDIT: If I were you I'd drop off a small gift box of chocolat truffles to your UBER-boss and thank her for sparing you further distress over this. Show her your iPod and tell her it's helping you get into a better mood enroute to work 'cause you can listen to your favourite music. w000t!

[Lucien21]

*Makes note to remind Squarejaw to leave Mira's stuff alone*

[Stoofa]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

Is it even worth all of the emotional and mental stress over an inanimate object (granted a nice one but still just a thing)?

It's not really about the object, it's how the situation was handled (poorly on her part) and how I feel this woman treats the staff that work really hard for her, staff who often go over and above what's expected of them for her. She is this way about everything and it just rubs people the wrong way. She got after a co-worker of mine for taking 3 days of family leave (her father was in the hospital and close to death), and still didn't back down even after it was pointed out to her that the 3 days of family leave were in the contract. She marks down the times that everyone comes into work and when they leave work. She'll ding you for being 5 minutes late in the morning, but she'll think of excuses not to give a few minutes of overtime. She's just a jerk, basically, and she reaps what she sows because I certainly will not go out of my way for her again, and I was the last person on staff who would.