My (former) boss was absolutely insane, and what she did to another employee caused a mass quitting at my workplace.

I worked at a salon and spa. We had a coworker who, admittedly, had a personal life that was nothing less than a disaster and she made awful life choices. However, she was ALWAYS at work on time and was extremely talented, so we just listened to her trainwreck stories and moved on.

Then, her boyfriend moved out; he just left while she was visiting family out of state, taking their dogs with him. She was obviously devastated and called out for a few days in a row.

I was a manager, and I didn’t care that she called out because it was out of the norm for her to call in. Having heard many stories of the chaos that was her life, I just took it on faith that her life had finally taken a sudden left turn that she couldn’t just spring back from, and she needed the time. Eventually, everyone snaps and just needs that space, you know? Despite being a wreck, she was still reaching out to me occasionally to check in, and I just kept telling her to take the time she needed to put herself back together and do some proper self-care.

On day three of her calling out, [Salon Owner] entered the fray. Now, let me make this as clear as I can: what happened next wasn’t a rumor, nor did I hear it secondhand. [Salon Owner] was openly proud of herself and didn’t miss a chance to tell anyone what she’d done.

[Salon Owner] decided that [Coworker] had been given enough time and took action. She found [Coworker]’s home address on the employment paperwork, went to [Coworker]’s house, searched the yard until she found a hidden spare key, and walked right in. [Salon Owner] then stormed through the house until she found [Coworker]’s bedroom, threw open the door, and shouted her awake.

Salon Owner: “Wake up and get dressed! It’s time to stop feeling sorry for yourself! You have work to do, and I expect you to do it. The world doesn’t stop for you just because you want to pout.”

[Coworker] let out a string of curses.

Coworker: “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! ARE YOU INSANE?! THIS IS NOT OKAY!”

Salon Owner: “You have a job to do!”

Coworker: “Not today.”

Salon Owner: “Get up, get dressed, and get in the car. I’m driving you, so you don’t even have to drive yourself.”

Coworker: “I’m not coming in. I already called out.”

[Salon Owner] ignored that statement.

Salon Owner: “Get dressed. You have five minutes to get ready. Either do it, or you’re fired!”

Coworker: “GET THE F*** OUT! I’M CALLING THE POLICE!”

[Salon Owner] left after telling [Coworker] that she was fired. The staff was absolutely gobsmacked as [Salon Owner] bragged about this incident to everyone and flatly told the rest of us that she would do the same to any of us if we tried to be lazy like [Coworker] was.

As we tried to string words together to mention just how illegal that was, we were all struck silent (again) by police officers coming into the salon and telling [Salon Owner] that they needed to talk.

I had been planning to open my own salon soon anyway, so I just looked at my staff.

Me: “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m typing up my resignation, effective immediately.”

The rest of the staff weren’t far behind me.

Related:
Like A Good Sister, Lock Up Your Audacity!
Like A Good Neighbor, It’s Nice That They Care
Like A Good Neighbor, Don’t Be A Creep!
Like A Good Neighbor, Stay Out Of My House!
Like A Good Neighbor, Eyes To Yourself!

My partner and I go to a local discount store to pick up some stuff for the house. I use a wheelchair, and thus, I have a disabled parking placard. We pull into the parking lot and realize that a HUGE [Soda Company] semi truck is taking up every single accessible spot. My partner and I look at each other.

Me: “What the f***?!”

We park in a regular spot, and my partner goes in alone to talk to the manager.

Partner: “Hey, your [Soda Company] guy is taking up all the disabled spots. My boyfriend and I need one of those spots.”

Manager: “He’s almost done. Can’t you just use a normal spot?”

Partner: *Pauses* “He has a placard for a reason. And parking in one of those spots without one is illegal, much less all five.”

Manager: “Well, I’ll ask him to hurry.”

Partner: “You know what? I think we’ll try somewhere else.”

He came back out and relayed the conversation that happened inside. We took some pictures of the truck, the license plate, and good angles of it blocking literally every last accessible parking spot. We ended up reporting them to the company — and the manager, who didn’t seem to understand why we were complaining. Last I heard, the driver got reprimanded.

The electronics store where I work has one particular worker who seems like a bit of a contradiction. He’s EXCELLENT at solving problems that other workers are having, but he makes some VERY dumb decisions.

As an example, our video games section has empty cases on the shelf. You bring a case to the front counter, and they ring you out with an unopened case that has a game in it taken from a storage locker of sorts. [Worker] single-handedly keeps the locker sorted so that the most popular games are in the most convenient place for a worker to grab them. And yet, if he happens to be the one who sells a customer the last copy of a certain game that is in the locker, he’ll grab a giant stack of games from the back room, refill the locker, return the remaining games to the back room, and then resume checking out the customer.

One day, I overheard two of my coworkers talking about him.

Coworker #1: “I don’t get [Worker]. How can someone be so smart and so stupid at the same time?”

Coworker #2: “Well, you have to remember that ‘stupid’ can mean both ‘lack of intelligence’ and ‘lack of wisdom’.”

Coworker #1: “What’s the difference?”

Coworker #2: “Intelligence is being able to pop the hood of a car, look at the engine running, and tell what’s wrong with it. Wisdom is knowing better than to pop the hood of a car and look at the engine running while it’s in motion. [Worker] has the first one; he doesn’t have the second one.”

Ever since, whenever I run into a stupid customer, I keep this conversation in my mind.

Back about twenty years ago, a vegetarian friend was on a bus tour of Russia. At one point, the whole group had a banquet. All the other tables had food piled up. The vegetarians were at a table together, and in the middle was a large pot of soup. One member of the party dipped the ladle into the soup, and it came out with a whole chicken!

They complained to the waiter, explaining that they don’t eat flesh, so the waiter removed the chicken from the pot and walked away.

End of story, they did not eat that night. Hopefully, they had snacks back in their hotel rooms!

I recently had my purse stolen, which necessitated getting a new copy of my driver’s license. After a three-hour wait at the DMV (seriously), I finally got to the employee at the counter. He was helpful until it came time for me to pay. All I had was a hundred-dollar bill — no credit cards because of the stolen purse — and my total was $30.

Me: “Can you make change for a hundred?”

Employee: “Sure, I think so. Let’s see.”

He opened his drawer, took out a fifty-dollar bill, and eyed the scant few bills he had left.

Employee: “Err, one sec.” *Turning to the employee next to him* “Hey, do you have change for a fifty?”

She gave him two twenties and a ten, and he handed her the fifty. Then turned back to me.

Employee: “Okay, so, the twenty plus the…”

He stared at where the fifty had been — the one he had just handed to his coworker — and then at the bills in his hand. Then, he let out a huge sigh. I could SEE the defeat in his eyes.

Employee: “Sorry, it’s been a long day. I’ll take your hundred-dollar bill and go get change from the manager’s office, okay? I’ll be right back.”

He did eventually give me the correct change, but it was nice to know I wasn’t the only one dead inside after spending too long at the DMV!