Fight at work

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

I'm a pretty even keeled person IRL, and for the first time in 8 years at AOL, I very nearly jumped across the table and stomped a finance peon. He was made to look foolish, and I of course returned from the fray triumphant, but I'm curious...

...how many folks have ever actually come to blows in the workplace?

(and I seriously felt like I was going to get into a brawl -- adrenalin, blood pumping, everything)

[peam]

What'd the sucka do?

[DeV]

I've never had that happen and I doubt any of my co-works are worth a trip to the slammer.

Least you came out on top, without going to blows.

[Pierat]

Yah, working at a summer camp leaves me lots of room to uhh manuever. Theres allot of us at the same bars every night, and being the highest member of the staff to go out, whenever someones got a issue with the camp, its my deal. I never have started fights but ive gotten into it with staff members over everything to not letting them drive my friends/staff members home while theyre drunk to not picking fights with other camps, to defending decisions made against them and even guys who have been fired who have stuck around. Its come to fists a few times.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

Originally posted by peam
What'd the sucka do?

Told some bold faced lies to both my boss, and his boss, with me in the room, about a conversation we'd had earlier in the day.

It's a long story, but I manage the staff allocations and metrics for Member Services (portion of AOL that customers interact with), and during a budget I pass off data to finance in intervals, which we then upload to the Time Warner budget. Well, he (finance peon) had some misconceptions about his roll, and my roll, and has been trying to get me to jump through a few hoops the past 3 or 4 days for him... Luckily for me, he tried via IM and I relayed some of his questionable demands to my boss Tuesday.

This morning I get online and he sends me this...

Finance Peon [9:03 AM]: Good morning Bill. Why did you update the NB and BB files without asking me to send you my files? I spend quite a bit of time yesterday revising them. Can I send you my files and you update them instead?
Tayvin [9:04 AM]: No
Finance Peon [9:04 AM]: I thought we agreed to it yesterday before you update the files to let me know so I can send you my files
Tayvin [9:06 AM]: No, you sent me 4 IM's telling me what to do -- we need to be clear that the finance files are yours to maintain, and that I don't work for you.
Finance Peon [9:10 AM]: Bill, I agree that the files are mine to maintain, however I specifically requested multiple times that if you are going to change the volumes then let me know so I can send you my updated files with cost per call. I will discuss with Todd.
Tayvin [9:10 AM]: Please do.

So anyway, Peon, Todd (his boss, my old workout buddy) and my boss, all meet and we clarified his roll. It's more complex than all that but you get the jist.

[Stunseed]

After you were triumphant, I'd told that bitch to make you some pie.

I really hate when people try to boss me around, and I have to toss rank on them. I'm as laid back of a manager there is, so I don't go ordering people around, because we're all adults. If you choose not to do your job, then you get fired. I'm glad you stood up for yourself and told him you weren't going to do his job for him.

[crazymage]

pie for me to plz

[longshot]

I almost got into with my supervisor this past week.

He's a total bitch, and we don't teach together because of it.

We had a "verbal altercation" in the staff room, and I was called into the principal's office to discuss if everything was going okay.

My principal understands what a shitbag this guy is, so he was more than understanding.

Rather than get upset that I was teaching only three classes a week, he told me to not worry about it because I'm leaving soon.

The confrontation with my advisor was a bit harry though. He expected me to just come work with him again after not speaking to eachother for a solid month. I told him he owed me an apology. He asked what for, and I explicitly told him what he did. (He was a real bitch, but I was very eloquent in my explanation of why he owed me an apology.)

The fucker gets all twitchy and his English starts breaking up. He doesn't want to speak Japanese because he knows if I repeat things he said it'd be the end of his sorry ass... so he says, "No, you owe me an apology!".

I asked him what I should apologize for, and he counters with, "You don't remember?". I was like... I'm sure I do, but I have no idea what upset you, because you never told me that it upset you. He said, "You don't remember?" again. At this point, I started getting pissed. If you are going to confront me, and I'm going to come clean as to why I pissed you off, you can at least be man enough to say what's bothering you. I started yelling at this point, telling him I'm not a mind reader, and that there is no way to know what is bothering him unless he tells me.

So what does the bitch do? He goes, "I don't want to talk to you anymore", and runs away to smoke his cheap ass lark cigarettes that make his breath smell like open ass with a dash of partially decayed corpse.

The blood was pumping though... for like the rest of the day. It wasn't until my boss (principal) laughed when I told him the story that I was able to relax.

So, while it's all tense, and you feel like you are going to stomp the guy... when you are vindicated in the end, it's almost a better feeling than stomping the guy. Almost...

Edited to add: I forgot a closing punctuation mark. I'm drunk... sue me.

[Edited on 4-30-2004 by longshot]

[Wezas]

On Fights
Two co-workers of mine have been friends forever, both working here almost 7 years. They joke and horse around now and then, sometimes coming up and smacking each other on the back of the head. One day their playing evolved into a light-hearted wrestling match. It quickly turned ugly once they realized they had an audience and neither guy wanted to look like a pussy. I ended up having to break it up and they didn't talk to each other for a few days. Everything was cool after that, guess they worked their shit out.


On Supervisors
My boss left about a month ago and for some reason, I was told that I need to report to this one girl who's at the same level I am (lead). This irritates me a little, but I deal. As soon as she finds out, she's on my case 24/7 asking for things, calling me every 10 minutes, and just being fucking annoying (I'm a programmer). I speak to her boss (head guy at our division) and he understands and makes an announcement that I now work for him. He's nowhere near as annoying, and he doesn't know how to manage, so it works out well.

[Warriorbird]

longshot = Great Teacher Onizuka

Personally I've never gotten into a fight AT work, though I did come to blows with a fellow workstudy student from the same deparment at a party while I was still in college.

I did report a supervisor for cocaine use when I worked security. He was a danger to all of us and himself.

[Edited on 4-30-2004 by Warriorbird]