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Post Info TOPIC: Update. People are insane: A Rant


Marc Jacobs

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Update. People are insane: A Rant
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 Just had to share this rediculousity with you guys.

I work in a large skyscraper building.  My company occupies 1 & 3/4 floors, with my floor being shared with a very small suite.  We mostly just see these people in passing, say hi, they're usually standoffish and rude.  This morning I was in the bathroom (which has two stalls for the floor and is shared between the suites) and one of the people from the other suite kept telling me and a coworker that my company is getting too big, we need our own bathroom, there's never any room, why don't we get our own bathroom? etc etc as if I could pick one up on my lunchbreak or something.  I agreed that space was a challenge and went back to work.

Later in the afternoon I received a dress I'd ordered and a coworker wanted to see it.  We went to the bathroom (during our lunchbreak) and I decided to try it on.  I was looking at it in our mirror but left my clothes in one of the stalls.  A different woman from that suite opened the door with a look of sheer TERROR, ANGER and DISGUST.  I mean, she looked like she'd walked in on her parents in bed.  I saw her face and said "Uhm, there's a free stall right there" (in response to her face) and my coworker motioned to show which one was open.  She gave me a dirty look but proceeded to go to the bathroom.  She then finished up in the stall, came out, looked me in the eye and said, "You know, you didn't have to be such a FUCKING BITCH about it!" then proceeded to insult my company, we're slobs, we shouldn't be using their bathroom, etc etc etc.  We bantered back n forth, turns out they have 4 women and we have 20-30.  It's a matter of logistics here.  She was visibly shaking and was a human representation of a teapot over-boiling if I've ever seen one.  

Anyways, people overheard the commotion, it was brought to my boss' attention, became an HR issue, and reported to building management (mind you, this is a huge building, with 38 floors near the United Nations).  I am annoyed, distracted and embarrassed to be involved in a BATHROOM SCUFFLE.  I wrote an official "statement" with my side of the story tonight and have a meeting w HR.

WTF is wrong w people????  



-- Edited by XtinaStyles on Thursday 18th of November 2010 10:06:27 PM

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Hermes

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RE: People are insane: A Rant
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that is crazy! obviously the little suite has expended a lot of energy and focus on the bathroom size. GROW UP, LADIES. sheesh

I cannot imagine the ridiculousness of all you had to go through today. I've experienced similar, and it's like being side swiped -- like, hey, wait a minute! I didn't do anything - they did!

what a mess -- do you feel like your office is behind you?

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Gucci

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That's just nuts. It sounds like this other office obviously doesn't have enough work to do to keep their minds occupied. They must spend a good portion of the day complaining about the horrific "slights" that your office inflicts upon them daily (read sarcasm here, in case it doesn't translate.)

I completely get your mortification that this 5 minute interaction with a co-work during your personal lunch time has erupted into such a overblown office issue. I feel for you. If it's any consolation, you at least had another person with you to back you up with HR. It might have been even more of a HR nightmare if it was just you and this other very messed up woman.

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Hermes

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Boots - you're right -- so good there was a witness there!

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Marc Jacobs

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I can't believe your floor has engaged in a turf war over the women's bathroom. That is crazy to me. I can't imagine being so concerned about who I'm sharing an office bathroom with. I'm sorry that this other woman has made what shouldn't have even been an incident into an HR nightmare.

Good grief!

Hopefully it blows over soon.

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Chanel

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Seriously this is so high school - forget the annoyance, think of the comedy potential! You and your coworker are total badasses now!

You should get matching jackets and strut around the office picking on people and knocking things over. If someone comes up to you sneer "what are YOU looking at?" Write "touch this and die" on your lunch in the fridge. Etc.

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Hermes

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I am constantly amazed at the shit people get worked up about in the office. It's like people are so bored or under-stimulated with their work that all they have to do to amuse themselves is make things into HUGE PROBLEMS when really they're not problems at all.

I know you are embarrassed but I can't see how they could ever side with her, and I have a feeling that after this is over, anytime you see one of the HR people in the hallway you two will have a laugh at the crazy situation you were all wrapped up in. I mean, what is her argument going to be? "I walked in and they told me where the free stall was, those bitches!" - she is the one who looks totally nutso here bringing this "issue" up with HR.

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Marc Jacobs

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It gets better guys.

So I had my meeting w HR (which was booked over another meeting that I had on my calendar). It was scheduled at 11 am. By 11:08 I was still alone in the meeting room so I went to see the person who had scheduled me. She was at her desk on her emails. ANnoyed, she told me she'd meet me in the meeting room when she was ready. By the time she came out, the room was already taken. We returned to her office and she looked at me and said "whats up?" A little shocked at her purposeful ignorance, I told her I wanted to discuss what happened and gave her my statement. She read it and said "yep well this is pretty much what everyone had already said." She then went on to tell me that if the bathroom is messy I must take extra care to be mindful of the space and to others. Exasperated, I told her I am not the only person using that bathroom and the issue at hand was not the cleanliness but the fact that she verbally attacked me! She sort of rolled her eyes and said yes well, she spoke to their management about the mess and they were told about the language used and so that was all that can be done. Frustrated, I said, well where does this leave me? I understand that we can't do anything to them but why is the lesson learned that we have to be cleaner, and there is no concern about me and how I was treated? I said, if they were concerned about the cleanliness, they should have reported it to building management, or office management and that it was unprofessional. She said that it could be argued that changing in the bathroom is unprofessional. At that point, I realized what a fucking bitch she was and that I was getting nowhere. I asked her what she'd do with my statement, she rolled her eyes and said she didn't know, she guesses she could put it in my file if she felt the need. I said yes, please do.

I later had a meeting with my boss' boss about how this meeting went down. He reminded me that that's about all the company can do and it's unfortunate that we don't have a "fuzzy, caring" HR dept. I told him that it wasn't a matter of fuzzy - this person verbally attacked me and my company, as a whole is taking a lackadaisical approach. I told him that I've worked at big companies before and that I've never seen an HR issue being dealt like this - I may as well have gone to THEIR HR dept and I'd have gotten the exact same response. He apologized that I went through this and said that HR is wrong, no one gets to dictate bathroom behaviors and to go try stuff on all I please. He said if another incident happens they will formally sit down w building management and deal with it then.

I am left, exhausted, annoyed, unfulfilled, frustrated, and 4 hours behind in my work.

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Dooney & Bourke

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RE: Update. People are insane: A Rant
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XtinaStyles wrote:

It gets better guys.

So I had my meeting w HR (which was booked over another meeting that I had on my calendar). It was scheduled at 11 am. By 11:08 I was still alone in the meeting room so I went to see the person who had scheduled me. She was at her desk on her emails. ANnoyed, she told me she'd meet me in the meeting room when she was ready. By the time she came out, the room was already taken. We returned to her office and she looked at me and said "whats up?" A little shocked at her purposeful ignorance, I told her I wanted to discuss what happened and gave her my statement. She read it and said "yep well this is pretty much what everyone had already said." She then went on to tell me that if the bathroom is messy I must take extra care to be mindful of the space and to others. Exasperated, I told her I am not the only person using that bathroom and the issue at hand was not the cleanliness but the fact that she verbally attacked me! She sort of rolled her eyes and said yes well, she spoke to their management about the mess and they were told about the language used and so that was all that can be done. Frustrated, I said, well where does this leave me? I understand that we can't do anything to them but why is the lesson learned that we have to be cleaner, and there is no concern about me and how I was treated? I said, if they were concerned about the cleanliness, they should have reported it to building management, or office management and that it was unprofessional. She said that it could be argued that changing in the bathroom is unprofessional. At that point, I realized what a fucking bitch she was and that I was getting nowhere. I asked her what she'd do with my statement, she rolled her eyes and said she didn't know, she guesses she could put it in my file if she felt the need. I said yes, please do.

I later had a meeting with my boss' boss about how this meeting went down. He reminded me that that's about all the company can do and it's unfortunate that we don't have a "fuzzy, caring" HR dept. I told him that it wasn't a matter of fuzzy - this person verbally attacked me and my company, as a whole is taking a lackadaisical approach. I told him that I've worked at big companies before and that I've never seen an HR issue being dealt like this - I may as well have gone to THEIR HR dept and I'd have gotten the exact same response. He apologized that I went through this and said that HR is wrong, no one gets to dictate bathroom behaviors and to go try stuff on all I please. He said if another incident happens they will formally sit down w building management and deal with it then.

I am left, exhausted, annoyed, unfulfilled, frustrated, and 4 hours behind in my work.



Gotta say - that SUCKS!!!!!  Glass of wine make ya feel better?    wink.gif  mabee......

 



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Hermes

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number one, that woman WAY overreacted. You did nothing wrong. her complaint about seeing a woman changing into a dress, in the restroom, should have hit deaf ears alone.

secondly, the issue of the bathroom's cleanliness should have been directed to the building management.

the fact that this ever, ever was broached with your employer, and the fact that they pursued it as a personal complaint against you through HR, is absolutely ridiculous.

so sorry you had to go through such a humiliating and anti-productive nightmare. I want to bitch slap your employer.

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Hermes

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GOSH Xtina - THAT'S some SERIOUS BULLSH**! I'd be BEYOND frustrated, esp. w/the HR Dept. Man! Keep us updated, but yeah. That other lady made a mountain out of a mole hill...

-- Edited by TheLovelyLady71 on Friday 19th of November 2010 10:04:50 AM

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Gucci

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That's just wrong. Plain wrong.

It was YOUR lunch hour so I can't see why changing your clothes in a bathroom is in anyway unprofessional. If it had been during work time or if you had strutted around the office showing off the dress, that would be another story. But in a washroom with just just one co-worker on your free time?????

It sounds like your HR department is basically useless. At least you controlled the urge to smack the HR person's head every time she rolled her eyes (and I'm assuming you really wanted to, because hell, I really wanted to just reading it.)  matrixfight.gif

I guess the only thing you can really take from this is that you are way more professional than the insane woman from the other company and your HR rep.

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