I’ve had so many bad bosses, I don’t know where to begin.

I worked at a fast-food restaurant in high school. I was hired as a
favor to my uncle, who was one of my managers. The day I left (for
bigger and better things), one of my other managers said, “When we
hired you, I was like, ‘Oh great, this is gonna be some slacker kid
that has to have a family member get him a job. But now I really like
you’.” Wow, talk about a back-handed compliment.

I worked for French chef that once got mad at me for helping our
dining room manager (this was at a private country club) set up some
tables. She was in her 60’s. He grabbed me by my arm, pulled me into
the kitchen, and said to me, “I can be your best friend, or your
worst nightmare! Don’t f*** with me!” I quit the next day.

I worked for a catering company owned by an elderly couple. Very brash,
very racist people. I hurt my back at work one day, and took one (1)
day off to “recover”. I came back to work the next day, and he told
me he had seen a car that looked like mine parked downtown, so it
must have been me out partying (wasn’t mine, I’ve never been a
partier). He told me to get the hell out and never come back.

The best is when my brother and I worked for the same company. He had
been passed over several times for promotion. He finally left, and
later I was promoted to General Manager. They then promoted a lady to
the position he had wanted. This was a Fortune 500 company that
brought millions, if not billions, a year. The woman that was
promoted to what was essentially a regional manager had spent time in
prison for credit card fraud. She was put in charge of several
offices, all of which had thousands of dollars a month paid via
credit card. Seem like a good idea to you? I bought myself a $200
bottle of Scotch the day I left that job.

I used to work at a restaurant while going to school full-time. I had
a difficult time balancing school and work, so I asked my manager to
cut me back from 6 nights a week to just 4 nights a week. I had read
the manual and shift managers were only required to work 4 nights a
week to receive the monthly bonus and benefits. He denied my request
and I continued working 6 nights a week. My grades began to suffer,
so when my husband got a salary position I put in my two weeks notice
and left the job on good terms.

I found a new job within 3 weeks. I took a $2 pay cut, but they were
willing to work around my school schedule. About 2 weeks later, I
found out I was pregnant. I talked to my boss because I wanted to ask
about more hours, more pay, and benefits. He actually helped me obtain
all three! After 6 months, my old boss called me and said that they
had taken a huge loss when a few other shift managers quit. He wanted
me back. I asked him what he was willing to offer. He wanted to meet
in person. When I met with him I was 7 months pregnant and HUGE. He
congratulated me enthusiastically about 5 times. We dicussed what he
was willing to offer and I told him I would think about it and call him
back.

A week later, he actually called me and asked what the verdict
was. I told him I had one question: “What accommodations will you
give me since I’m pregnant?” His response? “YOU’RE PREGNANT?!”

A few years ago, I worked for a coffee shop. My boss/owner of the
shop was notoriously cheap and refused to install plumbing in the
shop where I worked. We had running water, but the two sinks drained
into five gallon buckets that had to be emptied by hand in a back
room about 50 feet away. That meant that several times a day, we had
to carry buckets weighing almost 50 pounds each that contained a mix
of soapy water, coffee, milk, and whipped cream to the back room to
empty into the drains.

The final straw was when I found out that my mother had been
diagnosed with an inoperable, terminal cancer. She wanted to die at
home and, being an only child, I needed be there to help her. I told
my boss what was happening, and warned him that I’d be leaving
probably within the next month to stay at home with my mother.

Inevitably, the time came when I needed to be at home with my mom. I
told my boss that the next Friday would be my last day.

He asked me what he could do to make me stay.

I said, in a gallows humor way, that I’d stay if he could make my
mother not die. He said that miracles happen every day.

After I picked my jaw off of the floor, I said that I was more
reality-based and that there was nothing he could do to make me stay.
He told me that it was going to be too difficult to find someone to
take my place, and that he’d have to come in and do my job.

The man tried to guilt me into staying because it was too onerous for
him to replace me.

When I was 14, I got my first part-time job at a national fast-food
chain. I have always been a bit of a perfectionist, even when
shilling fries and roast beef. So at my first 6-month review, my boss
(the store manager) raved about my work, gave me a 50 cent raise (the
most you can get at one time), and told me to keep it up. I did. But
somewhere between that 6 month review and the next one (after working
there for a year) she got wind that I am Jewish. When we sat down for
the year review, she denied me a raise. I asked why, obviously, and
she replied “Well….um, this is a Christian nation. Your people
don’t belong here.”

I would end the story on that delightful note, but the funny part is
that I indignantly stormed out of the restaurant after yelling “I
quit!” only to have to wait outside for 20 minutes for my mom to come
pick me up. Quitting with a bang is hard to do when you aren’t old
enough for a driver’s license.

I was informed my father had passed away and I wrote my boss and his
deputy (located in an office in another state) that I would be at
work that day – but would be out the following week for bereavement
leave as I had to travel to another state for the funeral.

The deputy e-mailed his condolences later that morning, and my boss
called me later that morning at my office to express his condolences
and inform me I was being terminated, but he was willing to grant me
bereavement leave for the following week if I really needed the time
off.

Like Dad used to say, some days you have to laugh to keep from
crying.

My new supervisor must have selective early onset Alzheimer’s,
because she never remembers what I say or do except when I make a
mistake.

About two weeks ago, I made a dentist appointment for a routine
cleaning and x-rays as I haven’t been in quite a while. Less than 5
minutes after making the appointment, I e-mailed her to ask if I may
keep the appointment and have about 2 hours away from the office. She
approved my request via e-mail and all was well.

When I returned from my appointment and entered my leave in our
official computer system to show how long I had actually been out of
the office, I e-mailed her to say the request was online pending
official approval.

The next day, she came by my cube to say, “Can you meet with my and
[my boss] in 5 mintues?”

My gut knew this was going to be bad….

My supervisor told my boss that I had just taken off from work
without telling anyone, asking for leave, explaining what had
happened, or anything else. I had abandoned my post and gone AWOL for
2 hours and was “blowing her off” by not being communicative.

Angry, I said as calmly as I could, “No, that is not correct. I put
my leave request in for today’s my dentist appointment 2 weeks ago
and have [my supervisor's] approval in my Inbox, which I will forward
to both of you after this meeting.” I did just that and my supervisor
was proven wrong. Did I get an apology or confession that she’d made
a mistake? Of course not.

I am still working here as I am “trapped” in a 2 year internship.
However, as soon as my probationary period is over, I am out of
here!