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January 20, 2006
The Painfully True Story Of Why Temping Ain't Easy
This has been Crazy Week at work (well, Crazy Week in general). We've had all these changes, re-organizations and I'm going to be moving to a new floor and new department and all kinds of stuff. Crazy! Change! But even with unrest and commotion, this is still my favorite job by far. People here are sane. My boss is nice, and really not to hard on the eyes if you know what I mean (and I think you do) and the hours are great and, oh yeah. I am not working for the evil minion of Lucifer.
Because I have, in the past, actually worked for the horned beast.
During the dot-com heyday, I left Large Entertainment Corporation, Inc., to do freelance from home and live the hermit life I had always dreamed of. Then the dot-bomb happened and the hermit dream died and I went to work for an agency.
The agency would send me ("Qualified Creative Talent") on jobs for companies ("The Client") and my contracts would last anywhere from a few days to a few months. It was like being a high-class call girl for the corporate world. You know, I got dressed up, I showed up, I performed, I got paid, etc. I didn't have to get undressed, but aside from that I was still pretty much pimping myself out for cash. Anyway. Moving along.
It was during this period ("Purgatory") that I met The Satan Boss.
Now I should warn ya'll that this is a horror story, and should serve as a cautionary tale to temps everywhere: you, too, could take a nice little temp job and find yourself working for the horned beast. Bring disinfectant.
It started sometime back in the fall of 2001, when Unnamed Large Company hired me to design a new software they were developing. I was brought in after their last designer mysteriously refused to return to work. THIS WAS A HINT YA'LL.
Because the project was new, and on a rushed timeline, Large Company placed me in a window office with the woman who was my boss. It became clear to me after a few days that this was no normal boss. But I had no idea ... in my defense, I was younger. Less jaded. I was maybe naive. And possibly very much addicted to shoe shopping. I overlooked things, ya'll know, for a paycheck.
One evening around 6 p.m., I was sitting at my desk trying to work through a mound of project sheets. My boss, Satan, turned around and announced, "I'm bored! My brain is so fried! So ... what are you doing?"
Now, I hadn't worked there long, but prior experience had taught me that Satan was about ten seconds away from rolling her chair over to my desk, looking over my shoulder and offering completely unsolicited advice on how she thought I could do things better using tools she has no idea how to use, but was convinced she understood design software from her passing knowledge of such high-end products as Notepad.
It had happened before. All designers fear the moment an INAD* begins to offer "tips."
(INAD = People who give LOTS of feedback, but always preface it with "I'm Not A Designer, But....")
To head her off at the INAD pass, I suggested she go online to relieve her boredom and take the ColorQuiz, which I was insanely addicted to at the time. I knew it would take up at least five minutes. (A reprieve, no matter how small, was worth it.)
After she finished the ColorQuiz, she turned to me and said, "This is fun! Are there other quizzes online that I can take like this?"
Giving my boss busy work to keep her off my case? Why, yes, ma'am, I can do that!
"Go to emode.com," I told her, "they have tons of quizzes there for you to take." So she registered at emode and started taking quizzes. In the next half hour, Satan became a quiz-taking fool, all out loud of course, telling me what her inner cat was, who her inner rock star was and the name of her ultimate celebrity love match. Apparently, it had not occurred to Satan to waste valuable company time quietly and to herself.
Out of the blue, she started laughing hysterically.
It was an evil laugh.
A foreboding laugh.
"Listen to the title of this quiz!" she said. "It's called 'How Evil Are You?'" Satan started laughing again. "I don't have to take that one... I already know I'm evil!"
She turned her chair around to face me. "Do you want to know what the most evil thing I've ever done is?"
Ah.
Well.
I knew I shouldn't. I knew that fate was tempting me. I knew that whatever I would hear was something I would immediately wish I could un-hear.
But I am a weak woman.
"Sure," I answered. "What's the most evil thing you've ever done?"
She leaned back in her chair.
"Well, once, oh this was about ten years ago..." she says, "I had this boyfriend. I knew he was cheating on me, and I wanted to know who the slut was that he was sleeping with, and I wanted to really give it to him... anyway, I had this guy friend who had gonorrhea. So I slept with him. And I got gonorrhea. Then, the next night, I slept with my boyfriend and I gave him gonorrhea. So I went to the doctor and I got the medicine and I started taking the pills.
"Three days later, when my boyfriend's d*ck was on fire and about to fall off [Ed. Note: THESE WERE HER EXACT WORDS PEOPLE] he had to come to me and tell me he had gonorrhea... and I ripped him a new one... I screamed at him and he had to tell me who he'd slept with ... and by the end of the night he was on his knees, crying!"
She looked at me expectantly. She was smiling.
"Oh." I said. "Oh."
"Heh," she chuckled, "Oh, I told you. I'm evil. Nobody messes with me."
I excused myself.
The realization of what I had just heard from my new boss who I had known a mere eight days had not fully sunk in yet. I went to the ladies room because I thought I might be sick. But then, as I reached the ladies room, I realized ... I realized HOLY MOTHER OF GOD MY BOSS GAVE HERSELF GONORRHEA.
AND SHE USES THIS VERY LADIES ROOM. And she is my FREAKING BOSS and she's telling me this HORRIBLE STORY at WORK where we are EMPLOYED and expected to have some form of DECENT CONDUCT.
AND I CAN NEVER USE THE LADIES ROOM ON THIS FLOOR AGAIN.
So I then had to go to the lobby and ride the elevator down to the 14th floor and use the ladies room there. I took all the disinfectant wipes from the first aid cabinet and began systematically wiping down my entire workstation. And the elevator keys. And the doorknobs.
Now, I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but it was clear that my boss was indeed the daughter of Lucifer and resided at 666 Avenue of The Beast. I went home that evening and called the agency and asked for a new assignment. There was no way I could return to The Scene Of The Crime.
After all, the ladies room on the 14th floor was still too near the source of germs. I'd have to resort to using the ladies room in the Chinese restaurant downstairs. And before long she might try to get me to sign over my soul, or eat a small child, or bite the head off a kitten.
So, I never returned to the job, and time passed and I found this job at White Guys In Ties, inc., and all was well. Except... every now and then I look at my boss and want to hug him. Just for being unsatanic. And never once asking me to bite the head off a little kitten.
Posted by laurie at January 20, 2006 12:34 AM
Comments
Ok so she may be the offspring of Satan, BUT dam she is smart... and brave! She ain't got no fear of some funk on her junk.
I guess if you have the prince of darkness on your side it takes the scare out of things.
Posted by: Aimee the sis at January 19, 2006 09:12 PM
To be honest, I wouldn't mind having a few ounces of her moxie, Aimee!! LOL
However, the germaphobe in me had serious issues ;)
Posted by: laurie at January 19, 2006 09:13 PM
Also... you win the funny phrase prize, you said "funk on her junk" !!!!!!!
Posted by: laurie at January 19, 2006 09:14 PM
Oh my god, Laurie. Oh. my. god.
Where the heck do you find them? Is everyone in LA freaking insane like that?
Posted by: jodi at January 19, 2006 09:23 PM
Okay, at first I thought your title was "why TEMPTING ain't easy". I thought maybe you were trying to knit that sweater from Knitty. Then I had to go back and look again to figure out what that had to do with the totally awful gonnorhea story. Duh.
Posted by: jodi at January 19, 2006 09:26 PM
Now that is a story. Good gracious. You were smart though, leaving like that. I probably, in my naive days, would've stuck around for a lot more torture.
Posted by: Daphne at January 19, 2006 09:34 PM
ewwwww! EWWWWWW!
that is one sick lady (all puns intended)
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
Posted by: Nancy France at January 19, 2006 09:39 PM
I'm not even surprised at what she did because if someone can think of it then someone, somewhere, sometime has done it.
But she tells you about it at WORK after knowing you for 8 days?? Geeeeeze. Isn't that more like a "2 AM, after drinking lots of alchohol, and hanging out together for months-if-not-years" sort of confession??
I couldn't have stayed either. What if you looked at her wrong one day and she decided to deliberately infect herself with pneumonobubonicanthrax just so she could pass it on to you?? Yikes!
Posted by: DebR at January 19, 2006 09:47 PM
I'm so glad I don't temp anymore. And for the rest of the week (yes, I know there's just one more day left), I won't mock my bosses for giving me stupid things to do.
Posted by: Melissa at January 19, 2006 09:54 PM
Oh. My. God.
I'm so glad my boss is (relatively) normal.
Posted by: Sarah at January 19, 2006 10:04 PM
ewwwwwwwwww!
Posted by: Norah at January 19, 2006 10:17 PM
Damn, that's harsh. Nothing like a psychotically vindictive bitch who's willing to infect herself with a disease just to get one over on a soon-to-be ex. Eeks.
Posted by: Samantha at January 19, 2006 11:19 PM
pure evil genius, your old temp boss. makes you wonder what she did to the person who vacated the position before you...
and have you heard of the dark side of personality and the big 5? people in upper level management tend to have traits consistent with antisocial (aka sociopathic) personality disorder. sounds like she fits right in.
Posted by: cyn at January 19, 2006 11:22 PM
Oh dear...I just laughed The Laugh. You know, the one that causes you to remark "Mine is an Evil Laugh" and damn if you're not correct sir!
And, wow. That's just crazy sick. Psychopath! I treat people at the state mental hospital who are more normal than her! Eek!
Posted by: Kit at January 20, 2006 01:17 AM
That is seriously scary! It makes you wonder what else she might have been prepared to do.
Posted by: Janine at January 20, 2006 02:12 AM
Sounds like your satan-ex-boss is the niece of Rosemary's Baby....or something like that. *LOL* Glad you got out of that.
Posted by: Elemmaciltur at January 20, 2006 02:44 AM
Maybe I'll bring my boss a nice card today. I hope your new digs on the new floor rock. Perhaps a window with a nice view of outside??
Posted by: Beth at January 20, 2006 03:51 AM
Jeez (all sad) I thought I had the best temping horror stories. I bow to your greatness.
Posted by: Debbie at January 20, 2006 04:00 AM
What a lovely Hallmark ending to the satan story!
I am glad to know your cats are safe from the new boss and we do not have to stage an intervention--
Posted by: suzanne at January 20, 2006 04:28 AM
Yuuuccckkk . . . I wonder if she's still up to these tricks.
Posted by: Lola Lee Beno at January 20, 2006 04:28 AM
LOL, Laurie! I don't know whether to say "You go, evil boss!" for her ruthless streak or to shudder at her utter lack of restraint, decency and common sense. BOTH, maybe! It's amazing how some people will tell stuff like that to near-strangers.
And by the way -- what is it about Southern women that brings out the confessor in others? Perhaps it's because we were brought up to be polite and feign interest and to be forgiving and understanding and supportive, and folks who haven't been exposed to that before seem to be particularly addicted to this. People are always telling me their deep-dark stories about secret cosmetic surgery, long-regretted abortions, torrid affairs, the slapfest their gay brother had with his unfaithful live-in love and how good ol' sis had to bail him out of jail, and all sorts of other lurid or juicy details. Do I have a "Bless me, Carolyn, for I have a real whopper of a story to tell" sign that is blinking somewhere above me? (Not that I'm complaining. For all the mental jaw-dropping I do, I wouldn't pass on getting to know folks.)
ANYWAY -- cheers on emerging safely from the gates of Hell!
- Carolyn B.
Posted by: Carolyn B. at January 20, 2006 04:34 AM
Um, that was simultaneously disgusting and hysterically funny. I must pass this onto just certain of my pals, like a contagious naughty giggle.
Posted by: Melody Johnson at January 20, 2006 04:48 AM
Laurie, you tell the *best* stories! And I'd be doing the same thing, using up all the disinfectant I could find and probably running out to pick up a can of Lysol to spray around my area.
My boss is insane, but nothing like that.
Posted by: Kathy at January 20, 2006 05:26 AM
ugh. I'm actually shuddering in my seat right now, which is several thousand safe miles away from that freak ex-boss.
Moxie is one thing. THAT lady's one short step away from bunny-killer...
Posted by: Rachel H at January 20, 2006 05:28 AM
Jesus H.
Posted by: Sharon at January 20, 2006 05:36 AM
That is an amazing story!
You win for best EVil boss story!
Posted by: Sarah HB at January 20, 2006 05:40 AM
Laurie,
I, too, had a satanic boss, only he was a cross between a dirty old lech and Elmer Fudd. For some reason he thought little-fresh-out-of-college-virginal-dewey-eyed-looking me would be enthralled with stories of his sexual antics with his wife. Imagine a Hitler-like mustache only sparse and creepy looking (sort of an attempt to grow one), sandy hair, pudgy body, effeminate hands, short, stooped, and wearing a polyblend hotel uniform with those shoulder thingies (which for the life of me I cannot spell). I was just a newbie to the work force and they left out the "constantly being shit upon" detail in the job description of Front Desk staff. Anyhoo, he would regale us (my worldy co-worker and partner in partying after our 3-11 pm shift when we would change in the "ugh" hotel bathroom and go out and drink up a storm while simultaneously hunting cute guys and playing darts - yeah, odd and rather dangerous mixture but worked for several years)with vivid and technical descriptions. I did not know (they did not have sexual harassment training then)I could have sued his ass for making me retch at work. The other piece is, he stole $200.00 from my drawer one night and had the audacity to blame it on me. Scenario... limited math skills me attempting to make sense of checks, big bills, small bills, assorted change, and the nightmare of front desk clerks - the mini-bar receipts. He comes over and tells me to go get the van transfers and add to my nightmare. I say no, I already started my drawer, he acts all "big and stuff" and I meekly go get them. I get back, recount my big bills and viola, $200 is missing and only one culprit. The hotel staff interviewed me, took my tape reciept as evidence, grilled the bellboys, talked to boss, and of course, the "mystery" was never solved. Guess boss-man didn't know I had counted the bills, I think he thought he caught me before I did so. I finally found a job at a preschool. Thank god.
---SAM
Posted by: SAM at January 20, 2006 05:40 AM
Perhaps with this experience under you, you'd really enjoy the book "The Devil Wears Prada."
W. :)
Posted by: Wendy at January 20, 2006 05:54 AM
Ew. Just...ew. Why on God's Green Earth would someone do something like that, even for revenge? Let us hope she never, ever REPRODUCES. Devil spawn. Can you imagine?
Posted by: Bad Hippie at January 20, 2006 06:11 AM
Now that, IS evil!
Posted by: ck at January 20, 2006 06:13 AM
I too have temped, although I never had a boss as evil as that!! EEUW...I'm not a germophobe, but even I would have broken out the antibacterial wipes.
Posted by: Judy at January 20, 2006 06:17 AM
Cripes! What happens when she starts using the untreatable STD's as tools of revenge? I mean, there are better ways of revenge w/out biological warfare. Ugh. Nasty. I'm not even a germophobe, but that is sooooo wrong. Glad you got away from that one so quickly. *Shudder*
Posted by: Terri at January 20, 2006 06:19 AM
This sounds so much like an urban legend story that I wonder if she was pulling your leg. But leaving was still a good call (to escape her sadistic humor, if nothing else).
Posted by: Sylvia at January 20, 2006 06:25 AM
ok, evil yes, but also fucking stupid. did she really have to sleep with someone with an STD to give it to her boyfriend? a couple of swabs and that would have taken care of that. how dangerous and STUPID.
good call on leaving that pronto.
i once lived the temp life, until i was assigned to an office where there was no staff. thats right, no one. this dude had just split with his business partner and the partner got all of the staff. so here was me, alone, the only staff all day, the "boss" was always on the road trying to do something, what im not sure, and he never gave me any direction or instructions or anything. i had to sit and answer the phone, which would be him calling in to see if anything was going on. to which there wasnt, b/c I WAS THE ONLY ONE THERE.
in 2 weeks i was "fired" for being unmotivated.
Posted by: Holly at January 20, 2006 06:28 AM
Ok - I THOUGHT I had the worst boss ever (not now, earlier in life) but you seriously win!
Mine was just a total B*tch! Yours - daughter of Satan!
April
Posted by: April at January 20, 2006 06:32 AM
WOW! She wasn't just evil, she was NUTS! That story makes me appreciate my boss even more.
Posted by: Saun at January 20, 2006 06:47 AM
Moxie. Evil. A bit of both, depending on who you are talking to. She totally made him suffer, while proving that she had no particular need to take the high road.
Ick.
And, since she is capable of THAT, well, you know you just have to stay away...
Posted by: Shelly at January 20, 2006 06:49 AM
that was hilarious.
and, well, serves the cheating bastard right for being a two-timing-scum-sucking-pig-bastard from hell. you gotta hand it to her, that was pretty damn clever and stupid all at once.
only in L.A.
Posted by: jaclyn at January 20, 2006 06:55 AM
What a freaking great story. I love it. Glad to be back on a computer so I can read you regularly again.
Posted by: ashbloem at January 20, 2006 06:57 AM
How do women like her find so many men to sleep with?
Ah. She must have been pretty. You can be as evil a bitch as you want, if you are pretty.
I don't think I would have gone back either.
Posted by: Mary in Boston at January 20, 2006 07:01 AM
Sweet mother of... Wow, that's evil and scary. I totally understand you running, just running from that job.
Posted by: Jennifer at January 20, 2006 07:19 AM
Woah.
Posted by: Chris at January 20, 2006 07:20 AM
Wow. That's . . . she has a serious personality disorder. That's the kind of stuff sociopaths do. I'm glad you don't work there anymore.
Posted by: lanea at January 20, 2006 07:23 AM
Oh My God. That's all I have to say about that.
Oh and thanks for the post about southern cooking.... I HAD to go make me some corn fritters....and I had grits for breakfast...with bacon in them. My darling husband from Montana just shakes his head.
Posted by: Jenn at January 20, 2006 07:27 AM
I had a nasty temp job once, and it was horrid. They were using this crappy CMS/webhost and the office was filled with strange drama. It's a long damn story, but it's put me off the idea of ever temping again.
The office manager I worked with never admitted to anything as awful as infecting herself to spite someone. She sure loved creating drama, but she arranged her it more to make people pity her than fear her.
Posted by: deety at January 20, 2006 07:28 AM
the worst dot com bomb experience I had was I was laid off (of course!) from a 30 person design house, they laid off everyone but the art director and the it director (and they where married - i could tell you about the yelling and screaming but that wasnt that bad compared to whats coming next...)
So I went to my art school that I had graduated from about 2 years before and they hooked me up with a little stint at another dot com...
COLOR CORRECTING TEDDY BEARS!! Yes you heard it right, color correcting teddy bears and t-shirts and umbrellas and CUPS!!! For an online catalog, you know the ones that personalize anything with your company logo on it.
Not only did I hate doing that (however I became intimatly familiar with photoshop levels!) what was worse was once I was done with a batch of photos I would wait for the photog to give me another set. So then my "manager" would walk by and give me shit if I was surfing cnn or whatever. He would tell me all the time to stop surfing, and I would say each time, I AM WAITING on more photos. Then I would suggest I call it a day if it was going to be very long.
Needles to say I left early many days, oh and my little desk, it was in a hallway. ya know like a hallway kinda created by a bunch of cubes, one side is a wall with fanch offices, and on the otherside of the hallway is a room full of cubes, and that wall was created by the cubes? I was in the HALLWAY!!
Posted by: Anonymous at January 20, 2006 07:47 AM
the worst dot com bomb experience I had was I was laid off (of course!) from a 30 person design house, they laid off everyone but the art director and the it director (and they where married - i could tell you about the yelling and screaming but that wasnt that bad compared to whats coming next...)
So I went to my art school that I had graduated from about 2 years before and they hooked me up with a little stint at another dot com...
COLOR CORRECTING TEDDY BEARS!! Yes you heard it right, color correcting teddy bears and t-shirts and umbrellas and CUPS!!! For an online catalog, you know the ones that personalize anything with your company logo on it.
Not only did I hate doing that (however I became intimatly familiar with photoshop levels!) what was worse was once I was done with a batch of photos I would wait for the photog to give me another set. So then my "manager" would walk by and give me shit if I was surfing cnn or whatever. He would tell me all the time to stop surfing, and I would say each time, I AM WAITING on more photos. Then I would suggest I call it a day if it was going to be very long.
Needles to say I left early many days, oh and my little desk, it was in a hallway. ya know like a hallway kinda created by a bunch of cubes, one side is a wall with fanch offices, and on the otherside of the hallway is a room full of cubes, and that wall was created by the cubes? I was in the HALLWAY!!
Happily I can say I was only there 2 months and then I got the job I have now and have had for 5 years!
Posted by: pixie at January 20, 2006 07:47 AM
I have read every single one of your entries and, my god, that may be your best to date!
Posted by: bess at January 20, 2006 08:08 AM
Dang gurl.... that is the most original story I've heard!!!!! She's evil! And I thought I was evil!
Posted by: Kenny at January 20, 2006 08:10 AM
I worked for her sister, "Satan's Spawn/Renee", a horrid creature whose main goal in life was to make people feel real pain. I was just one of her many victims. The good news is I emerged on the other side, a healthier person. It sucks to learn a lesson like that! I am glad you were able to walk away after a few days.
How is Roy?
Posted by: robinv at January 20, 2006 08:12 AM
That isn't just evil - there's some serious psychosis there.
It makes me wonder what she was like as a teenager.
Posted by: Karen at January 20, 2006 08:19 AM
Funny, funny story. Sick, but funny.
Aimee the sis also funny with "funk on her junk".
Totally related to INAD (but I am a designer).
Some people are fricken nuts! And she was the boss!!!! Go figure.
Guess I ain't so psycho after all.
Posted by: (notso)psychomom at January 20, 2006 08:27 AM
you know i'm a temp right?
Posted by: miss kendra at January 20, 2006 08:33 AM
OH.MY.GOD.
That woman is insane!
While I've never had an evil boss, I have had a few bosses who were completely insensitive a-holes/sn@tches. All of which make me appreciate the Nice Boss Lady I have now.
666 Avenue of The Beast?
Funk on her junk?
Two of the FUNNIEST things I've heard in a long time.
Posted by: Vanessa at January 20, 2006 08:40 AM
Jesus Joseph and Mary... wow Im floored and that doesnt happen often. That chick is... evil. Not just run of the mill evil like one boss I had who screwed his employes and suppliers out of close to 100,000$... That I can understand its greed. But to deliberately give yourself a nasty... wow. Some people just shouldnt breed. Like her parents. wow.... The mind boggles.
Posted by: Insomnia_isnt_worth_staying_up_for at January 20, 2006 08:51 AM
Wow. Just...wow. The mind boggles.
I temped for like 10 years after college, and yeah, there's lots of stories. It is definitely evil, because no matter how smart, how talented, how superior you are to every single person in whatever office you're assigned to...you're still "just the temp". *sigh*
Posted by: Emy at January 20, 2006 09:00 AM
Whoa! OMG! She did what? That's gross...I'm at a loss for words I am so shocked!
Posted by: Pink Rocket at January 20, 2006 09:14 AM
I thought I had met some evil folks in the past but jeez. This lady definitely wins the prize. Of course, there is still something kind of funny in it all. Then again maybe I'm just slightly twisted.
Posted by: Dagny at January 20, 2006 09:16 AM
Holy fuck.
That is all I can say.
Posted by: jessica~ at January 20, 2006 09:17 AM
Your post inspired me to tell my supervisors Thank You For Not Being Absolutely Freaking Nuts.
Yish. Glad you're outta there, girl!
Posted by: KathyMarie at January 20, 2006 09:21 AM
Wow, that chick is psycho. No wonder she has to hire temps, who'd want to work with her? Here's hoping the STDs she picks up for laughs fry her ovaries and render her sterile.
I have to say, I thought I'd had bad temp experiences, but mine are mild compared to this. Wow.
Posted by: Melissa at January 20, 2006 09:21 AM
That was beyond Evil. Now there are times I can be evil...but that woman...is Super Evil! Who in their right mind gives themself Gonorrhea?
Posted by: Miss Mantoan at January 20, 2006 09:22 AM
Wow. Just...wow. Evil? Perhaps. Not right in the head? Definitely. But you have to admire her creativity and determination. I know a few people who might think of such a plan, but no one who would have the chutzpah to follow through.
Posted by: Imbrium at January 20, 2006 09:24 AM
Kendra-- I know!!! Kendra, I miss you.
RobinV-- Oh I am so sorry you met her sister/doppleganger LOL. Thanks for asking about Roy! He is back on medication and so. mad. at. me. I went back to my normal pet doctor. I love her. I hope he gets better.
oh pixie. I have so been there. I spent a month cropping pictures of concrete buildings for a real estate site. Ah, the dot bomb. Good times.
oh, my cute boss is calling me. mmmm. cute boss.
Posted by: laurie at January 20, 2006 09:27 AM
ROFLMAO!!! That was funny & scary at the same time!!!! Who in their right mind does stuff like that? No one, her mind was gone long ago, probably from a prior syphills infection.
Posted by: Cristina at January 20, 2006 09:28 AM
omigod, what a psycho. And i thought the woman at psycho central where I worked last summer was a nutjob! I wonder if they're related. I can totally understand wanting to hug your boss - I feel the same way so very many times these days. Somehow having worked for whackjobs makes it so much easier to appreciate where we are now!
Posted by: gaile at January 20, 2006 09:43 AM
Working for FatCatLawFirms, I've had my share of personality "quirks", but that would totally trump any one I could come up with! That is evil most foul. Yet, funny no less.
Posted by: MonkeyGurrrrl at January 20, 2006 09:51 AM
also... I would like a show of hands... heh. How many of ya'll took the COLOR QUIZ today?? LOL
Posted by: laurie at January 20, 2006 10:02 AM
I can actually feel my addiction to the color quiz coming back. so sad.
Posted by: laurie at January 20, 2006 10:03 AM
O. M. G.
You just made me shoot toffee flavored coffee all over my keyboard!
That is pure evil. No 2 ways about it. She gave herself and STD to get back @ her boyfriend... wow.
Posted by: Kim at January 20, 2006 10:18 AM
Wow Laurie. I thought I'd heard everything, and I thought that I could be a beyotch. That psycho chick has major cojones. I have worked for some whack jobs in my time but you win. I've had a few situations where I have coined a couple of phrases pertaining to the workplace that I use to this day. For the employer who loved the words "team" and "family": Sometimes the family is dysfunctional, and the team has jock itch. The same employer was demoralizing so I called their management "style" the "gruel and enemas" technique of motivating employees. Have a great weekend, I love your stories!
As someone who has worked in temping hell, I hear you and have been known to ponder that if temp agencies are legal, why isn't prostitution? The only difference is that you do keep your clothes on.
Posted by: Miss Wendy at January 20, 2006 10:30 AM
Oh. My. God.
I thought I had bad bosses in the past. I even thought I worked for Satan's daughter at one time.
But she was NOTHING like your boss - - *shudder*
Sick, sick, sick!
Good for you for leaving like you did! :-)
Liz
Posted by: Dizzy Ms. Lizzy at January 20, 2006 10:36 AM
Laurie,
your blog today was just what I needed. Oh man, I am literally crying from laughing so hard.
Heidi
Posted by: IdahoHeidi at January 20, 2006 10:41 AM
Wow. A foul and timely post for me. Duly warned.
Also, I am super glad for you that you are happy at your job. CHERISH THAT. : )
Posted by: lisa at January 20, 2006 10:52 AM
I'd never heard of the Colorquiz before. Just took it and was surprised at how the results were pretty accurate.
No one seems very shocked that the guy who originally had gonorrhea actually consented to have sex with his 'friend'; even if he did know the reason.
Posted by: Allyson at January 20, 2006 11:18 AM
I took the color quiz and apparently I am more disfunctional than the crazy VD lady.
I did the math. If you worked for her in 2001, and she did this ten years before that would have been 1991, right in the middle of the AIDS epidemic. She is lucky she only caught what she did.
Posted by: Debbie at January 20, 2006 11:21 AM
I hear ya sista!! I had a boss almost...well probably just as evil. When she got nailed for never getting anything done, she turned around and blamed it all on me. When I went to HR and our director with proof, they said it didn't matter, she was a manager. (You gotta love Big Business.) She ended up asking me to resign or get fired. I resigned. When she walked me out of the building, and this is the really evil part, hugged me and told me how much she would miss me and that I should keep in touch.
Some people are just nuts. And not the fun Southern kind of nut either.
Posted by: taral at January 20, 2006 11:22 AM
Oh my gawd...I cannot believe someone on this planet would give themselves and STD to get back at someone. There is something wrong with that woman mentally.
Posted by: Jennifer at January 20, 2006 11:31 AM
Just wanted to say THANK YOU for this blog. It is hilarious! I stumbled on it when I was Googling for instructions on how to purl stitch. I still can't purl, (the darn yarn goes slip-slidin' away), but I'm glad I found this site.
Posted by: Nancy at January 20, 2006 11:34 AM
WOW. I worked as a temp for three summers, during college, and I had some evil bosses. But no one quite that evil. Holy crap. Now I know: nobody deserves a sane and good-looking boss more than you! :)
Posted by: Julie at January 20, 2006 11:56 AM
Damn you, Color Test!
Insecure. Seeks roots, stability, emotional security, and an environment providing greater ease and fewer problems, but is either unwilling or unable to exert the effort.
Soon-To-Be-Divorced Man (there's a superhero concept dying for more development) does *NOT* need to be told he's rootless, unstable, emotionally insecure, and unwilling to exert himself. He knows this already. And does not really want to have some dumb computer quiz tell him so again.
At least if I'd gone to a palmreader, somebody would've held my hand for a while.
Posted by: Matt at January 20, 2006 12:12 PM
You wrote that just like a real scary story! I actually got pretty scared when I read that! WHY would anyone ever admit to doing something like that? Not only was she Satan, she's a real life freak! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! Totally insane, is right!
Posted by: Laura in Ok. at January 20, 2006 12:28 PM
Why are all the colors on the Color Quiz so ugly? Quite honestly NONE of them made me feel very good. And the so-called results? Talk about mean! I wanted to smack it for what it implied about my sex life. Has the Color Quiz been recently taken over by the evil VD boss lady?
Posted by: Heidi at January 20, 2006 12:38 PM
Holy Shit. That's all I can say about that. Glad your new boss is human.
Posted by: JoVE at January 20, 2006 12:39 PM
It's been said and I'm not being original, but it's so fitting: EEEEWWWWW! :O)
Posted by: Leslie too at January 20, 2006 12:53 PM
who is she - I'll send Birdie to her!
Posted by: minou at January 20, 2006 02:41 PM
G-ddamn! That is the funniest and lewdist thing that I have read in eons.
Yucky yucky yucky. I'd never wanna f*%! with that woman.
Posted by: mary-margaret at January 20, 2006 03:36 PM
That is the best story I've heard in a long time!
Posted by: Amie at January 20, 2006 03:52 PM
Evil? Hmm.. I'm thinking Stupid. How logical, give yourself and STD to torture a boyfriend...
Posted by: Mandy at January 20, 2006 04:10 PM
Ohmuhgawd! I worked for someone like this. It was the longest 9 months of my life! Management finally caught on and canned her. To this day, if I see a steel gray Saab with a tan interior (that's what she drove), my stomach jumps!
Posted by: Jo Griffith at January 20, 2006 04:26 PM
Delurking to say that this is the funniest--and scariest--coworker ever. By any chance did Satan wear visible thong underwear? Our last art director did--and I have a theory about that...
Posted by: Anonymous at January 20, 2006 05:11 PM
My boss is nice, and really not to hard on the eyes if you know what I mean (and I think you do):
Oh Laurie, I do know what you mean and I love to look at the boss - so handsome! And funny! :)
Seriously, Satan is one twisted bitch!
Posted by: ILRP at January 20, 2006 05:51 PM
You are SUCH an amazing writer. Absolutely astounding.
You are golden.
Can we at least hang out while I'm in LA?
Posted by: Annie at January 20, 2006 06:23 PM
See what happens when someone runs out of lithium? Unfortunately, you had to work with one of those folks....you have my sympathies! When are you coming back to SnB?
Posted by: Winegrrl at January 20, 2006 06:32 PM
Aunt Purl, I always read your blog and it never fails that I laugh myself silly. I hope that when I get older, I have half the life you have! But you can keep the boss who shares the story of giving herself gonorrhea, I really don't want to deal with that... :)
Jenna
Posted by: Jenna at January 20, 2006 07:17 PM
That is one major case of...oversharing. And, of the devil incarnate in the form of your superior. Zoinks.
Posted by: CatherineG at January 20, 2006 07:41 PM
Quietly takeing a brain break at work isn't cleaver when you start snorting to keep from laughing out loud!
That kind of moxie will bring bad karma ju ju on her...I hope, but through you she-the-devil's-spawn has brought us all great joy and feelings of superiority. (I've done some bad things but NEVER anything as NASTY as that.)
Laurie, good for you for getting OUT of there. That's the moxie I'd admire.
S
Posted by: sharon at January 20, 2006 10:16 PM
I hope this gets trade marked and used in HR lectures on how NOT to be... with temps, co-workers, just anybody.
It did make MY satanic boss look pretty good in comparison, though.
And they say falling IN love makes you crazy...
Posted by: PainterWoman at January 21, 2006 02:09 AM
Holy crap. There are no words. (I sit here hoping that this woman never ever attempts to reproduce...)
Posted by: Carrie at January 21, 2006 10:12 AM
Dude. As my old supervisor (not a psycho bitch, but the one after her was), that lady was AFU - All Fucked Up. Good on you for getting the hell out of there.
Posted by: Carla at January 21, 2006 02:39 PM
I once worked with a seemingly very nice girl. I later learned she should NEVER be crossed. She had once been dumped by a Mr. X-like creature she had been living with. His car insurance on his lovely new truck had been put in her name to have lower rates. As revenge, she cancelled the insurance (need I mention that this was unbeknownst to him?), stole his car, drove it to a remote location, and with the help of a friend, set the man's dream vehicle on fire and left.
I do not, however, believe she ever set his penis aflame with gonorrhea, so maybe your Satan-boss tops them all.
Posted by: Krista at January 21, 2006 02:53 PM
Geez. I had a boss who almost got in a fistfight with an employee, and a boss who would call the temp agency to tell them to call an employee them they're on the phone too much, instead of just talking to them.
But that takes the cake. You're lucky she didnt' hit on you.
Posted by: lala at January 21, 2006 02:53 PM
The post totally reminds me of our lunch breaks at WGIT, Inc., and how whenever things got bad we would say, well, at least we don't work for Gonorrhea Boss!
Posted by: jen at January 21, 2006 04:50 PM
Oh that's just too foul. Hideous. But the story and the comments are just so funny, too. Sigh. I love the acronyms - WGIT, & "AFU" - reminds me of one me and my sister use "FITH Syndrome" - F***ed in the head. I think it's safe to say your ex-boss was a sufferer :-)
Posted by: Miriam at January 21, 2006 08:52 PM
Oh that's just too foul. Hideous. But the story and the comments are just so funny, too. Sigh. I love the acronyms - WGIT, & "AFU" - reminds me of one me and my sister use "FITH Syndrome" - F***ed in the head. I think it's safe to say your ex-boss was a sufferer :-)
Posted by: Miriam at January 21, 2006 08:53 PM
Ok, you are seriously one of the funniest people I have ever read. You need to write for a sitcom.
Posted by: Victoria at January 22, 2006 07:38 AM
Okay,...I was simply engaging in some harmless blog surfing when I came across this story and now, I am completely speechless. ...I have absolutely NO WORDS. That is definately the story of the year.
Posted by: holly_kai at January 22, 2006 11:50 AM
http://pages.e-yarn.com/6030/PictPage/1922238865.html
This needed to be shared with others at 10 bucks I am sorely tempted.
Posted by: Lauren at January 22, 2006 04:15 PM
I second the holy fuck comment....but because I swear this woman is a clone of my SIL.
Seriously.
Posted by: Lynae at January 22, 2006 05:39 PM
I just discovered your blog and it's so funny! Here I was thinking the people at my current job are spawns of Satan...
I just started knitting too and making a scarf with fun fur! Love it! Love your pink scarf!! I am so addicted too... I went & blew all this money at a store that had yarn on sale.
Posted by: Concan at January 22, 2006 05:47 PM
Holy crap.
I have to deal with all sorts of nastiness at work. And I STILL wouldn't give myself gonorrhea.
Though I would smite it with the vast quanities of disinfectant we have at work with a total OCD resolve.
That's taking psycho to a whole new level.
Posted by: Ace at January 22, 2006 05:50 PM
I'm an avid reader. Recently left L.A., reading makes me not homesick.
I do want to point out that y'all is a contraction of you all, so it should be y'all. Ya'll parallels I'll, which would be correct if "ya" were going to do something (I will, ya will). I spent too many years as a writing instructor and hate to see a poor apostrophe abused.
Posted by: Nikki at January 23, 2006 02:33 PM
you tell the best stories, aunt purl.
Posted by: myargylesocks at January 24, 2006 03:19 AM
I love your blog... naaassstty story and I thought my first boss was crazy! She would find you and literally yell and scream about whatever suited her fancy at the time, go into her office and come out about a minute later (Presto Change-o!!) smiling and calling you "dear" Go figure...
Posted by: Banditgirl at January 24, 2006 07:27 AM
You slay me.
Posted by: Jenny at January 24, 2006 07:43 AM
Actually, Nikki, both ya'll and y'all are perfectly acceptable. See dictionary.com if you don't believe me. And, BTW, LITEN.UP. IT'S A BLOG! And not YOUR blog, so leave my Purlie alone.
Posted by: Jenny at January 24, 2006 10:16 AM
Once I worked at a government agency. We all knew the manager of the office was ... uh...doing things he shouldn't be doing (this was back in the 1970's probably before most of you were born, damn you) back there in his office. We knew it even before the braless female employee in the low cut blouse disappeared during the office Christmas party. Finally somebody got brave and turned him in. The G-Men, the original ones with crew-cuts in the dark suits & white shirts, kind of Fox Mulder types but not as cool, and surely not as cool as Jack Bauer, came in and took him and his sofa cushions-- wrapped in brown paper--away. NO I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP.
Posted by: Deb at January 25, 2006 05:12 PM
Holy Mary, mother of God - that is the most fucked up thing i have ever heard.
wonder where she is now...
Posted by: rebecca at February 5, 2006 10:37 AM
That is seriously frightening
Posted by: Nancy at February 12, 2006 12:34 PM
don't know how i missed this post the first time...
you must write a book, laurie.
you must.
i *heart* you.
Posted by: knitlette at March 11, 2006 01:58 PM







